Chapter 4: Chosen

The confrontation between the two angels was over before it truly began. Sam stepped forward, forcing Gabe to drop his wings as he held one hand defensively out toward the seraph. "Cas, I choose him. Okay? I need him." Later, Sam would tell Gabriel that he hadn't even stopped to consider that he was standing between and archangel and a seraph, two beings who could end him in a second if they were truly determined to fight. He had known that both would back off at his request.

Castiel dropped his wings, slowly folding them against his bare back as he tilted his head. "Sam, do you understand what you are saying? Angels don't choose lightly, and there has never been a single case of an archangel choosing at all."

Sam reached behind himself and pulled Gabriel forward, the archangel folding his wings as he stared at his brother. "I know it may sound really sudden, but he chose me. He showed me his wings and he told me that he feels for me what you feel for Dean."

Cas stepped forward, holding his palm out and waiting for Gabriel to step close enough that he could touch his forehead. The archangel relaxed and opened his mind, letting his brother look around and examine his feelings for a moment before he pulled away. He had not realized how protective Cas was of these boys until he flared his wings at an archangel, so he was willing to allow the intrusion. "Brother, do you truly choose him? You have told me before that you could not understand what would allow an angel to pick a single soul to guard, protect, and love."

"It just needs to be the right soul," Gabriel returned, offering Cas's answer back to him.

The seraph nodded and smiled, reaching out to embrace his older brother, possibly the only one of his remaining siblings who liked him. "Welcome home, Gabriel."

"Thank you."

"Is anyone going to explain this to me?"

Cas looked over at his lover, gesturing for him to enter the kitchen now that the showdown was over. "Gabriel was asking my permission to court your brother. Since I am his guardian angel by default, it was only right that I determine if his motives were acceptably pure."

Dean stared at his brother with his patented what-the-fuck face. "Where did this come from? How is Gabriel even alive?" He paused, eyes flicking to the golden wings still on display, the distinct lack of shirts on both men, and the faint scorch marks on the edge of the central kitchen island where Gabriel's hands had been resting moments earlier. "Sammy, were you just about to bang an archangel on the table where I fix my breakfast?"

The taller hunter shrugged, trying to twist his features into something approaching innocence. "Um, no?" Dean frowned, and Sam started inching toward the door, pulling the smaller blonde with him. "Gabe brought you a pie. I'm sure you're hungry, so feel free to dig in."

Dean could not resist taking the bait. His eyes flew to the table and the offering waiting there for him, and all of his brother's transgressions were forgiven. He never even noticed when the pair vanished, quickly finding a plate and cutlery so he could free himself a slice of that gorgeous creation. Cas watched him with an amused half-smile on his face, knowing that his hunter could never resist a pie.

Two slices later, Dean's memory seemed to catch up to him, and he looked up at the angel perched in the chair next to his. "I thought Gabriel was dead."

"He apparently faked his death to a degree that Lucifer was satisfied with his demise," Cas replied, thinking back through the whirlwind of memories he had seen in his brother's mind. "He went into hiding after that fight, not wanting to have the oppressive weight of the world on his shoulders ever again. His words, not mine. Gabriel spent some time in a place called Monte Carlo with a variety of porn stars for a short while before learning that the gods he was staying with had less than honorable intentions. He went into hiding again until, one night, he heard Sam praying to him, and he couldn't help but return. I believe this was just after we killed Dick and ended up in Purgatory. He's been visiting your brother off and on ever since, and it looks like he has fallen in love."

Dean was quiet for a long time, staring into space as he picked at his pie. If he wanted to, Cas could listen in on his lover's thoughts, but it seemed more like an invasion of privacy than it used to. Finally, the hunter took a deep, steadying breath and spoke. "I guess it's better than him sleeping with demons. I can't say that Gabriel is my favorite person, especially not after he turned Sam into my car, but he is the only one of your siblings who has ever treated us fairly, or liked us at all. And he did save us from Lucifer in that hotel, even if he faked his own death to avoid any further responsibilities during the Apocalypse."

"He's also the only archangel who has never really wanted you dead," Cas offered hopefully. "Ignoring the time he let you die every Tuesday for approximately four months, but that was more about teaching Sam a valuable lesson than hurting you."

"Yes, ignoring that," Dean scoffed, having read the details of that strange situation in one of Chuck's books years ago. "He also told us how to trap Lucifer, something only an archangel would have known. Without his information, we could never have put Satan back in his Cage." Dean nodded to himself, finishing the last bit of his third slice of pie. "Okay, I can accept him into the family, I guess. Just, do me a favor and keep an eye on him. I don't want a repeat of TV Land if I can help it."

Gabriel waited until they stepped out of the kitchen before teleporting the pair of them to Sam's bedroom. He stopped dead at the sight of the caique in his cage, the bird watching the intruder with one red eye but otherwise quiescent. "When did you get a pet, kiddo?"

"Uh, today. Cas kinda bought him for me." Sam's arms snaked around Gabriel's waist from behind, chest pressed tight against his folded wings. "I'll introduce you later. Now, where were we before our brothers so rudely interrupted?"

Gabriel gasped as Sam slammed him up against a wall, his wings opening involuntarily as Sam's knees trapped his legs and the hunter ground his erection into him. "Sam," Gabriel gasped, fists planted against the wall as the hunter's teeth sunk into his neck hard enough to bruise. He felt his grace rise to heal it, and he tried to push it away but he knew the instant that the hunter saw the bite vanish.

"Gabe, do angel cuffs work on an archangel?"

The blonde pushed away from the wall and spun around, golden eyes searching his soon-to-be-lover's face as he slowly nodded. Sam reached over to the bag on his table and pulled a set of runed black cuffs out, a kind of expectant calm filling the room. "They won't really hold me while at full power if I truly want to escape, but they will dampen my powers and strength considerably."

Sam stood there for what felt like an eternity, his breaths steady even as the light of his soul flared with barely-constrained passion and desire. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," Gabriel breathed, holding out his arms and letting Sam close the cold metal around his wrists. He felt an instant change, the majority of his grace pushed down even as he held onto enough to keep his wings in the material plane. A seraph or angel would not be able to keep their wings visible at all while wearing the cuffs, but Gabriel knew that it would be enough to stop his insanely fast healing powers from ruining Sam's handiwork.

Sam grinned as Gabriel gingerly tested the cuffs, placing his hands on the archangel's hips and lifting him into the air. Startled, Gabriel opened his wings and wrapped his legs around Sam's waist, moaning at the feeling of the hunter's erection rubbing against his own. Sam's grip kept him still, Gabe hooking his cuffed hands behind the hunter's neck as he felt teeth sink into his neck once more.

Sam didn't waste any time after that, kissing and biting his way down the archangel's chest, leaving marks everywhere he could and reveling in the blonde's moans. He slipped his arms under Gabriel's thighs and lifted him higher, the startled archangel dropping his wings and leaning forward to avoid hitting the ceiling. Gabriel suddenly realized that they were both still wearing way too many layers, and he drew on the spark of grace he could reach to poof their remaining clothing away. Sam chuckled against his belly, leaning down to nip the inside of Gabriel's thigh.

"Sam, you're teasing me," Gabriel whined, hands resting on Sam's shoulders as he thrust his hips forward. The position was awkward and he couldn't get any leverage, but he tried.

"Damn right I am," Sam breathed, blowing across the still-wet bite marks on the archangels' inner thigh. "You're at my mercy, Trickster, and I'm going to make you pay for every sneaky, underhanded thing you have ever done to me. And I'll remind you that you put me on a game show where they slammed a ball into my nuts."

Gabriel shivered, finding the dark threat in Sam's voice somehow arousing. "Oh my Dad, Sam you have no idea what you do to me."

The hunter chuckled and leaned forward to kiss the tip of the erection bobbing in front of his face. "I have a pretty good idea."

Gabriel gasped and threw his head back, the hands on Sam's shoulders tightening, the chain between his cuffs tickling the back of the hunter's neck. "If you don't start touching me soon, I'm going to smite your arrogant ass."

"You're adorable when you're frustrated." Before Gabriel could answer, Sam leaned forward and kissed the tip of the archangel's erection before swallowing him down.

Gabriel almost screamed, dangerously close to losing control of himself, and it had been three or four billion years since that had happened. He raised his arms above his head, searching for something to hold onto as Sam started blowing him in earnest. His fingers made contact with the ceiling and he dug in, legs wrapping around the unfairly tall hunter's shoulders. "Sam, I'm . . . I can't hold on. I want . . ."

"What do you want, Gabe?" Sam's voice was gentle, barely a breath against the archangel's thigh, but the words demanded an answer.

"I want to ride you, Sam," he groaned, golden eyes meeting bright hazel. "It's been thousands of years since . . ."

Sam smiled, using one hand to hold Gabriel up as the other one ran through the smaller man's golden hair. "Sometimes I forget how old you are, but then I look into your eyes . . . it's like I can see the birth of the universe."

It might almost be true, Gabriel mused with the part of his mind that hadn't been overwhelmed by the ridiculously tall hunter. He knew that his grace swirled there, just below the surface, sparking brightly with his arousal, though the description was admittedly corny. For the first time in epochs, he felt like an archangel again; he watched the colors of Sam's soul flash behind those bright hazel eyes, and his own grace rose to match that fervor. He wanted this human, needed to claim him, and he knew that he was lost.

"Do you want the bed or the wall?" Sam could see Gabe's eyes go distant, that molten gold pale as he lost focus despite the fact that he was still meeting the hunter's gaze.

"Bed," Gabriel managed, leaning down to wrap his arms around Sam's neck. The human moved away from the wall, both arms catching the angel as he backed up to his bed and sat down on the edge. Gabe leaned into claim another kiss, unable to resist the urge, as he settled into Sam's lap. As soon as their erections touched, Gabriel gasped and arched his back, cursing himself for his loss of control but no longer caring. "Sam, please!"

"Okay, Gabe, I will. I don't, uh, I don't think I have any lube."

The archangel chuckled. "I don't need anything like that. I'm an angel; I can just adjust my vessel to accommodate you." He reached down and gave the hunter's impressive erection a long, slow stroke, covering it in something he conjured that felt like oil. "No matter how much bigger you are than I imagined." He pulled his hand away and lifted his hips, lining Sam's now-slick cock up with his entrance.

"Okay, but next time we're doing it the human way," Sam grunted, snapping his hips up and sheathing himself completely in the blonde archangel. He heard Gabriel swallow his reaction, eyes widening as he repeated the action, long fingers digging into the blonde's hips. When he didn't get an audible reply for a second time, Sam set his jaw and set a punishing pace, pounding into the archangel as the blonde ground back down into him. Huge golden wings arched over them, feathers brushing across Sam's skin and burning him with every touch. Add to that the blonde clenching around him with every thrust, and it was easily the best sex Sam had ever had.

However, his normally-garrulous partner was suspiciously silent. Determined to see if he could make an archangel scream, Sam grabbed Gabe's arms and pulled him closer, gold eyes flying open to meet his in shock. The new position changed the angle of his thrust, and the next one clearly hit Gabriel's prostate if his fingers digging into Sam's biceps were any indication. He knew that the archangel was still holding back—he had to, the man immeasurably stronger than a human, even with those cuffs on—but it was satisfying to see him lose some small amount of his self-control.

The chain between the cuffs pressed almost painfully just below Sam's collarbone, but he held Gabe closer, capturing his lips in a bruising kiss. The blonde whined into his mouth, almost keening at the next hard thrust, and the lights in Sam's room flickered. The hunter never noticed, focusing on the archangel's cock leaking precum on his stomach, but Gabriel looked up in shock. Even with the cuffs, his grace was expanding, flaring with every burst of pleasure that slammed through his body, and he was going to do a lot more than shatter a few lightbulbs when he came. The cuffs would barely dampen the explosion, and the bunker would never survive.

He felt the hunter's thrusts grow frantic, the lust pulsing through his soul flaring brightly and pulling Gabe along for the ride. Sam came with a strangled howl, the most noise he had made since burying himself in the archangel, and his blonde lover felt the coil of heat low in his belly warning of his own impending release, aided by the sudden hand Sam buried in the feathers of his left wing.

Gabriel was old, older than all but five beings in all of Creation. He had the self-control to pull himself back from the edge, to stop himself, to cool his lust, but he wanted to give in, to share this ecstasy with Sam. In the future they would find a more effective way of binding his grace, but just this once he wanted to explode. Sam's free hand wrapped around his trapped erection and gave two quick strokes, and Gabe was done. He flapped his wings an instant before he came, screaming to the heavens as his release covered Sam's heaving chest and his golden wings stretched open to protect them both from the sun beating down overhead.

It actually took Sam quite a few minutes to come down from his high, hazel eyes finding Gabe's satisfied gold before he took in their surroundings. The hunter sat up, wrapping his arms around the archangel to keep him in place as he looked around in shock. They were still on Sam's bed, but it was sitting in the middle of what had once been a forest, the trees for miles around blasted flat against the ground. They were in a shallow crater, the ground around them torn up and the grass burned to cinders, Gabe's wings falling to wrap protectively around the taller hunter.

"Uh, Gabe?"

"Sorry, Samoose. I thought you might want the bunker intact when we were finished."

"Your grace did this? Damn . . ."

Gabriel shrugged, glancing around as he slid his arms around Sam's waist. The hunter seemed to notice the lack of angel cuffs at that moment, but he didn't comment. "I've never . . . this vessel that Loki made for me, it's had orgasms before. But me, the archangel or 'grace' part of me, has never participated. Until today. Your soul called to me, Sam, and I lost control. I've never lost control before."

Sam's face split in a self-satisfied smile, leaning down to kiss Gabriel again. "So is this what an angel choosing looks like? I'm pretty impressed."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and slipped out of Sam's lap, taking a few steps away from the bed before fluffing his feathers and flapping his wings a few times. He folded them neatly back into place before rolling his shoulders and turning back to Sam. "What?"

"You," Sam chuckled, still sitting in the middle of the bed with one leg drawn up to his chest, completely unconcerned with his nudity or the streaks of white decorating his belly. "You broke those angel cuffs and teleported us . . . here in the middle of an angelical grace-enhanced orgasm. And you called Cas's blowing the lights a 'showman's trick'."

Gabriel shrugged. "I also told you that I was above such small displays of power. Go big or go home, right Samshine?"

"Yeah, you did that. Did you, uh, bring any clothes with us?" Gabriel rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, cleaning them both and dressing them in the same instant as his wings vanished. Sam glanced down at his worn jeans, red flannel shirt, and jacket, finding Gabriel similarly attired sans flannel, their leather jackets almost matching. "I guess this is one of the perks of having an archangel boyfriend, huh?"

Gabriel froze at the word, golden eyes wide as he caught Sam's gaze. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Is that alright? This whole choosing thing . . . it's a little overwhelming for me. I was hoping we could just try dating?"

Gabriel let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, nodding emphatically as Sam stepped forward and pulled him into his arms. He nodded against Sam's chest, reveling in the feeling of being wanted and protected, despite his immortality and basic invulnerability that should render such needs immaterial. "Dating," Gabe murmured. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Can you get us back to the bunker?"

"Not exactly. The warding is pretty well done, especially since I showed you the better angel warding sigils that can keep even an archangel from casually flying in. Even I can't get through without a soul to focus on. Dean and I aren't really that close, if you hadn't noticed, so with you out here I can't get in."

Sam tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't have a key on me, either. Can you get us to the door? I'm sure if we knock, Dean will let us in."

"Yeah I can. I'm not bringing the bed, though; we're getting you a more comfortable one as soon as we get back."

"Dude, you don't even sleep."

"No, but you do and I don't want you to wake up refreshed every morning. It's going to save me a lot of time healing your aches and pains."

"You're oddly sweet."

Gabriel grinned and flapped, teleporting them to the bunker door, freeing himself from Sam's arms as the hunter raised his hand and knocked.

Dean's head jerked up as the lights flickered again, instantly pulling the gun out of the back of his jeans as he headed out of the kitchen. Cas was on his heels, cautiously following the hunter to Sam's bedroom.

"Sammy?"

When he didn't receive an answer, Dean reached out to open the door, eyes wide at the sudden lack of a bed and the twisted black metal of angel cuffs on the floor where it used to be. Cas leaned down and lifted the remains of the cuffs, feeling the hint of Gabriel's grace still lingering on the metal. "It looks like Gabriel may have used these to dampen his powers, but clearly it didn't work."

"Okay," Dean replied slowly, eyes flying to the ceiling where two hand-shaped scorch marks were clearly visible near the wall. "Where are they?"

Cas closed his eyes and listened through angel radio for his brother's thoughts, sorting through a number of conversations about a strange explosion of power before he found him. "It's hard to pinpoint him, since Gabriel is adept at avoiding angelic surveillance, but I believe that they are in the middle of a forest in Tennessee somewhere. From the direction of his thoughts, I believe that my brother intends to return Sam shortly."

"Is Gabe going to fly off with Sam like this every time . . ." Dean trailed off, not willing to finish the sentence.

"Every time they have sex?" Cas, of course, had no such verbal filter, and he tended not to get embarrassed no matter the provocation. "I doubt it. Gabriel will learn to control himself, but the relationship with Sam is very new, and the bond between human soul and angelic grace can be overwhelming the first time."

Dean chuckled, having finally tucked his gun back into his pants. "Is that why you lost control like that? Blew every light in the bunker, apparently."

Cas glanced down at his feet, the angel's equivalent of a blush. "I will endeavor to control my reactions during sex in the future."

Dean reached out and caught Cas's chin in his hand, tilting the angel's head until he could see those azure eyes again. "Don't. I love seeing you come undone. We'll just have to ask Gabe if he knows some really good angel warding for our bedroom."

Dax, having fallen asleep in his cage, looked up at the hunter, yawned, and trilled before fluffing up and closing his eyes again. "Uh, Cas; is this angelic voice thing dangerous for the birds?"

"No, animals are not bothered by my true voice. It only affects humans, since you are the only ones who would ever be able to understand us." Cas knelt down and opened Dax's cage, reaching in to pet the sleepy Caique.

"Cas, about us . . . I've never really had a solid relationship except that year with Lisa. I don't want you to be disappointed if I'm not like the boyfriends in the shows that you watch."

The angel pushed himself back to his feet and watched the uncomfortable hunter stare at his hands and refuse to make eye contact. "Dean, I don't expect anything to change. Not out there. You're still a hunter, and I don't want our relationship to get in the way of that."

"You're a hunter, too, you know," Dean chided, knowing what the angel wasn't saying. "And, yeah, I agree with you in that regard. But, whenever we aren't working, what do you want?" Cas was silent for a long moment, slowly reaching out and taking Dean's hand in his. There was a question in that grip, one that Dean answered by pulling the angel in for a quick kiss. "Yeah, I can do that. Anything else?"

"Just . . . I just want to be allowed to show that I care for you."

Dean pushed down the twinge of fear that flashed through him at Cas's words. He knew what the angel meant, and it did scare him somewhat to consider public displays of affection with his lover. He was tired of holding back, though, and if Cas wanted to hold hands sometimes, or even more, Dean was not going to stand in the way of his boyfriend's happiness. After so many years of longing, they both deserved that.

"I would like that, Cas. What do you want to do until Sam and Gabe return?"

Sam hadn't really expected an answer to their knocking. He had been pretty sure that he was going to need to have Gabriel conjure him a cell phone to try to reach Dean, though his brother generally didn't answer calls from unknown numbers. When Dean opened the door a minutes later, Cas standing just behind him with his own wings hidden away again, Sam was honestly shocked.

"Where the hell did you go?" Dean stepped to the side as Sam and Gabriel entered the bunker. "We saw the lights flicker, then Cas felt a surge of power and we went to your room. Your bed was gone, you weren't there, and there were handprints scorched into your ceiling."

"Uh, Gabe wanted to get us out of here so he didn't blow up the bunker."

Cas nodded. "Of course, that makes sense. It also explains the melted angel cuffs we found in your bedroom."

Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, I'll have to figure out a better way to deal with that. I'm pretty sure I can't blow up forests every time I sleep with Sam."

Dean rolled his eyes and headed back down the stairs. "Yeah alright. I could use Gabe to help with the angel-proofing in my room, too, I guess."

"And get some LED bulbs, seriously," Gabriel added, glancing at his brother and catching the end of a self-satisfied smile at Dean's request. Castiel rarely smiled, was rarely happy, and Dean raised somewhat in the archangel's estimation for putting that look on his brother's face.

"So are you two dating or what?"

The four men reached the bottom of the stairs, Gabriel moving to Sam's side as the hunter's arm slipped around his shoulders. "Yeah, Dean, we are. What about you?"

Dean grinned at his brother and reached out to twine fingers with Cas's and pull him closer. The angel's face lit as he smiled in amazement, dropping his eyes to stare at their joined hands. "Of course we are."

"Great! I'm starving; anyone up for lunch?"