Chapter 124

"You know," Gabriel says, "Jack is probably talking to Lucifer right now, and I really don't trust the two of them alone together."

"And I was supposed to be back in the war room by now," Sam adds. "Dean won't be happy if I go back late and don't have Jack with me."

"Guess we should probably call it quits, huh?" Gabriel says. "Would Dean be incredibly upset if I followed you and looked for Jack while you head back?"

Sam shrugs. "Only one way to find out."

So that's what they do. Sam slows down, giving Gabriel time to look around as they head towards the war room. They chat the whole way, obviously, but Gabriel's mind is only half in it, too preoccupied by his hunt for Jack — or, more specifically, his fear of Jack and Lucifer bonding — to pay much attention.

"Well," Gabriel says as they near the war room, "it looks like my cue to skadaddle."

"Are you sure you don't want to ask around?" Sam asks. "See if anyone out there found him?"

Gabriel shakes his head. "I'd rather stay away from... well, everyone. Until this whole lockdown is over, I'm done dealing with people."

"Myself included?" Sam asks.

"No, you and Jack are the only two that made the cut," Gabriel tells him. "And I'll suffer through Lucifer's presence if I have to, but that's about it."

"I didn't realize everyone else here was getting on your nerves," Sam says. He certainly didn't seem to dislike any of them, although he hasn't interacted with them in weeks, so it's possible that things changed.

"They're not," Gabriel says. "The bunker as a whole is, and I don't really want to waste time getting roped into a conversation with them when I could be helping Jack try to bust us out of here."

"Well, good luck," Sam says. "We're all counting on you. No pressure."

Gabriel chuckles. "See ya, Sammy."

And with that, Gabriel walks away, ready to resume his search. He doesn't make it very far, though, because Sam calls after him.

"Miss me already?" Gabriel says teasingly.

"I found Jack."

Gabriel stares at him for a moment, dumbfounded. He found the kid already? He hasn't even moved. The only place he could be is...

With everyone else. Because he's overly social. Gabriel probably should have seen that coming.

He teleports to Sam's side and follows his gaze to see Jack talking to Dean, Castiel, and Michael. That's certainly an interesting group of people.

"Oh, cool, you're back!" Jack waves at them, beaming.

"Hey, kiddo," Gabriel says, glancing at his new friends warily as he walks towards them, Sam at his side. "Whatcha doing?" Had Jack just been talking to Michael or just to Dean and Castiel, Gabriel wouldn't have thought much of it, but he's not sure he likes that there's a whole party going on of people with nothing in common.

"I'm telling them about my universe," Jack says. "They didn't even know I used to live here."

"Woah, crazy," Gabriel says half-heartedly. "Alright, wanna head back to our secret hiding spot and go back to work?"

Jack frowns. "Do we ?"

Gabriel cocks his head to the side, confused. "Do you not want to?"

Jack shakes his head. "I'm actually having way more fun out there than I was trying to break us out."

Gabriel purses his lips and fights the urge to speak, knowing damn well that nothing that comes out of his mouth is going to be nice.

Fortunately, Sam jumps in with, "So you're done trying to overpower God?"

Jack shrugs. "Probably not. I'm just taking a break."

That makes Gabriel feel a better. He likes Jack and he's glad he's taking care of himself, but he'd honestly rather force the kid to keep working at it and get them out. Sure, it would suck for everyone involved, but it would be worth it in the long run. Unfortunately, he's sure Jack would disagree.

"Well, unbreak soon," Dean says, "'cause I kinda want to get out of here."

"I know," Jack says. "I get it —"

"You haven't been stuck here half as long as the rest of us have," Dean reminds him. "Give it a few months. You'll get it then."

Castiel "subtly" slaps Dean on the shoulder.

"Do you think I want to be here?" Jack asks. "I would give anything to get back to my universe and see my family again. But that's not going to happen if I burn myself out, so I don't think taking a little break is going to make much of a difference.

Logically, Gabriel is completely aware that Jack's right. Not-so-logically, he still wishes Jack would just shut up and break them out. Does that make him a bad person?

Dean seems to concede, too, because he doesn't keep complaining.

"Don't worry, kid," Sam says. "We'll get you back home where you belong. Until then, you're welcome to hang out with us."

Jack just beams.

At least one person here knows how to deal with kids, because Gabriel sure as hell doesn't.