Another town, another weird-ass monster. Just business as usual for a pair of hunters. Well, a pair of hunters and their Angel buddies, but who was counting? Dean had left the motel some time ago to interview townspeople about any strange occurrences, taking Cas with him as he usually did. This left Sam sitting at the table in the motel, scrolling through various newspaper websites to see if he could find anything. At first it had seemed like some kind of a ghost, what with the cold spots, but its victims never reported any flickering lights and-

There was a fluttering sound and the slight creak of a body suddenly appearing on one of the motel beds. Cas would never come back early without letting Dean know first, and usually he would've said something by now. So that only left his older brother, who smiled at Sam when he turned around to look at the mischevious angel who'd been tagging along with them ever since they'd managed to get away from that hotel.

"Hey, Sam," Gabriel grinned at him, not moving from his position lying stretched out on Sam's bed. "Watcha doin?"

"My job," Sam informed him.

"Are you? Or did my brother and your brother leave you here on your own so they could spend quality time together?" the archangel suggested. Sam shrugged. That thought had occurred to him, and they'd been gone far too long to actually be still interviewing people.

"Maybe but that's their business. What are you doing here anyway?" He went back to looking at the screen but jumped upon finding that his laptop had been replaced by a smiling Trickster sitting cross-legged on the table and looking at him.

"Got bored," Gabriel shrugged. "And I felt like seeing you. I mean, c'mon, you saved my ass and more than once."

"Okay, you can see me just fine from the bed, though," Sam pointed out. "Mind moving back there and giving me back my laptop?" Gabe pouted, so Sam leaned up slightly to kiss him. The kiss was soft and, as usual for the sweet-loving angel, sweet with a slight taste of candy.

"Thanks, Sammy," he grinned, and with a flutter he was back on the bed. Sam could feel the archangel's eyes on him the whole time he was working, but he didn't mind much. He could always feel someone watching him, even when Gabriel wasn't physically present in the room. It was reassuring to know that an angel was literally watching over him.

They spent the next few hours in near-silence in that same position; Gabriel watching Sam while he worked on trying to figure out what they were chasing. There was only one interruption when Dean called to tell Sam that he would only be a few more hours and that he'd bring back dinner.

"Tell him to bring dessert as well," Gabriel called from the bed. Sam listened to Dean's reply to that, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"He said-" Sam started, but Gabriel interrupted him and turned into Dean.

"Tell that archdick to magic up his own damn dessert," Gabriel mimicked with surprising accuracy. He paused, listening to Dean's voice from the phone. "And stop mimicking me, Gabriel, damn it!" Still laughing, he shifted back to his usual form.

"Y'know, most people wouldn't spend this long hanging around watching their boyfriend do research," Sam observed after hanging up the phone.

"You look cute when you're researching. Honestly, how has nobody told you that before?" Gabriel responded as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And besides, do you have any idea how long Cas spends hanging around Dean? It's a good thing most of the time he's invisible."

"Thanks," Sam smiled with a slight blush. "I'm surprised you haven't tried to jump my bones yet, that's all. Usually by now you'd have at least tried to tease."

"True," the archangel had to admit. "Like I said, though, you look so cute when you're trying to figure something out." It would sound patronising coming from someone else but from Gabriel, it sounded true for once.

Sam returned to his research and frowned when his search directed him towards a site dedicated to fictional characters. "Huh."

With a flutter, Gabriel appeared on the other side of the room so he could see the realisation dawning on Sam's face. He could never get tired of that sight, of seeing Sam's face light up and his eyes seeming to glow.

"What'd ya find, Sammy?" he grinned, turning around the chair on the other side of the table and sitting on it backwards.

"Windigoes," Sam finally answered. "But they're definitely fictional. They're like a Wendigo only they freeze anyone who's acting in disharmony. Only something called the fire of friendship can get rid of them and save the victims."

"And they come in the form of horses in clouds and strong, icy winds, right?" Gabriel listed, smiling.

"Yeah, how d- this was you, wasn't it?" Sam finally realised, frowning.

"Yep," Gabriel confirmed, nodding proudly. "Don't worry, though, nobody got hurt this time. They might be a little cold but hey, they're not dead. I'm done with killing mortals."

"But why?" Sam asked, still frowning at his boyfriend.

"Because I was bored and I wanted to spend time with you and get your stupidly stubborn brother to spend quality time with the angel who's obviously head-over-heels for him," Gabriel replied, looking steadily at Sam.

"Get rid of the fictional horse creatures," Sam sighed, leaning back in his chair and closing his laptop. Gabriel did so with a snap of his fingers and then, the next second, he was in Sam's lap and kissing him. It started out with slow lip-kisses and progressed to lips leaving trails of kisses up that strong neck and teeth nipping at the flesh of the archangel's neck.

Soon they were on the bed without having moved much at all, although Gabriel had taken the time to ensure that it was Sam's bed and not Dean's. Clothing was removed at the will of the strongest being in the room and the door was locked and almost sealed to prevent anyone accidentally walking in.

It was always this way when the other two were out and the younger Winchester could be with his angel. Sure, normally it was taken slower and would have several sweet sauces or foods involved, but some things never changed. Like how Gabriel would've been watching Sam for hours beforehand; how that knowledge of being watched made the younger brother feel at first vulnerable and then comfortable, before finally turning into want. How Gabriel could be so pliant under Sam's fingers, almost melting into the bed while he muttered and sometimes shouted strings of words in English and all the other possible languages, interspersed with Sam's name.

And then, right at the end, when Gabriel was at his most vulnerable and his six golden wings would appear in all their shimmering glory either draped over the furniture or along the wall or around his human. Sam used to have to shield his eyes when that happened, but not anymore. Now, he could run his fingers through or over those wings for the few minutes when they existed. It was something just for the two of them, a distraction from everything that had happened.

"I love you," Gabriel murmured into Sam's neck, lying on top of him with his wings currently acting as a blanket for the two of them.

"What was that?" Sam asked, a grin quirking his lips as a spark ignited in his heart. He knew how Gabriel felt, but he'd never actually said it before.

"I'm not repeating it," the archangel warned, nuzzling his boyfriend as the human's fingers glided over and through his feathers.

"I love you too," Sam grinned, and Gabriel smiled against the skin of Sam's neck before finally freeing Dean and Castiel from the infinite traffic loop they'd been stuck in.