Dean was zoned out on the bed in their cheap motel room. Sam sighed for possibly the millionth time, "Dude, what is wrong?"

There was a silence before Dean answered. "…nothing"

"Right." Sam knew exactly what was bothering Dean. There still hadn't been any word from Castiel, four days later. "I'll be right back."

For the first time, Dean looked up. "Where you going?"

"Just gonna get something to eat." Sam lied. What he really needed was to get out of the motel room. He was just going to walk around the block, maybe pick up some food along the way to pull off the lie. "See ya."

"Yeah, see you," Dean said, though his voice sounded distant and far-off. Sam pushed open the door and walked outside, basking in the slight breeze. Not only had Dean's boredom infected the whole room, but the motel room had been stuffy and hot as well.

Sam looked up at the sky. It was a clear night, and almost all of the stars could be seen. It was truly a beautiful sight, but rare. Sam frowned, in fact, it should have been incredibly rare. There was light pollution all around this area. How was it possible to see the stars, clear as day, in such a foggy place?

Putting it out of his mind, Sam wandered the streets. There weren't as many people out as he thought there would be, but then again, it was 9 at night. He'd only been walking for about twenty minutes when a sense of grace fell upon him. And something else too.

He turned around, and was automatically pulled inside an alleyway. Sam had only a brief glance at the attacker's face before he was shoved hard and painfully against a brick wall. He brought a hand up to his head, feeling blood, but a moment later he was distracted by the feeling of someone's lips crashing against his own. He struggled for a brief moment, before relaxing into it. He felt light, and oddly at peace. Never before had he felt like this – he felt strong, yet distant. Energy seemed to be pulsing through him, and yet at the same time he felt exhausted, as though life were leaving him.

"Hmph," he mumbled against the lips. He felt a hand slip under his shirt and that's when he (sort of) came to his senses. He tried in vain to push the person off of him, but he might as well have been trying to push a wall. This person wasn't budging unless it was by their own accord.

Just when Sam felt like he was going to explode with this new energy, the person pushed away from him. Sam slid down the wall, feeling both elated and fearful.

"Sam – I'm sorry…" Sam was looking up into the face of Gabriel. He looked as though he was in a considerable amount of pain, and his eyes were tearing. "I can't help it," he whispered hoarsely. "Leave, with your brother. Now."

Without another word he vanished. Sam had no clue what was going on. He was dizzy, scared, alone, and the strangest feeling of peace and happiness were there too. And not just that, a longing for something…he needed it…he needed more…

But first he had to get back to Dean.

…

Sam sat up, gasping. Stars danced in front of his eyes as his head erupted into pain. He groaned as two pairs of arms (one on each side) pushed him back down gently.

"Sam," it was like a sonic boom. Sam let out a small yell, and automatically the hands pulled off of him.

"Sam, it's okay," the voice was whispering now, but Sam could hear him clear as day. It was his brother's.

He opened his eyes, and instantly shut them against the light. "Bobby, pull the blinds down!" his brother sounded both far away and very loud. Sam had had a concussion once when he was a kid, but this went way beyond it. He felt weird.

"Sam? Open your eyes. It's okay there's no light."

There was a moment in which Sam didn't trust those words, and then he finally opened his eyes. His brother and Bobby swam into focus. Both of them were wearing identical looks of concern on their faces.

"Sammy?" his brother asked. Sam looked at him, confused. "What happened?"

Dean exchanged a worried glance with Bobby. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Just…going out to get something to eat and then…" Sam cut off. He remembered Gabriel pushing him against the wall, kissing him, and finally pulling back, looking distressed and in pain. But he couldn't tell Bobby and Dean that. He felt the sudden urge to protect the archangel, and suddenly Bobby and Dean weren't Bobby and Dean anymore. They were Hunters.

"Then what?" Dean asked anxiously. "Sammy what happened?"

"Nothing," Sam said, and was surprised at the coldness of his voice. "Absolutely nothing."

Both Dean and Bobby looked very taken aback. Whatever reaction they'd been expecting, it certainly hadn't been this one.

"Can I have something to drink?" Sam asked, and watched as they both hurried to do so. It was strange. He didn't feel kinship with either of them anymore. He loved both of them, especially his brother, and he knew that was still there. But they felt foreign now.

Sam supposed this was how the people who'd found out what a hunter was felt. He didn't like it.

…

"I don't know man, there's something wrong with all of this." The voice was barely over a whisper, but Sam could hear Dean clear as day in the other room.

"Tell me about it," answered the voice of Bobby, just as loud. "There's something strange going on here. First Cas goes missing, now Sam goes off the deep end. We're running outta allies, Dean."

"You think I don't know that?" Dean snapped back, "I can barely keep my head straight anymore."

"Well then sew it back on," Bobby growled, "because complaining about it ain't gonna get you anywhere."

When Dean didn't answer Bobby sighed, "I know this is hard, Dean. We'll get through this though, just like we've gotten through everything else. You hear me?"

Sam could imagine Dean nodding sullenly, the image so clear in his head he felt like he was there witnessing it. "I hear ya. First we've gotta figure out what's wrong with Sammy. I mean why's he acting like this?" Dean's voice was getting progressively louder, and Sam felt his ear start to tingle. "I've seen that kid go through some tough crap in his life, alright? Hell, I played a part in most of it, but this is something else. We've gotta find out what the hell happened to him."

"You know he aint ready to talk Dean," Bobby's voice had evened out slightly. Sam recognized the tone – it was the tone he used whenever he was trying to keep the peace or stop them from doing something stupid. "You've got to let him have some time. I'm as curious as the next person," Bobby said quickly, as though trying to cut Dean off, "but son you've got to give it a rest."

There was a soft curse from Dean, and then silence. A few seconds later Sam heard footsteps approaching the room he was in. He quickly let himself fall back on the bed and tried to look as though he'd been asleep – right in time too. Dean walked in, trying to keep quiet, but from the many noises Sam could hear, completely failing at. "Sammy?" Sam knew it was supposed to come out as a whisper, but it felt as though he'd just been yelled at. He kept quiet, praying that Dean was falling for his 'I'm-asleep' feint. After a few moments, he heard Dean sigh and then the door close as he walked out of it. Sam opened his eyes back up, but didn't get out of the bed.

A part of him wanted to tell Dean everything that had happened, but a stronger and more feral part seemed to be shouting at him not to. Dean wasn't his Dean anymore… or maybe Sam just wasn't the Sam Dean knew. Either way, something had changed Sam's view of the world in that alleyway with Gabriel. He wasn't quite sure if he should be blaming the archangel for this or not; a part of him thought that it would be unfair, seeing as Gabriel honestly looked as though he hadn't meant for the kiss to happen, but the part of him that was rational was filled with repulsion.

Maybe he wouldn't have minded as much if Gabriel had been possessing a female body… okay, that was a lie. While Sam wasn't gay (not that he didn't support it fully) he never really thought of an angel as being a girl or a boy. From the stories that he'd heard, and the stories the actual angels told him, they didn't really have a specific gender. So technically even though he was in a boy's body, Gabriel could be considered a girl… right? And did it even matter? Probably not. Or at least that's what Sam tried to convince himself – point was he had enjoyed the kiss, as much as he hated to admit it to himself.

What was wrong with him? He kissed an honest to God – no pun intended – archangel… and enjoyed it. He wasn't sure if he was going straight to hell or if he'd have an entire parade greeting him in heaven. Angels were confusing like that.

He groaned – he was getting a headache – and shut his eyes again, trying his damndest to fall back asleep. As he drifted off, he could have sworn he heard a soft voice whispering his name, but a moment later he had slipped into dreamland.

…

Wow, so it's been a while. *hides* sorry!

I'd like to thank JaffaCake13, Purplebuffalo, SuperPenguinLovesHerEdog, Fairyqueenie, breekit24, Mystique Aqua, watergoddesskasey, kiwimoonelmo, Spawn of Hades and elleran1969 for your wonderful reviews.

I'd also like to thank those who favorited and followed the story. For those of you who are just reading it without doing any of the former, that's fine too, as long as you're enjoying it. Hopefully this chapter isn't too disappointing.