"So you're saying that you can see him? Like, see him?" Sam paced around the patio with his hand rubbing against his chin. Even since he returned to the camp site, the story intrigued him yet didn't add up. Despite making sense of the situation, it didn't seem plausible. Michael and Lucifer were sat on the bench that was placed under the cabin window, Lucifer holding Michael's hand tightly out of fear and confusion. With fingers interlocked, Michael brushed his thumb gently across Lucifer's hand for comfort as words couldn't fall from his lips. "What does he look like? Because when I saw him-" before Sam could unleash his tangent, Lucifer had butted in.

"Can we please stop addressing my brother by a pronoun? He's not an object, he has a name. Gabriel was his name, so use it please," Lucifer spoke aloud with annoyance. Sam and Michael paused to look at Lucifer who had anger written on his face. "Not trying to be a bitch," he half-heartedly uttered when he felt the eyes of the others watching him. Michael sighed and regained eye contact with Sam, nodding in agreement to his previous question. He made a gesture. He lifted his hand to point at his eyes and nodded, then pointed at Sam's eyes and shook his head; as to say he can see what Sam could not. Sam looked down at the wooden floor below him, trying to gain his thoughts together and piece the story up.

Without hesitation, Sam goes into the cabin without asking either of the boys. As soon as he took his first step back into the cabin, he felt heavy. All the emotions, good and bad memories returned and least of all, the source of the nightmares. "You say I can't see him, then I'll lure him to me and you'll give me the thumbs up," he shouted out to Michael, who looked at him like he was a madman. Sam wandered the ground floor, using bribery to try lure out this mystery spirit. From "I'll give you candy," to even "I'll help you find happiness,", nothing had seemed to work. Sam checked every room, every corner and every hidden spot possible. Yet, nothing was happening. He sighed, meeting Michael in the porch area, speaking softly. "How did you manage to see him?". He grabbed the same notebook that Lucifer gave to him and wrote out what he could remember:

"All I remember was Lucifer hitting me across the face and then I was able to see. I don't remember anything that happened before then, I honestly only remember my encounter with Lucifer a couple days ago, everything else is a blur,"

Sam hummed to himself. "Some crazy shit is going down, like nothing is making sense," he said to Michael, who only shrugged. Sam had noticed that Michael's eyes widen slightly, frozen in place; as if he was being told to not move. Sam furrowed his brows and looked around, confused even more. "Michael?" He asked softly to gain his attention back. "Is Gabriel around?". It was a question that Sam struggled to utter, but got the response he wanted. Michael slightly nodded, and began to write. Whilst writing frantically, Sam turned around to face the direction Michael was looking into. He clasped his hands together and held them in front of his chest, speaking aloud yet softly. "Why won't you show yourself to me? I can't help you if you don't help me Gabe. We were a team, remember? We can do this together if you please," he paused, lowering his eye line to the floor. "Please, help us help you."

Michael grabbed onto Sam's shoulder and cake to face him. With a shaken hand, he presented the note to Sam, who glanced at it briefly before leaving the cabin, and into the woods.

***

He laid there absentmindedly, his fingers fumbling with the end of his shirt. He hasn't seen his brother or his lover for a while now. However, Castiel had grown to dislike company, he didn't feel like it was necessary to learn to love people when he knows they'll abandon him again and again. After all, that's how Dean treated him. Leading him into a falsehood to then abandon his broken soul and leave it within the darkness. After several pleas to reach out to him, he gave up. It was clear that there was nothing Dean wanted from the budding friendship, he simply used him as a distraction to life.

From across the room, his phone was buzzing quite frequently. Castiel had thought, who would be bothering him so urgently? He wasn't in a rush to attend to his phone, he was certain it wasn't anyone important that would help move the plot along. He allowed it to ring for a while, before getting a notification about a voice mail left by a caller. He turned his head towards his phone, who would be so urgent to contact him? Castiel wasn't a talkative person, nor spent much time with people. Lucifer rarely calls him, Michael doesn't have his number, Gabriel is gone, Sam and Dean wouldn't have any purpose of calling him. Yet, he was intrigued.

He rose from his bed and ambled his way to his phone. Laying screen down, he gently picked up the phone and unlocked it.

Dean: 32 missed calls
Dean: 1 voice mail

His mind must be playing tricks with him. With the lack of sleep, he wasn't feeling the greatest. But. He couldn't think that this wasn't real. He opened the voice mail and began to listen.

"Hey Cas, it's Dean. I know, you probably don't want to hear from me and I get it. I went cold turkey on you and left you in the dust and I regret it so much. Things have been going on Cas, I didn't want to drag you into them. Please understand what I did was to save you from getting attached, I promise. But please, I need your help. Sam is missing, he escaped the hospital and I can't find him. I'm dreading that he's gone back to that silly camp on the hunt to "save Gabriel". It's all he talked about. Saving Gabriel. Liberating Gabriel. Freeing Gabriel! It doesn't make much sense, I know. But please Castiel, from the bottom of my heart, I need your help. I'm not asking for forgiveness, I just need your help to set things right," there was a pause. "Get back to me when you hear this, please."  The voicemail ended, and so he locked his phone.

"Liberating... Freeing... To save him?" Tears trickled down the rosy cheeks of the young boy. "I'm not falling for any shit. Not again Winchester."

***

Night fell on the campsite, and all heads were resting in their warm toasty beds except for one. Sam sat at his window in the room that Dean and Castiel once shared together. Lucifer told him not to enter the room that him and Gabriel shared, due to it being too emotionally exhausting on both parties. Yet, Sam wanted to see it one final time. It was just a room, a dusty little room. But to Sam, it was a place of joy and where happiness was created. He never gathered all his belongings when he left either, he wouldn't mind seeing how it was left on that dismal night. To get to the room, he would have to pass Lucifer's room and he couldn't  be certain whether both boys were asleep. But he had to know.

He quietly rose from the chair and put on some slippers to protect his feet from the cold floorboards. He made his way to the door, turning the nob very carefully to avoid any unnecessary sounds. The door pulled towards Sam, allowing him to exit and head towards that special room. He knew some boards creaked due to the place being so old, so he took his time to be sure he wouldn't place his weight in the wrong area. Footstep after footstep, he made it past Lucifer's door. He stopped, hearing no noise from their room, thankfully.

He edged closer to their room. As he got closer, the hallway felt more sinister and darker, like an entity of evil hung over it, caping the eyes of the lost in its engulfing darkness. Using the brightness of his phone, he lit the way, moving closer until he was in front of the door. He acknowledged the beautiful orchid that sat at the foot of the door, despite having such beauty, it looked dead and hopeless. He placed his hand on the knob, feeling the coldness feed through his fingertips. He turned it ever so slightly, hearing the sound of the mechanism unlocking, allowing the door to open. He peered inside, seeing the darkness within. He scurried into the room and shut the door behind him quietly. With a flick of the switch, the lights turned on, providing a graceful amount of light into the room. It wasn't too bright, nor too dark. It was the perfect amount to not hurt Sam's eyes.

He walked into the centre of the room, admiring everything that was left in its previous position. Gabriel's bed was unmade and messy, with the duvet almost pulled completely off the bed. His clothes were draped on the end of the bed, crinkled and unfolded. Sam's bed was the opposite, completely made and his old clothes were folded nicely at the foot of the bed. Though dust had started to collect around the room, it looked almost the same. He took a seat on the end of Gabriel's bed, slowly taking hold of one of his old hoodies. Gabriel's favourite; a black hoodie with golden wings embroidered on the back. He placed it to his chest, still able to sell Gabriel's scent on it. Sam's eyes brimmed, missing his dearest companion with all his heart. He wanted to show his friend the world, show him that life is amazing out there. Yet, all he had, was this old dusty hoodie.

He held the hoodie tighter, allowing his body to close in more and allowing his emotions to run freely. His neck felt cold, but his back felt warm. Almost as if someone was pushed against his back. His upper arms felt slightly tight, and that something covered his hands. He sat there, allowing the emotions to take over completely. "Why did you leave?..." he muttered quietly, not even sure if anyone would hear. "You were everything to me. Why put me through this pain?" He sniffled. He glanced up, with wide, watery eyes. He could see arms wrapped around him, he reckoned the hands that were placed upon his own. He didn't move, he didn't stir. He sat there, missing his beloved friend more and more.

"Pain is temporary. When you rise above it, you become a better man. I didn't mean to do this to you, I didn't ask to die. I wanted to spend my life with you, we could of been a great team y'know? But angels need to watch over someone, luckily I was given a man with a pure heart of gold."

~~ "Pain is Temporary" art was created by 466TrickstersCandy go pay some love to this wonderful being!