Gabriel carefully aims the can of dark red spray paint, working on the final touches to the devil's trap. Castiel chucks his own empty can into the boot of their car. Gabriel looks up, meeting his brother's eyes and smiling. His little brother was solemn, his blue eyes gleaming in the low light. It was a quiet night, aside from the sound of insects, and it was peaceful. He knew it was the calm before the storm though. He could only hope that nothing went wrong. 

"You done?" Sam was standing nearby, angel blade in hand. "We need to start."

Rolling his eyes, Gabriel finishes the final line. "Jeez, yes I'm done, thanks for the help by the way."

Sam fixes him with a cold look, "don't talk to me like that, boy, remember I can and will crush you like a bug."

Gabriel squares his shoulders, glaring at the angel. He wasn't going to let himself be intimidated by Sam, "yeah? Try me." 

"Hey, this is not the time for fighting." Dean hisses, Castiel nodding in agreement next to him. Since when were they so friendly?

"Lets just do this." Gabriel grabs the small box they'd put together, carefully dropping it into the small hole and burying it. Dusting his hands off, he steps back out of the trap. 

"What happens if one doesn't sho-" Castiel starts to ask.

"Why am I not surprised?" A very unamoosed looking Demon stood in the middle of the devil's trap. "Hello Novaks," She looked over their group. "And angels? My my, Gabriel I heard you were known for killing a few angels."

Gabriel smirks, "sometimes a temporary truce is beneficial to everyone."

"We just want to have a few words," Sam spins his blade in his hand. "A nice little chat."

The demon blinks, reveling red eyes. "Sounds delightful, but I'm not in a talking mood."

Now it was Sam's turn to smirk, his eyes flashing a cold blue. "Oh, we weren't asking." He steps forward, his movements smooth and fluid.

The back of Gabriel's neck prickles, in that moment, something didn't feel right. He spun around, looking behind him to find nothing there apart from dark, shadowy shrub. Rubbing the back of his neck, Gabriel tries to shake the feeling off. 

"Why are the demons so interested in this town?" Sam was asking, and Gabriel forces himself to focus back in on the scene. "What are your plans?"

The demon simply smirks, shaking her head at the angel. "Oh boy, wouldn't you want to know?"

Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Well, yeah actually, we would."

Her eyes narrow ever so slightly, "Boy, you should run off and play hunter somewhere else, before you get in over your head."

Was this demon serious? "I've dealt with worse than you, you black eyed bitch." Gabriel glances over at his brother, sharing a look with him. Something definitely didn't feel right. "So why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on before I have to use... extreme methods to make you tell me." Gabriel says with a bold tone, keeping back the wariness that only years of hunting could bring to him. Call it a sixth sense, something you pick up after a few fights gone wrong, but never had his gut been wrong before. 

Keeping his eyes on the demon in the trap, he motions to Cas with a flick of his knife. He felt eyes on him, and looks sideways long enough to see Sam's questioning look. Gabe could do nothing to tell Sam of his unease, not with the demons keen gaze on them. 

"I doubt that honey," the demon finally says. "Kill me, and five more will come in my place, you're out numbered here, and it doesn't matter how many angel's you've killed or how many fights you've won because you'll never win this one."

"You sound pretty confident for a demon stuck in a devils trap." Sam's face was devoid of any emotions that might shine a light on what he was really thinking. 

"Tell me, angel, how far are you willing to go to stop us? Because there will be sacrifices for all of you if you continue to go stubbornly down this path." She locks eyes with Gabriel then. "Are you really willing to risk everything you love just to die in vain in the end?"

Gabriel takes a small breath, his words getting caught in his throat as he thinks of his brother. Was this just another path of self destruction that they were charging down? Would this end, once again, with one of them dead?

"Everything takes sacrifice," Sam says softly. "Its just a matter of whether or not the cause is worth it."

"Enough of this dicking around," Dean steps forward. "Why don't you start answering some of our questions?" 

Her smirk drops. "I won't tell you anything, so why don't you just kill me already?"

A demon willing to die without a fight? Something definitely wasn't right there. Gabriel opens his mouth to mention this to Sam, when he noticed movement out the corner of his eye. 

"Gladly," Dean growls, stepping forward with his blade in hand.

"Dean, don't." Sam grabs his brother's arm back, shaking his head. 

"What's wrong? Scared that your brother is gonna mess up again?" The demon said. Gabriel's attention is dragged back to the conversation, even as he stared into the dark shadows.

"Don't try getting in my head, demon."

"What? Don't want your brother to know of your deepest fears? Like how you fear he is heading down the same path as your dearest older brother?"

"What the hell is she talking about Sammy?"

Despite his concerns, Gabriel pulls his eyes back to the angels. Sam's eyes had widened ever so slightly, it was the most emotion he had shown since summoning her. Dean looked... hurt?

"She's lying, trying to stir us up." Gabriel narrowed his eyes, the usually emotionless angel looked worried. 

"Really? So you don't think Dean is gonna end up like Lucifer?"

The moment she finished speaking, a deathly silence descended upon their small group. Sam looked ready to kill her himself, even going as far as taking half a step forward before Gabriel spots a dark figure leaping out towards Cas. His warning cry is cut short as his throat tightens with emotion.

It was Dean who stopped the other demon from driving a blade into Castiel's back. He moves with lightening fast reflexes, pulling Gabe's little brother out of the way and deflecting the demon's knife with his own blade. 

Five more demons pour out from the shadows. Gabriel wills his slow to react limbs to catch up with his thoughts as he moves to dodge a blade glinting towards him in the growing dawn light. He risks a quick glance around, hoping to see his brother but the demon was already swinging at him again, forcing him to focus on defending himself. All the while, the demon chuckled from her place in the trap.

~~~~~

Omc I'm back! Again... I posted a note in my random/author notes book explaining my absence but long story short, it's been a week (well, few weeks). Life is hella chaotic and challenging right now but I'm trying to get back into the groove of writing soooo, have this chapter!