Sam was laying in bed with Loki about an hour after he arrived. The Trickster had moved in on him seconds after transferring him to his place. Sam didn't protest. The Michael situation wasn't dire yet. It could wait until they were through.

"Fabulous as always, kiddo. You know, I'm glad you called when you did. If you hadn't, I just may have had to kidnap you to have my way with you," Gabriel said with a grin.

"Not sure I would've complained," Sam said. He had to give Loki his dues. He was damn good in bed.

"So you ready for round two?" Gabriel asked as he rolled on top of the hunter.

Sam wondered if it was bad that he actually considered it for a minute. He could go another round or two at least. However, they did need to get down to business. Figuring out what to do about Michael was important. Plus, if he didn't get back soon, Dean would have a fit. "We had a run in with the archangel, Michael."

"You sure know how to kill the mood," Gabriel said as he rolled back over. There was nothing worse than your partner bringing up your brother when you were about to have sex. That wasn't even taking into consideration the gravity of the situation. "Why the hell didn't you mention that when you got here."

Sam laughed. "It's not like you gave me much time for that. You jumped me the minute I got here. Did you really think I came just for sex?"

"Yeah," Gabriel said as if it were a stupid question.

"Well, I didn't," Sam said.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked.

"He saved us from some demons who were trying to kill me. They wanted to put the apocalypse back on the table," Sam said.

"What did he want?" Gabriel asked.

"Crowley's name, yours as well. He wanted to know what kind of being could remove a soul from Hell, and obviously, he wants to punish Crowley for making a deal with me," Sam explained.

"I can't believe he came himself," Gabriel said. Michael didn't do anything himself unless it was dire. He had thousands of angels to do everything for him.

"He tried, but they failed. One of them threatening me was Dean's last straw," Sam said.

Gabriel nodded. Yeah, that would be considered dire for Michael. With Dean no longer trusting angels, the apocalypse would be in serious jeopardy, even if they managed to kill Sam all over again and have Dean break the first seal. To get what they wanted, they still needed the hunter's trust.

"Question. Shouldn't they know that a trickster can pull a soul out of Hell?" Sam asked a bit suspiciously. A flag sort of went up when Michael spoke about not knowing another creature that could bring a soul back.

"Not all tricksters can. Remember, I'm not a regular trickster," Gabriel said.

"Right, you're a pagan god, but wouldn't' they know that a pagan god could do it too?" Sam asked.

"They may want to think they know everything about every being in the world, but they don't. No one, including angels, has ever had the desire to retrieve a soul from Hell before," Gabriel said. He wasn't lying. He was certainly evading subtlety, but everything he was saying was the truth.

"So there's no reason for them to think you could do it," Sam deduced.

Gabriel nodded and stood up. He grabbed his robe from the chair nearby. He quickly put it on. "I don't need to tell you how dangerous Michael is, do I Sam?"

"No. That's why I'm here. I need to know how to stop him," Sam said as he got up and began getting dressed.

"The problem is that I'm not sure you can. You certainly can't kill him. There are very few beings on this planet that have the power to take on something like him," Gabriel said seriously.

"Well, I'm not giving up. I'm not about to step back and hand two quarreling archangels the world. And I'm certainly not going to let the devil literally under my skin," Sam said firmly.

"I'm not suggesting that. I'm just saying you won't find this easy, and you may just fail," Gabriel said. He certainly didn't want him to fail. He didn't want to see the world destroyed by his brothers, nor did he want to see Sam destroyed by Lucifer. He just wanted Sam to see things for how they were.

"Well, I don't intend to take him right now. I know right now I'd lose. What I want is protect the information I have. I can't let him find out about Crowley. If he finds Crowley, he will get out of him everything Crowley told me. I know Michael can hear my thoughts If he were to do so, he could not only get ahold of the information about Crowley, but he could find out everything Crowley told me just by looking in my mind. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't just listen to them tonight?" he asked.

"It's because it's not just names he needs. He needs you to trust him. That's his real endgame. The names are just part of it," Gabriel said.

"You seem sure about that. You seem sure about everything you say about Michael. Have you met him?" Sam asked as he began buttoning up his shirt.

"Once or twice. I know enough to know what he's like and how he thinks," Gabriel said.

"Well, even if you're right, there's still a chance he could try to read my mind. Is there any way for me to safeguard it?" Sam asked.

"No, not without actually destroying your memories. I can only assume you don't want that," Gabriel said.

Sam shook his head. "If I forget about it, it means I fall right back in line. I can't let that happen."

"So you're just going to have to try to avoid him, and if you can't, hope he doesn't read your mind," Gabriel said.

"There is something I can do to help you avoid him though," Gabriel said.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I can hide you from him," Gabriel said. He was very reluctant to do this. When Michael realized Sam and Dean was hidden from him, he'd know that an angel was working with them. Gabriel didn't want the attention that it might bring, but he also didn't want the alternative

"Okay, do it," Sam said.

"I'll be carving something into your ribs. It'll burn for a minute. I'll need your brother too. It's no help if Michael can still find him," Gabriel said.

"I'll have to talk him into it. Just do it to me now," Sam said. He didn't exactly like this idea, nor did he really trust Loki much, but he had to do what he could to stop Michael.

Gabriel walked over and placed his hand on the hunter's stomach.

Sam felt a tiny burn and then it went away. "What exactly did you put there?"

"It's like the protection sigil you put on your room, only it protects you personally from angels. Oh, and one other difference. It stops angels from finding you, but it won't protect you if they find you," Gabriel warned.

"Thanks. Okay, send me back. Dean's probably going crazy by now. Plus, I need to get him to agree to what you just did to me," Sam said.

"One more thing. Now that Michael has taken a personal interest, praying to me might not be the best idea. He can hear no matter who you pray to," Gabriel said before snapping his fingers. A piece of paper with a phone number appeared in his hand. He immediately handed it to Sam. "Call when you need me."

Sam nodded. "Alright, send me back."

Gabriel snapped his fingers and Sam disappeared.