Author's note: Okay, I wanted to get a Valentine's Sabriel story out there before Valentine's Day is over. I still have roughly two hours... go me! ;-)
Warning for some foul language I suppose, some innuendo and some somewhat but not really graphic stuff.
Cupid, draw back your bow...
"… and let your arrow go straight to my lover's heart for me. Cupid please hear my cry and let your arrow fly…"
Sam groaned and reached over to turn the Impala's radio off. He'd rather have a lengthy discussion with Dean about how unacceptable it was for the shotgun to do anything about the music than listen to any of the songs all the radio stations were playing for Valentine 's Day for even a moment longer. Actually, it was a small miracle that his older brother hadn't turned the radio off by himself before Sam had even thought of doing just that.
"Okay, tell me again why we're even going to Ohio," the younger Winchester sighed, looking a couple of articles he had printed before they had left their last motel room through again. No way was he going to even say the name of the place they were going to. It all seemed like a very stupid joke and it wasn't entirely impossible that it was, either.
"Hey, your loverboy was the one who dropped this on us in the first place!" Dean pointed out, switching the radio on again and giving his brother a death glare when he tried to turn it off once more. Alright, Dean's sudden fondness of sappy lovesongs – even if they were of the 'at least 20 years old' variety – came from the urge to annoy his younger brother. That made sense at least.
"Yeah, and since when are you willingly following any leads Gabriel gives us?" Sam huffed. His brother had taken the news that the archangel had been brought back to life for the purpose of getting Sam back out of the cage – Gabriel's words – and that he had gotten very attached to the human's soul in the progress remarkably well. He had only thrown a minor fit when he had realized that Gabriel was courting the younger Winchester, followed by a major fit when he had found out that Sam was quite okay with it, too. Dean had yet to show any signs that his sympathies toward the archangel went any further than not frying him in holy oil, because that would hurt his brother, however.
"Dude, Loveland has become Orgyland. Doesn't matter where the information came from, I want to see that!" the older Winchester shot back with a grin. Not to mention that there definitely was something fishy about more than a thousand people deciding that they were all for free love and public display of the same. Granted, nobody had died or turned violent yet, but knowing the sort of magic that was most likely involved, it could only be a matter of time.
Sam snorted but didn't object. Of course, there was no keeping Dean away from that case.
As it turned out, getting a motel room in the 'infected' part of town wasn't all that easy. Oh, it wasn't that there were no vacancies – though it had to be noted that there were quite a few newly arrived tourists around – but it was insanely hard to get the motel clerk away from the blonde he was wrapped around even long enough to just hand a key over. The man didn't even ask for any credit cards or money when he finally had to breathe and threw a key into their direction while he was at it.
"Happy Valentine's," Dean smirked on the way to room number 16, "Hey, what do you say we solve this case tomorrow?"
It didn't look like the people around were unhappy or in any sort of danger other than dying with a happy smile on their faces, after all. Actually, nobody had died of anything even remotely related to this love/sex-curse this far and it had been going on for nearly a week already.
"Sure, Dean, some demon or witch or whatever is trying to kill the population by spreading all sorts of STDs and you want to join them," Sam huffed, shaking his head incredulously. Granted, they had no idea what the endgame of the spell that had been worked here was, but that meant that the younger Winchester's theory was as good as anything else.
"Whatever got your panties in a bunch, anyway?" Dean groaned, unlocking the door. His brother could be quite the cynical bastard at times, but the attitude he was showing was really pushing it! The older Winchester had thought that his brother might actually get all sappy over Valentine's Day since he now was in a relationship – shudder – and might get some for a change – double shudder.
Sam shrugged and threw his duffle bag on the bed farthest from the door as he always did. He didn't exactly feel like letting his brother know that he had been looking forward to having just a little bit of downtime between cases before this had come up and had forced them to go back to the road much quicker than expected. Damn, he hadn't even gotten a chance to just have a talk between four eyes with Gabriel before they had been on the job again!
"You're such a little bitch," Dean remarked teasingly, shaking his head over his brother's antics. He was already thinking of different ways to get Sam to allow them to split up, however. Maybe saying that they could cover more ground, if they went to – cough – interview a few of the victims separately would work. It was nearly too bad that the short annoyance also known as Gabriel wasn't around.
As soon as the archangel appeared next to his brother and gave him a quick peck on the lips in a public display of affection that Dean really could have done without, the older Winchester found that he would have to take that thought back.
"Sorry, guys. Looks like you made the drive for nothing," Gabriel stated with a light shrug, unimpressed by the bitchface the younger Winchester threw his way for the statement, "It's not your kind of case, after all."
"What? Do they have LSD in the water around here or something?" Dean demanded to know, making a mental note to stay away from water once he hit the bar later on. Actually, there was nothing to stop him from going to celebrate 'unattached drifter's Christmas' now that this wasn't a case they had to work. Maybe he'd even call Cas – given the angel had time – to finally help him get rid of that V-card of his, too. In a town filled with people who really wanted to get laid, it couldn't be that impossible to find someone for Castiel!
"Nope," the archangel replied, popping the 'p' for all it was worth, "It's a cupid."
It wasn't like he had known that already when he had told the brothers to drive to the town. Okay, he had had his suspicions, but he had only just gotten them confirmed and if he had been wrong not setting them on the case would have meant to lose time. And maybe, just maybe, the fact that Sam didn't have to work on anything for the day as things were was a bonus, too.
"A cupid?" the younger Winchester asked with a frown. He could remember the last time they had thought a cupid had done it only to find out that it was actually Famine and yeah, he really didn't want a repeat performance of anything like that!
"Looks like this one's been tagging lots and lots of people at random," Gabriel explained with a nod. He sounded so sure about what he had just said that Sam let him convince him, too. A cupid then. That didn't sound all too threatening, at least. The last one they had met had been weird, but harmless enough.
"Okay, what do we do?" the younger Winchester wanted to know. Maybe they could get just a little downtime after this was dealt with and maybe he'd get a chance to actually spend some of that time with Gabriel and maybe that would lighten his mood a little. Alright, it would definitely lighten his mood a lot, if that happened.
"Talk to him," the archangel stated casually. Cupids were little cowards, after all. A higher up telling them to quit the crap and stick to the plan again should do usually.
"Hell no. I'm not getting anywhere near a nudist angel with no understanding of personal space!" Dean exclaimed. He didn't see why he would have to come along, anyway. The dwarf should be able to handle this on his own easily enough. It wasn't Dean's job to make the archangel's life even easier!
"Nobody asked you to," Gabriel replied nonchalantly before he looked at the younger Winchester, the invitation clear enough in his face even before he said, "You coming?"
Yes, this really was how Sam had expected to spend the time he got alone with his partner for Valentine's Day. Talking sense into 'a nudist angel with no understanding of personal space'.
"Gabriel!" the cupid exclaimed with a wide smile, hugging the life out of the archangel as soon as he managed to get his arms around him.
Sam couldn't help feeling quite glad for the fact that Gabriel had been standing closer to the other angel than he had. He also couldn't help wondering, if all cupids chose middle aged nudists who were slightly on the chubby side as their vessels. Then again, maybe they didn't use vessels at all and this was just how God had created them all. The younger Winchester filed that question away for later.
"Hey bro," Gabriel greeted back and hugged his brother, making sure not to let go before he got to clarify, "The Sasquatch is allergic to naked cuddles from anyone but myself."
The archangel fully intended to make good use of his privilege as soon as they had handled the matter with the cupid, too. Keeping his naked brother away from his boyfriend should have scored him some points with the younger Winchester and heightened the chances of that happening, too.
"That's sad," the cupid stated seriously, giving the human a sympathetic look. Okay, maybe the cherubs weren't the sharpest tools in the boxes, but they were harmless, entertaining and loveable. Gabriel thought so, anyway.
"Not for me," the archangel commented with a grin, making a mental note to get back to the topic they came here to discuss quickly, before Sam got annoyed with him. He already looked rather impatient. Maybe Gabriel should have taken the time to find out why the Sasquatch was as irritable as he obviously was that day before they had gone to confront the cupid. Oh well, should have, could have, hadn't. Whatever.
"What the hell have you been doing to the people of this city?" the younger Winchester demanded a second later to stop the discussion concerning naked cuddles and himself.
He really should have remembered how sensitive the cherubs tended to be, however. He hadn't even finished speaking in the harsh tone he had used before the cupid's eyes were already tearing up and he looked like someone had just murdered his puppy while telling him that Santa wasn't real on his eight birthday.
"There there, brother. He didn't mean to be that harsh," Gabriel said in a soothing tone, rubbing his brother's back until the cherub calmed down again. There was no use talking to a crying cupid. They were hard to get through to under normal circumstances at times, already.
"Have you seen what humans get up to? They are constantly arguing, fighting, suing, hurting and even killing each other! There is too little love around!" the cupid finally explained, sniffling at first but working himself up as he spoke on. He hated hate just as much as he loved love, so watching the way most humans treated each other each and every day was hard. Usually, he couldn't have done anything against it, but with the chaos in heaven nobody was paying too much attention to what he was doing, so he had taken his chance and had acted.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sam asked with a loud groan. So, the cupid had cursed, hexed, influenced over a thousand people just because he didn't like conflicts? That was just great. As far as the younger Winchester knew not even the archangel had ever gone anywhere near that far!
"He has a point, Sam," Gabriel stated too seriously for his partner's taste.
"He has a point? Yeah, sure, people do awful things, but that's no reason to make them," Sam shot back, gesturing wildly when words failed him for a moment. He wasn't sure how to describe how fucked up it was to make people who hardly knew each other in many cases just get it on with each other. Hell, a lot of the things going on might be considered non-consensual, it was dubious if a person under the influence of a cupid could give consent, anyway. The moral implications were enough to give anyone a headache for sure!
"Fuck like bunnies?" Gabriel offered with a small smirk. He didn't exactly see why the human got so worked up over this, anyway. For once in his life Dean might actually have a point. The older Winchester obviously didn't think that all this was so bad.
"You're not helping," Sam groaned, "How many of them would even take a second look at the people they now think they love in some way usually?"
The cupid looked at the younger Winchester with a deep frown, as if he was only now thinking about these things, which did nothing for Sam's already rather bad mood. For a being who lived only to bring love to people, the cherub really knew nothing about it for all it looked like!
"Oh, but you don't understand," the cupid finally explained, "I can't force them to love someone, they are just showing the affection that has already been there!"
"Have you looked at this place? It's an orgy out there!" Sam insisted, gesturing all around them, even if there were no other people in their close vicinity.
"Not all of them have found their match yet," the cupid admitted, "But there are many that are now happily engaged in a monogamous relationship."
It also should be noted that even the ones that had not yet found their match were content and highly satisfied as things were. It was too bad that the human couldn't feel the love that was all over the place. The archangel would be able to, even if he probably wouldn't feel it quite as clearly as a cupid did.
"You're not even sorry, are you?" the younger Winchester huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"What for?" the cherub asked, seriously puzzled for all it looked like, before he turned to Gabriel and asked, "Your human is very cranky, isn't he?"
Sam wasn't even completely sure where the overwhelming urge to punch or shoot the cupid came from, but it was undeniably there.
"I'm going to kill him," the younger Winchester warned both angels. He was quickly reaching the very limit of his patience and they both shouldn't say that they hadn't seen it coming afterward!
"Sam," Gabriel tried in a placating tone. There was no doubt that the human was all too serious about his threat and yeah, he really should have taken the time to make sure that Sam was way more relaxed than he currently was before taking him to talk to the cherub.
"I am going to-" was as far as Sam got with repeating his threat before he suddenly felt much calmer, all thoughts of annoying cupids gone from his mind in a second. Instead he found himself unable to think about how the hell he was standing this far away from Gabriel and why he hadn't gotten a proper kiss yet.
"What did you do?" it was the archangel's turn to yell this time which prompted Sam to wrap his arms around him from behind to cuddle him a bit.
"I panicked," the cupid replied with a pitiful look, before he added more cheerfully, "On the plus side, he can now experience the merits of the love I have been spreading for himself."
"Wonderful," Gabriel mumbled. It had taken long enough to build the relationship they had with the human, this might throw them back by months! The archangel knew the way Sam's mind worked well enough to know that he'd be embarrassed about the way he was throwing himself at him soon enough and when Sam was uncomfortable he retreated and kept Gabriel at arm's length… if he got even that close!
"It's only temporary, I wouldn't dare to…" the cherub gulped.
"Okay, that's something," the archangel admitted, putting his hands on Sam's to keep them from roaming over his body for the moment being before he spoke on, "Just, bro, enough of this now, alright? Somebody is going to stop you eventually and…"
The archangel completely lost track of whatever he had meant to say the moment Sam's lips came in contact with the back of his neck. He really should get them both out of there before they ended contributing to the ongoing orgy. At least it wasn't that likely that Dean would even notice his brother's absence over the night.
Gabriel walked Sam back toward the bed in the not all that upscale but very comfortable hotel room he had zapped them to. The human was firmly attached to his lips and apparently had no intention of changing anything about that in the nearer future. The few times the archangel had tried to pull away, the younger Winchester had trapped either his upper or lower lip between his and had sucked and nibbled hard enough to get the message that he really wouldn't appreciate losing the contact across.
Gabriel finally managed to push Sam onto the bed and was a bit surprised how readily he scrambled back until he was spread on the mattress. That definitely made things easier, however. The archangel snapped his fingers before the younger Winchester could do anything more and made sure that Sam's hands were bound to the headboard while his feet were secured in a similar fashion by the foot end of the bed.
"Gabriel", the younger Winchester groaned, but instead of reprimanding it sounded very aroused and the way he was looking at the archangel was a clear enough invitation, too.
"Hey, Samsquatch, remember? You don't like being tied up, not by me and not by anyone else," Gabriel stated in a gentle tone, sitting next to the human on the bed, petting his hair absent-mindedly. A part of him had had some hope that being tied up would make Sam angry at him, maybe help him break the spell, even if he would break it by being mad at the archangel.
"You can do whatever you want to me," the younger Winchester replied so seriously that it made Gabriel's insides do all sorts of funny things. Not all of them were comfortable, either. On the one hand an all too willing and needy Sam was something he didn't get often, if at all, on the other hand, well, this wasn't how the human normally acted around him.
"Right, like you'd ever say that under normal circumstances," Gabriel snorted, "We'll have to wait this out."
The spell was temporary, after all. They'd just have to wait for a little while. Actually, since Valentine's Day was nearly over, chances were that they only had a couple more hours to go. Cupids liked that sort of symbolism and sappy things, after all.
"Why?" the younger Winchester nearly whined, finally starting to try and get out of the cuffs that bound his hands and feet, "I want you."
He had been okay with being tied up as long as he had thought that it was a part of foreplay, but now that he began to realize that Gabriel intended to just leave him bound to the bed without doing anything more he just wanted to get free and get his hands on his partner again.
"Fuck, Sam," the archangel cursed under his breath. It was quite possible that he would have to leave the room sooner rather than later. This needy version of Sam was just too tempting and Gabriel wasn't known for his self-control to begin with.
"Yes, yes, that's a good plan right there!" the younger Winchester agreed, settling back against the pillows and giving the archangel another one of the 'come fuck me' looks he had had mastered years ago without even realizing it.
"Sammy, no," Gabriel replied, sounding nearly pained, "I don't want you to hate me for this tomorrow."
He had to remind himself of all the reasons why this was a damn bad idea just as much as he had to try and get through to Sam that way. The thought that the younger Winchester might wake up in the morning hating him was a pretty big turn off, anyway.
"I won't hate you. I love you!" Sam insisted, a little desperately. He wasn't too far gone to realize that something was in fact wrong – no, different – with him, but that didn't make any of the things he had said any less true.
"I know that you do right now," Gabriel allowed, stroking over the side of the younger Winchester's face tenderly. He contemplated taking his hand away when Sam started to nuzzle his hand nearly immediately, but he supposed he'd only punish them both for something that was neither his nor the human's fault with it.
"No, I've loved you for a while now," the younger Winchester admitted a little sheepishly, "Remember when you made Bobby's couch bigger for me, so I'd sleep better? I wasn't even awake when you did that, but you did it anyway. That's when I first thought that I loved you."
He had woken up the next day better rested than he had been in quite some time and when he had asked the archangel, if he had had something to do with it later, Gabriel had only shrugged with a smile. There hadn't been any ulterior motives Sam could have found in the gesture and the fact that the archangel hadn't even brought it up himself had sealed the deal for him.
"That was three months ago," Gabriel frowned, rubbing soothing circles into the younger Winchester's neck with his thumb.
"I couldn't… I couldn't say it, Gabe," Sam replied with a sigh, leaning into the touch.
"Why not? Damn, kiddo, half the time you have me thinking that you hardly tolerate me," the archangel wanted to know now that they were finally talking about the issue they clearly had. Okay, the other half of the time Sam let him feel that he clearly liked him and they were affectionate with each other whenever they got the chance. The words 'I love you' had never been spoken though and Gabriel just knew that Sam was holding back on him.
"People I love die. It's stupid, I know that, but I thought maybe… maybe if nobody knows that I love you then they won't take you away," the younger Winchester whispered.
Before he knew it he was able to move his arms and legs freely again which he immediately used to wrap himself around the archangel.
"Getting insight into the workings of your mind is pretty damn scary sometimes, Samsquatch," Gabriel admitted, allowing the taller man to hold him close and hugging him in turn, "I love you, too."
They didn't say much more after that. It was impossible to talk with the way Sam was once more trying to suck his grace out of his vessel with deep kisses, anyway.
"If you hate me for this tomorrow, I swear-" the archangel started to say when he got a moment to speak, because they had to separate to take each other's shirts off.
"Never," the younger Winchester promised so sincerely that not the slightest trace of doubt was left.
The very stupid joke about how they'd see about that after the next time the Winchesters got stuck in TV land, a joke Gabriel would have regretted making the moment he would have said it anyway, died on his lips when Sam pulled him closer so there was no room left between them and then turned them over so he was on top of the archangel.
"The way you've been talking earlier, I thought you wanted me on top," Gabriel commented with a grin, leaning up on his elbows so he could watch the younger Winchester remove his jeans and boxer shorts and quickly follow them with his own.
"Later," Sam grinned back, crawling between the archangel's legs.
One of the upsides of being with a heavenly being in full possession of his powers was that everything they needed was always there and if it wasn't to begin with, it would conveniently materialize itself as soon as the need arose. Of course, there was also the fact that Gabriel was damn near impossible to hurt accidentally.
They shared another few long, passionate kisses while Sam made sure that his partner was ready. Strangely enough the overwhelming urgency he had felt before was mostly gone and had been replaced with the level or arousal and excitement he always felt when he had Gabriel underneath him, or on top of him, or just next to him.
Sam took a long steadying breath before he encouraged Gabriel to wrap one of his legs around his hips and slowly sank into his lover. Their combined panting breaths were the only sound in the room for a few long moments before the younger Winchester started to build a rhythm that soon added moans and a few half-whispered half-groaned endearments to the mix.
"I love you," Sam panted against Gabriel's neck and as sappy and clichéd as it might sound that brought the archangel over the edge faster than anything else could have.
"Morning, Sam," Gabriel grinned from his position halfway on top of the taller man, stretching like a lazy and thoroughly satisfied cat now that the younger Winchester was awake already.
"Morning," Sam replied with a fond smile, wrapping his arm around Gabriel's back to keep him close. He could remember everything that had happened the other day and a few parts were quite embarrassing now that he was in his usual mindset again, but he didn't regret anything that had happened.
"How good is your mood this morning?" Gabriel asked after drawing random enochian symbols on Sam's still naked chest for a little while.
"Why?" the younger Winchester asked slightly suspiciously. His mood was pretty damn good, had been before he had had a reason to think that his partner had something to say he wouldn't want to hear, anyway.
"Remember how my little naked brother said that this was temporary?" Gabriel wanted to know a little meekly. After the last night he was pretty sure that Sam wouldn't take this too badly, but he still might be none to happy to hear the news.
"Yeah," the younger Winchester replied with a frown. He was feeling like his completely usual self again, so obviously it really had been temporary, too. The archangel apparently thought that there was something more to it, though.
"Cupid's mark's still on you," Gabriel explained, watching Sam's face closely to gauge his reaction.
"Oh, I guess that's okay."
The archangel laughed relieved and grabbed the taller man's cheeks to plant a kiss on his lips. They didn't get out of bed for another long while after that.