As it turns out, Gabriel has reason to dislike Ruby. Sam practically disappears from his life entirely after that. Even their texts fade out over time. Gabriel manages to convince himself that it doesn't matter, though. Yeah, sure, he misses the hunter. He can't lie about that one. He can't pretend he doesn't wish he was Ruby, either, though that's one that he would never admit aloud. But Sam will come back eventually. They're friends, and friends don't leave each other out to dry.

Right?

And then, one day, Gabriel notices something impossible.

There's a shift in the power balance of the world, one too big not to notice. He's felt the world goes sideways before, but never to this extent, and certainly not leaning towards the darkness. There's only one thing that could have caused this, and it's one he'd rather not consider.

Lucifer is free.

He wasn't supposed to be able to break out like that. It was destined to happen, of course. Gabriel knew from day one that Sam was destined to be Lucifer's vessel, just like Dean was destined to be Michael's. But the fact that it's finally happening, after millions of years of waiting...

How did this happen? He vaguely remembers Sam mentioning something about breaking seals last time they spoke, but he didn't think much of it. He'd just assumed the guy meant some type of sigil or something. In hindsight, he probably should have taken off his Sam-Winchester-can-do-no-wrong glasses for just a few minutes, because that definitely sounds apocalyptic.

Gabriel makes the decision to seek Sam out, which proves more difficult than he had expected. It's not that he can't find the boy -- in fact, it would be damn near impossible not to have found him. He just can't seem to get the boy alone. Gabriel checks in on him for weeks, spending what time he isn't watching him getting the inside scoop. Word on the street is that Dean broke the first seal over a year ago, and Sam broke the last. Given how he broke the last, Gabriel is inclined not to believe it the first time he hears it, but every time he asks, he gets the same answer, so often that he can't deny it anymore.

Sam killed Lillith by drinking demon blood.

And he didn't breathe a word of it to Gabriel.

Gabriel had heard whispers that Lilltih had reemerged, which should have been strike one that the apocalypse was among them, but Gabriel had ditched Heaven long before he got the rundown on what the seals were. He'd smelled the demon blood on Sam every time they'd met, too -- though, admittedly, that was few and far between. He'd assumed it was just sex with Ruby that was rubbing off on him.

But Gabriel never brought any of that up with Sam. He'd just assumed that if Sam wanted to tell him something, he would. They'd been telling each other just about everything for a while, excluding the Trickster's other aliases. He'd been so sure that if something major was going on, Sam would tell him.

And he didn't.

But Gabriel sets that out of his mind. He's just here to talk to Sam, not to point fingers. So, when he sees Sam getting ready to leave the bar he started working at, god knows why, Gabriel is ready.

"Sam."

Sam's head whips around to look at him, reaching for his waistband as if about to pull out a gun that he doesn't have anymore. When he sees Gabriel's face, he relaxes a bit, though not as much as Gabriel had hoped. He's far more on edge than he usually is when they see each other. It's almost disconcerting.

"What are you doing here?" Sam hisses.

"Looking for you, dumbass," Gabriel says. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Gabriel says. "I mean why do you work here? You're one of the best hunters the world has ever seen, and you're gonna spend the rest of your days bartending and living off tips? That's not the Sam Winchester I know."

"First of all, it's Keith," Sam says.

"What?"

"My name," he says. "I go by Keith now."

Gabriel scoffs. "You're really burning all the pages and starting fresh, huh? What happened to you?"

Sam glances around as if making sure no one's listening. "Look, this is the absolute wrong place to talk about this."

"Then where's the right place?" Gabriel asks. "You've blown me off for way too long, and I've got a lot of questions."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Sam says, and he really does look sorry, which wasn't quite his intention. "Do you want me to drive you to my place? I can explain there."

"I can just teleport us there if you tell me where you live," Gabriel offers. "I'll take your car, too; drop it in a parking space for you."

Sam shakes his head. "I'm done with the supernatural shit. I'd rather just drive."

They don't talk during the ride to his place. Sam clearly wants to save the serious discussion for his place, and how the hell is Gabriel supposed to make small talk with him? This is not his Sam Winchester. Hell, he's claiming he's not Sam Winchesters at all -- and Gabriel isn't just talking about the name change. He's working at a bar? Actually working, not just hustling pool for some spending money outside of his credit card scams? He's not even in the same general vicinity as his brother? He's done with the supernatural? Nothing could have prepared Gabriel for this.

Sam gets out of his shitty car in a shitty parking lot before leading Gabriel to the shitty door of his shitty apartment... He's definitely not living the high life right now. This looks like torture. The inside is barely better than the outside -- cleaned up a little bit, doubtlessly Sam's doing -- but Gabriel could never last a day here.

But the only thing that seems to phase Sam is the fact that the bed isn't made, because he quickly tosses the blankets back to where they're supposed to be. He takes a seat on the edge of his bed, and Gabriel just stares at him, unmoving.

Sam pats the bed. "Want to sit?"

"Um..." Gabriel hesitates, not entirely sure he wants to touch anything in this shithole, before reluctantly accepting Sam's invitation and sitting down by his side.

He turns his body to look at the hunter, but Sam stares straight at the wall. Gabriel understands body language enough to know that this is not a good thing. Whatever's on his mind is definitely eating at him, and that just proves to Gabriel that he needs to know what it is.

"So?" Gabriel prompts. "What's going on, Sam?"

Sam sighs. "I just... I fucked up. Bad."

"How so?" Gabriel asks, as if he hasn't heard the entire apocalypse story from his contacts that are far more in-the-loop than he is.

"Well, for once, Ruby double-crossed us," Sam says.

Gabriel pretends to be shocked, as if he didn't know from the moment Sam mentioned her species that she would do that.

"What did she do?" Gabriel asks like a concerned friend, keeping his I-told-you-sos to himself.

"She lied," Sam says. "She never loved me. It was all an act, just to get me to..."

"Get you to what?" Gabriel prompts.

Sam shakes his head. "Nothing. Forget it. It's old news now."

"Did this have anything to do with that big blast of energy I felt a few weeks ago?" Gabriel ventures, just to give him the chance to come clean. "What was that about?"

"I don't know."

"I think it was the big thing in Maryland, if that jogs your memory a bit," Gabriel offers.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Gabriel nods slowly. He's glad they've gotten that out of the way now. Sam may not know it, but this completely changed the game. He was willing to overlook the demon whore that stole Sam away, but he draws the line at keeping secrets, especially of this magnitude. The whole damn world is going to end, and Sam won't even admit that Lucifer's walking free. If this is the hill he wants to die on, Gabriel can't feel bad that he's going to die on it.

"Well," Gabriel says, "I can tell something's eating you. Can I ask what it is?"

Sam finally looks over at him, misery written across his face. "Guilt. Per usual."

"About what?" Gabriel asks, feigning ignorance as if he doesn't know exactly what's going on.

"Ruby," Sam says. "She betrayed us, and now she's dead, so there's no one for anyone to take it out on but me." He chuckles humorlessly. "Not that I don't deserve it, but still."

"Is that why Dean seems to be keeping a 50-mile barrier between the two of you?"

"Noticed that, did you?"

Gabriel sighs. "Come on, Sam. He's your brother. You could be the biggest dumbass on the planet, and he'll always come running back to you. You can't say you don't know that."

"No, it's different this time," Sam says.

"How so?"

"It just is," Sam says. "I was an idiot, and I lost everything for it. I lost Dean; I lost Bobby..." He sighs. "I really fucked up. I can't explain it, but I did. It's not something I can worm my way out of. Not this time."

Gabriel lets out a long breath. He may know the basics of what went down -- demon blood, seals, Lilith, and boom goes the box -- but he doesn't have any idea how this affected the Winchester dynamic. He can't promise Sam that it's a quick fix because he hasn't seen Dean in over a year. He didn't do a therapy session with the guy before seeking Sam out. He might as well get what little bit of the story Sam's willing to give him.

"Why the change in profession, though?" Gabriel asks. "You're one of the best hunters I know. You could take on the world on your own."

Sam shakes his head. "I think the world's had enough of me meddling in its problems."

Gabriel frowns. "Well, if it's any consolation, it's going to take a hell of a lot more than getting backstabbed by some demon whore to make me hate you."

Sam offers him a small smile, but it doesn't look real in the slightest. "Thanks."

"Come on, cheer up, bucko," Gabriel says. "I have been waiting to run into you again for months, and not once did I picture our reunion being a big sob fest."

"I wish it was that easy," Sam mutters.

"You know what you need?"

Sam sighs. "What?"

"A distraction."

"That's what this new job is," Sam says. "A distraction. A way to pretend I didn't fuck up as badly as I did."

"No, a real distraction," Gabriel says. "Something to take your mind off everything."

"Like what?" Sam asks. "Getting drunk? I work at a bar, remember? Kinda deromanticized the idea of drinking 'til you pass out."

Gabriel thinks for a moment. He has to admit, getting drunk is usually his go-to, especially considering this whole friendship started at a bar. But everyone know the holy trifecta is sex, drugs, and booze, and if he doesn't want to get fucked up...

"Have you ever been with a guy?" Gabriel asks.

"What?" That takes Sam out of his pity fest immediately.

"Have you ever been with a guy?" Gabriel asks again. "I mean, romantically, sexually, whatever?"

"Um... no?" Sam says uncertainly.

"Would you be open to trying?"

Sam stares at him uncomprehendingly. "What are you talking about?"

"You want a distraction? This is the best distraction I've got for you."

When Sam still doesn't get it, Gabriel figures he might as well make a move. A distraction's a distraction, no matter what form it comes in, and as long as Sam doesn't overthink it, this is going to be exactly what he's looking for.

Gabriel cups Sam's face in his hands and presses their lips together. He tastes like sweat and booze, not that Gabriel would expect any different from the guy -- once a hunter, always a hunter, after all. And, for a moment, it almost feels like Sam kisses him back.

But then the hunter pulls away, gently removing Gabriel's hands.

"What was that?" Sam asks, his voice almost shaking.

"A distraction," Gabriel replies. "I mean, who else are you going to find that gets what you're going through -- sort of -- and is down with being used, you know?"

"Really?" Sam asks, sounding both surprised and a little judgemental.

"Really," Gabriel replies.

"You're not... coming onto me... are you?" Sam asks.

"Romantically? Not at all," Gabriel replies. "But sexually? I mean, end of the world and all that. I might be the distraction you need, no strings attached."

"And you're sure about this?" Sam asks.

"Of course I am," Gabriel says. "So? What's it gonna be, Mr. Samman?"

"Don't call me that," Sam mutters, right before pressing their lips together and...

Well, you get the picture.