Writings and Stuff!

Gabriel shook his head and swallowed. 

But…

His eyes drifted back to the computer.  The message existed.  It was longer than a standard communication, but not that much longer.  Gabriel swallowed and pulled out his phone, calling up the jet.  He wasn’t taking any chances. 

He phoned Percival in and begged him to cover the rest of the shift.  It only took one word for him to come in.  Sam.  Sam might be alive.  He might be dead.  But someone sent a message that only a Kingsman could send.  Dean, shit, no, he had to remember to call him Dagonet.  Dean needed to know, needed to be told, but Gabriel was already on his way to the jet, and Percival would be able to decode the damn message, alert everyone else.

Gabriel was halfway over the Atlantic Ocean before he even thought to call Kali or Merlin.  He couldn’t sleep, he only paced up and down the aisle, replaying the scene from Sam’s shooting in his mind.  It had been a shot to the head.  There had been so much blood…

Gabriel swallowed as his phone buzzed in his pocket.  He pulled it out.  Merlin.  Merlin would have decoded the message.  Perhaps the message was meant for him.  “Galahad,” he managed, tightening his hand around his phone so it didn’t shake. 

“Gabriel,” Merlin said. 

Gabriel fell into a seat, relief washing over him in waves.  Merlin would only use his real name if-

“He’s alive.”

Gabriel sucked in a breath, feeling dizzy.  Alive, Sam was alive, had been alive for three months, he’d survived.  He’d managed to survive.  Somehow, he’d survived a shot to the head at point blank range, how had he done that, had there been some gadget, but then, why hadn’t Merlin known about it?

“Gabriel,” Merlin called again. 

Gabriel shook himself and snapped back to attention.  “I’m here.  I’m here,” he reassured Merlin.  “I’m en route.  I’ll be there in four hours.” 

Silence on the other end of the phone had him wondering.  Did Sam not want to see him?  Would he have wanted to be seen by anyone other than him?  Gabriel waited for the other shoe to drop from Merlin. 

“Try to wait to kiss him until he’s able to stand.  He only woke up from his coma yesterday.” 

Gabriel wanted to respond, but the dial-tone beeped in his ear before he could.  He pulled the phone away and stared at it.  He swallowed, his mouth dry.  Merlin had known?  Had they all known? 

Well, fuck it, there was nothing that he could do about it now.  Nothing at all.  Gabriel sank back down into one of the plus seats and took a deep breath, rubbing his hands over his face.  Fuck.  Fucking hell. 

Landing in Frankfurt didn’t take long.  The two hour drive to where the church had been took him an hour and a half.  Gabriel had no idea how long he’d been awake now, but exhaustion was licking at the edges of his mind. 

But Sam was alive, he was awake, and he needed to find him.  Now. 

A quick glance at his watch told him that he wasn’t going to get far at nine thirty in the evening on a Sunday.  He needed to figure something else out and he needed to do it quickly.  Gabriel found a nearby motel that was willing to take cash and bought himself a shitty bed to crash in. 

He slept for more than ten hours, and when he woke up, sun was blazing in the window and there were birds chirping outside.  Gabriel wanted to shoot all of them, but the idea that Sam was alive, and waiting to be found was enough to keep him from making a scene. 

Gabriel tugged on his suit (only a little wrinkled from the plane ride and wearing it two days in a row) and made his way down to the police station.  He had to start somewhere. 

He got laughed out of the station, in the wake of V-day, there were thousands of missing person cases, and not one where the person had been found without one of those cases.  Gabriel had no idea if Sam had used an alias, so he couldn’t even give his name to try and hunt him down like that. 

Afterwards, it seemed like a good idea to start searching each of the hospitals one by one.  Gabriel stole a pair of scrubs and a lab coat from an absent doctor.  They were far too long in the arms, but thankfully, everyone was so busy that they didn’t notice.  He stole an empty clipboard, grabbed some blank forms and walked around with a purpose checking room by room. 

No one ever paid attention to you while you had a clipboard in your hands and you walked with a purpose.  Gabriel almost snickered as he checked another room in the rehabilitation suite and nearly dropped the fucking clipboard. 

Sam. 

Fuck, Sam was right there, in a wheelchair, staring out the window. 

He forced his legs to move and he turned the doorknob silently, pushing the door open. 

Gabriel stood in the doorway of the rehabilitation suite, staring at the figure in the wheelchair.  His hair was shorter, but the color was right.  So was the breadth of his shoulders.  Was Sam unable to walk?  Horror curled in the pit of his stomach at the idea that Sam couldn’t walk.  Would Sam blame him for that?  He’d deserve it, all of this was his fault. 

“Are you going to stand in the doorway forever, Gabriel, or are you going to come in?” Sam called. 

Gabriel stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, watching as Sam wheeled himself around.  “You cut your hair,” he said. 

“It was either shave my head or have to suffer the indignity of a comb-over,” Sam said, smiling at Gabriel.  “I am glad the doctors selected the first option for me.” 

Gabriel wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch Sam or shoot him.  Both sounded like excellent options.  There was also kissing him, but damn, gentlemen had more tact than that and Sam deserved better than that.  He took a step closer to Sam.  “Can you walk?” 

Sam nodded and Gabriel felt relief rush through him.  Oh fuck.  Thank fuck. 

“I have feeling in all of my extremities.  There appears to have been no nerve damage,” Sam said, wheeling himself closer to Gabriel.  “I sent a message as soon as I woke from the coma they placed me in for the surgery.” 

Gabriel swallowed hard and nodded again.  He forced his hands to unclench and slid them into his pockets.  He was wearing his suit, the suit that Sam had picked out for him, that he had saved the world in.  “We saved the world.” 

Sam smiled at him and Gabriel took a step forward without meaning to move.  “Indeed.  All looks to be in one piece.” 

“Minus a few bits here and there, yeah,” Gabriel croaked.  He cleared his throat and tried to focus on Sam, but his image was getting blurrier by the second. 

“Gabriel,” Sam said. 

“They gave me your alias,” Gabriel blurted.  “They call me Galahad and it’s wrong, Sam, I’ll never be Galahad, and now that you’re back-” 

“Gabriel, come here,” Sam ordered, wheeling himself closer. 

Gabriel shuffled closer to Sam, and looked down at him, struggling to breathe, because Sam was shorter than him in the chair and that wasn’t right, couldn’t be right.  He dropped to his knees and rested his head on Sam’s thigh, clenching his eyes shut to try to prevent the tears.

Long fingers slowly combed through his hair and Gabriel choked on a sob.  He reached out and tightened his hand on Sam’s calf, squeezing him, reassuring himself that Sam was here, that he was real. 

“Oh, my dear boy,” Sam whispered, combing Gabriel’s hair back from his face as Gabriel started to cry, his shoulders shaking as he clung to him.  “It’s all right.  Let it out.  Breathe and let it out.” 

“I’m so mad at you,” Gabriel said, tangling his fingers in the fabric of Sam’s pants.  “So, so mad at you, I’m going to kick your ass when you are back in fighting shape.” 

Sam smiled at Gabriel.  “I would expect nothing less from you, Gabriel.  Nothing less.” 

For the first time in three months, Gabriel let the rest of the tension drain out of his shoulders.  Even if he was kicked out of Kingsman, even if he got booted out to the curb, it wouldn’t matter.  Sam was here.  Sam was alive.  Sam was safe. 

They could figure everything else out later.

~!~!~!~

It took Gabriel two days to forge the paperwork required to get Sam out of the hospital and on his way back to England.  Merlin helped, creating a fake ID for him so he looked like one of Sam’s younger brothers.  Dean showing up a day later also helped. 

They managed to get Sam loaded into the Kingsman jet and were on their way back to England when Gabriel got the call that he was needed in Italy.  Militant group attempting to take power and they needed to be stopped. 

“Leaving already?” Sam asked, blinking his eyes open slowly to smile at Gabriel.  “Saving the world again?” 

Gabriel swallowed hard and stared at Sam.  His heart turned over in his chest and he nodded.  “Yeah, as usual.”  Sam’s smile softened even further and Gabriel had to look down at the carpet of the plane so he didn’t say or do something he’d regret.  “I’d uh, I’d better get some shut eye since I’m going to take off right after we get home.” 

“Of course, Gabriel,” Sam said, closing his eyes.  “Safe travels, happy hunting.” 

Gabriel couldn’t say anything after that, he could only ignore the knowing look from Dean as he hit the button to allow his chair to stretch out into a bed.  Sleep didn’t come for him. 

~!~!~!~

Gabriel didn’t sleep a lot the following weeks.  Kingsman training had taught him to operate on a minimal amount of sleep. 

What little sleep he did get, he took it at the Kingsman training compound in the emergency suites.  He’d removed all of his things from Sam’s flat, erasing any hint of his stay there.  It had always been temporary. 

Loki lived on the compound with him, but Gabriel could tell he missed Sam’s flat.  Missed the rug in front of the fireplace.  Missed sitting on his feet when he was in the study.  Gabriel didn’t let himself think about it.  Just like he didn’t think about the little updates on how Sam was doing that Merlin tossed his way the longer time went by. 

Sam was in physical therapy. 

Sam had been made Arthur.

Sam and Dean had gone drinking to celebrate Sam coming off medication. 

Sam wishing him well when he saw him between missions, but keeping his distance. 

Gabriel was so focused on avoiding Sam as much as possible, he didn’t realize that it had been six months since the day he had found Sam in Kentucky.

It was natural though, they’d been busy.  It wasn’t because he was actively trying to avoid Sam.  He’d been tired, that’s why he’d turned down Sam’s offer of drinks the few times he’d made it, back in the beginning. 

And then, he was still going through his own physical therapy after he’d had his shoulder dislocated and his arm broken when Sam had offered to catch up with him, so of course he’d refused.  He’d been so angry at his own body, at his inability to do what he should have been able to do, he hadn’t wanted anyone to see him, let alone Sam.

After that, Sam had stopped asking.  His smile had gotten more polite and distant.  What did it matter that his heart shattered a little more with every smile that didn’t feel like Sam?  He was the one who’d gotten in too deep, who’d refused Sam when he reached out.  It was his fault, all of it was his fault. 

Gabriel hunched over the side of bed, trying to smile when Loki padded closer and curled up next to his feet.  “Maybe we should actually try moving into the flat that Kingsman gave us, huh?” 

Loki gave a quiet whimper and Gabriel picked him up, depositing the dog beside him in the bed.  At least Loki wouldn’t leave him.  Gabriel wrapped the blanket around the both of them and pressed his face to Loki’s soft fur.  A sob escaped him before he could muffle it.  The darkness around him felt suffocating, and the room was never really going to be his. 

Sam’s flat might not have been his, but it was better than this. 

Gabriel cried himself to sleep, glad that the room was soundproof and that no one would come looking for him.  Loki wouldn’t judge him.  Never would. 

~!~!~!~

Another month managed to pass before Sam caught up with him as he was heading to Budapest.

“Galahad!” 

Gabriel stiffened and forced himself to stop.  Sam calling him Galahad felt wrong.  Sam calling him anything other than Gabriel felt wrong.  When had he become Galahad instead of Gabriel?  When that that happened? 

He plastered a smile on his face and turned to Sam.  His hair was almost back to its normal length.  Framing his face as he caught up.  Gabriel nodded to him and put one hand into his pocket, so Sam wouldn’t see how it trembled.  “Arthur, is everything all right?” 

Sam stopped in front of him and gave him a searching look that Gabriel couldn’t do anything more than squirm under.  He cleared his throat and forced himself to look up and meet those hazel eyes.  “Arth-”

“Gabriel,” Sam said. 

Gabriel shoved his other hand into his pocket.  He was sure that Sam saw him, but fuck it didn’t matter, because his hands were shaking.  When was the last time Sam had called him Gabriel?  He couldn’t remember anymore.  When had Sam stopped saying his name?  “Yeah?” he croaked. 

“You’re in no condition to go on this mission.  I’ll have Dagonet handle it,” Sam said, matter of fact. 

Gabriel bristled and glared at Sam.  “I’m fine, I’ve already been briefed by Merlin.  The jet is waiting.”  He turned and stalked towards the door. 

“Then would you tell me why you have spent the last six months living in the temporary quarters here, rather than at your own flat?” Sam called. 

Gabriel froze, with his hand on the door.  “I think that’s none of your damn business, Arthur,” he spat, turning the handle.  He stalked towards the jet that was waiting for him and climbed up the stairs, throwing himself into one of the seats. 

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest.  Maybe he could catch a few hours of sleep on the way there.  He needed it.  Gabriel took a deep breath.  If he meditated, he could likely get some real rest. 

“You’re benched, Gabriel.  Until further notice,” Sam said. 

Gabriel snapped his eyes open and glared at Sam, who was sitting in the seat across from him.  “You can’t afford to bench me.  We have too much work to do.” 

“I can, and I am.  You are exhausted, at the end of your rope.  Your mental state is a wreck, you aren’t sleeping, and for some reason, you refuse to leave the training compound,” Sam said, standing up again. 

“Lancelot will be here in an hour to pick you up and take you to your flat, Gabriel.  I suggest you find a way to rest and relax for the remainder of the week.” 

Gabriel glared at Sam’s back as he left the plane and resisted the urge to punch the wall.  He took a few deep breaths and managed to make himself leave the plane.  He ignored the knowing look from Merlin and stalked back to his room.  Loki looked up at him excitedly and Gabriel gave himself a moment to pet him before he started shoving his things into a duffel bag.  His other suit went into the traveling case.

He stopped and looked around the room.  Had he really had so little?  Gabriel sank down on the edge of the bed and hid his face in his hands.  Fuck.  He’d really fucked this one up.  The one good thing he had in his life and he’d managed to get to the point where he had to be told to take a break. 

“Well, you are a mess,” Kali said, walking towards Gabriel, picking up his bangs.  “Come on, I’m taking you home.” 

Gabriel stared at her and managed to push himself up and off the bed.  He let her drive him to what should have been home and stared at the building.  He didn’t even have the key. 

“Get out of the car, Gabriel,” Kali ordered, pulling a key out of her pocket as she walked towards the front door.  She opened it and stepped into the hallway.  “You have Sam to thank for furnishing this place.  On the other hand, you’d know that if you stopped holding him as far away as you can.” 

Gabriel glared at her back as she put the bags on the staircase.  Loki immediately ran into the house, racing around the different rooms and up the stairs.  Gabriel watched him go, wondering if Kali was going to add to the lecture. 

“Now, tell me what happened.  Did you kiss him and he shoved you away?” Kali asked, striding into another room, coming back with two glasses and a bottle of wine. 

“No,” Gabriel said, sinking down into a chair.  A chair that Sam had picked out.  It was comfy, and suited him and he loved it.  Fuck, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to burn the whole place down or just replace every single piece of furniture here. 

Kali sighed and poured them both glasses, handing it to Gabriel, watching as he downed it.  “Then tell me what did happen.  You have rejected every attempt Sam has made to talk to you, let alone speak with you about what is going on between you both.” 

Gabriel put the glass on the side table.  “Nothing happened.  I realized it was stupid to want anything, and-”

“Is that why you’ve refused to move in here?”

“Kali-”

“No!” Kali snapped, sipping at her glass before putting it down.  “Had Sam died, I would perhaps understand your reaction more!  But he is alive, Gabriel, he is alive!” 

Gabriel gave her a sour look.  “I’m aware.” 

“Then start acting like it.  Dean, Merlin and I are tired of Sam walking around with his kicked puppy look.  He’s hurt, and you won’t talk to him, Gabriel,” Kali said, picking up her wine again. 

Gabriel sighed and let his head hang.  “Nothing happened Kali.  I thought something might - before everything with Metatron.”  He flinched at Kali’s furious glare. 

“That was almost a year ago, Gabriel!  A year!” 

“I know, I know,” Gabriel muttered pushing his hair back. 

“You obviously don’t know, since you are both miserable without talking to each other,” Kali said, staring at Gabriel.  “Merlin was certain that you would figure things out when you found Sam, but they have only gotten worse.” 

Gabriel didn’t answer, though now guilt was weighing him down.  Of course everyone had noticed.  Everyone had known, to make matters even worse, and he’d managed to hurt Sam.  He stared at the floor and shut his eyes.  “He’s too good for me.” 

Kali took a deep breath.  “Gabriel, I am going to tell you something.  I do not know this, and I will not tell you how I found out.  But you need to hear it right now.” 

Gabriel couldn’t stop himself from looking up at Kali, caught by the seriousness of her tone.  “What?  He isn’t-” 

“He is fine.  But he believes that you discovered how he felt about you and you are disgusted by it, and that is why you are avoiding him,” Kali said. 

Gabriel stared at her, his mouth dry as horror crept over him.  “He, he-”

“He won’t believe anything I tell him.  You kept pushing him away, refusing to speak with him outside a professional capacity.”  Kali stood up and walked to Gabriel, crouching in front of him.  “You didn’t see the devastated look on his face the first time you called him Arthur.”

The sob was wrenched out of his throat before he could stop it.  Gabriel pressed a hand to his mouth and clenched his eyes shut, shaking his head. 

Kali sighed and wrapped her arms around Gabriel.  “You have to talk with him.” 

“He hates me now,” Gabriel whispered.  That was exactly what he’d wanted, wasn’t it?  To push Sam away until Sam didn’t want him anymore.

“You idiot,” Kali said fondly, pulling back to wrap her hands around Gabriel’s face.  “I do not know what he feels for you, but I know that losing your closeness and friendship has devastated him.” 

Gabriel swallowed hard, blinking fast to keep the tears from falling.  “Kali, I can’t-” 

The doorbell rang, interrupting them.  Gabriel stared at Kali in horror.  “You didn’t.” 

“Of course I did.  Sort your shit out Gabriel, or I’m going to do it for you,” Kali said, pointing a finger at him as she headed for the door. 

Gabriel could hear Kali talking quietly with Sam in the doorway.  He’d know Sam’s voice anywhere, but Sam sounded tired, and like he was arguing with Kali.  Gabriel bit down on his lip and stood up.  Well, if they were going to have this conversation, he was done running away from it.  Might as well fucking face up to it now. 

He cleared his throat and interrupted the vehement argument Kali and Sam were having in his doorway.  “Sam, please come in.  Kali, I’ll see you sometime this week.” 

Kali met his eyes and Gabriel swallowed hard.  He nodded at her and turned his attention to Sam.  Loki came bounding down the stairs and ran for Sam, greeting him eagerly with barks and small yips. 

Gabriel watched as Kali closed the door behind her.  A sense of finality settled over him.  They were going to figure things out.  Either that, or they’d ruin them forever.  He swallowed hard and whistled, watching as Loki padded back towards him. 

“Go hang out by the fireplace,” he said, watching as Loki immediately made his way into the living room and flopped down in front of the fireplace.  He swallowed and took a deep breath, turning to look at Sam.  Who was standing there like he could wait forever, his suit perfectly crisp, and his umbrella held carefully in his hands. 

“Hey, Sam,” he said, watching some of the tension start to bleed out of Sam.  Gabriel smiled and watched Sam rest the umbrella next to the front door.  “Been a while.” 

“Yes, it has,” Sam agreed, walking closer to Gabriel.  “By your own design, I believe.” 

Gabriel winced.  Yeah, fuck, he deserved that.  He cleared his throat and gestured towards the front sitting room.  “Have a seat?” 

Sam shook his head.  “You don’t know where the liquor is.  You sit and I will go get us something to drink.  I have the feeling you will require it.” 

Gabriel walked back over to the chair he had been in before and dropped his face into his hands.  Sam sounded robotic, and it wasn’t hard to miss the thread of hurt in his voice now that he wasn’t trying to run away.  Fuck, he’d done this to Sam. 

Sam’s soft footsteps returned and this time he was holding a bottle of brandy and two glasses.  Gabriel wanted to laugh, because the last thing he wanted was alcohol.  He took the glass Sam poured for him and gestured to the seat across from him and took a deep breath after Sam sat down in it.  “I owe you an apology, Sam.” 

Sam hummed.  “I’d like an explanation to what has been going through your head for the past seven months, Gabriel, instead of an apology.  You’ve been a stranger.” 

“Yeah,” Gabriel whispered, hanging his head as he stared at the glass in his hands.  “I’m sorry about that, Sam.  You didn’t deserve that.” 

“Will you tell me why, Gabriel?” Sam asked, taking a slow sip of the brandy.  Gabriel seemed determined to do nothing but stare at the liquor. 

Gabriel took a shaky breath.  “Everything is so fucked up, Sam.  I don’t know how to fix it.” 

Sam put his drink down on the table beside his chair and stood.  He knelt down in front of Gabriel and put his hands on Gabriel’s knees.  “The first step to fixing anything is to talk about it.  If you can’t trust me enough to tell me, I can request that Kali come back so you can speak with someone at least.” 

“I don’t want Kali,” Gabriel said, glancing at Sam to find worried hazel eyes staring at him. 

“But you can’t talk with me either, can you?” Sam guessed. 

“No, because you are the problem!” Gabriel snapped, looking up to glare at Sam.  He watched shock and hurt flutter over Sam’s face before the bland face of Arthur returned, and it was the same one that hurt to see any time he did.  Sam’s hands were pulled off his knees and Sam was standing up when he remembered what Kali had told him. 

“Fuck, no, wait!” Gabriel said, putting his glass to the side and scrambling to stand up, grabbing the back of Sam’s suit.  “Stop, fuck, just wait for a second!” 

Sam cleared his throat.  “I think you’ve made it perfectly clear-”

“No I fucking haven’t!” Gabriel growled, holding onto Sam’s suit even tighter.  “You are a bloody fucking problem, because I am in love with you and I can’t stop being in love with you!” he blurted, clenching his eyes shut. 

Sam was frozen in front of him and Gabriel was breathing hard, panting.  Well, fuck, now it was over.  It wasn’t like he’d just ripped his heart out and put it on a fucking plate for Sam to knock to the floor or anything.  He tried to calm his breathing, but now it was out in the open and there was no hiding it anymore.  Gabriel dropped his hand away from Sam’s suit and stepped away from him, going for the glass he had left on the table, downing it quickly, glad he had the burn of alcohol to distract him for a few seconds. 

“I knew I was in trouble when you bought me this suit.  Because, don’t get me wrong, I’m used to wanting people.  That shit wasn’t new,” Gabriel swallowed and poured himself another glass.  “But you wanted me too, even if it was only just that day.  And then, everything with the final test happened, and you looked so fucking disappointed, and I knew I was a goner.  Fucking stole my heart when I wasn’t looking with those dimples and fucking half-smiles of yours.” 

He downed the second glass and set it back down on the table and then collapsed into the seat, keeping his eyes closed so he didn’t have to look at Sam, and at the pity he knew was in his eyes.  “And then you died. You fucking died, Sam.  And we had to save the world.  I moved in to your place afterwards, because I was a fucking wreck.  And being there, at least, fuck, at least I could pretend you weren’t dead for a little longer.” 

“Dean told me,” Sam said, his voice quiet.  “That you two would drink together and sometimes you’d talk about me.” 

Gabriel clenched his eyes shut.  “I was so angry at you for dying.  Because I had so much I wanted to say to you and then I couldn’t!” 

“But I came back.” 

“And then,” Gabriel rubbed at his eyes for a minute.  “Then you came back.  And it’s like, everything I wanted to say, but still couldn’t.  Because I couldn’t drag you down like that.  I’m, fuck, I’m no one Sam.  Never fucking have been.  You can put a nice suit on a pile of shit, but it’s still a pile of shit.” 

“Gabriel-” 

Gabriel gave a harsh exhale.  “So I decided to stay away, because that was easier than fucking getting closer and falling more and more in love with you.”  He pushed his hand through his hair and growled.  “And then you somehow ended up with the impression that I found out something about you and that’s what I was angry at.” 

Silence.  It was almost worse than the looks that he had been getting from Sam.  “And somehow, as a result, we ended up in the mess we’re currently in.  So there, I’ve spilled my guts.  Now we need to fix this shit so we can both move on with our lives.” 

Sam’s shoes didn’t make any noise on the carpet, but Gabriel could feel him walking closer and shuddered.  Fucking bastard.  He could barely hear Sam breathing, let alone making other noise. 

“You aren’t a pile of shit,” Sam said, kneeling down in front of Gabriel.  “Far from it, in fact.” 

Gabriel snorted and blinked his eyes open a few times to stare at Sam.  “I don’t know where you’ve been, but I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to convince me otherwise.” 

“Gabriel, you saved the world.  You, Lancelot and Merlin stopped six billion people from being killed.” 

“Plenty of people died,” Gabriel protested. 

“True,” Sam allowed.  “But far more were saved because of what you were able to do.  You saved them.” 

Gabriel shook his head and sighed.  “That doesn’t magically turn me into something I’m not.” 

“Kingsman has never wanted you to be anything other than what you are.  As long as you can adapt to the situation, no one has ever said that you needed to change,” Sam said, reaching out to touch Gabriel again.  “Didn’t you learn that?” 

Gabriel stood up and pushed past Sam to pace in the room.  “Doesn’t fucking matter.  Also, out of everything I said, you choose that piece to focus on?” 

“It required the most immediate response,” Sam said, watching Gabriel make another frantic circuit of the room. 

“Sam,” Gabriel said, giving a harsh laughing, pushing his fingers through his hair.  “Do you not get it?  Do I really have to fucking spell out for you what I did before Kingsman?  What I did to put food in Anna’s mouth?  Just fucking tell me you don’t want me anymore and I’ll figure out a way to get over it.” 

“Is that why you think I’m here?” Sam asked, stepping into Gabriel’s path, forcing him to a stop.  “To tell you I don’t want you anymore?” 

Gabriel threw his arms up.  “I don’t fucking know why you’re here Sam!  Kali called you here so we could straighten our shit out, I’ve fucking bared my heart and soul, I don’t think we have anything left to-” He cut himself off and froze, looking up at Sam.  “Wait.  Wait a fucking second.” 

Sam was smiling at him again, the smile that reached his eyes and showed off his dimples.  The smile that he’d fucking missed in the past six months.  “You said anymore,” Gabriel whispered.  “You want me?” 

Sam laughed and shook his head, reaching out to cup Gabriel’s face in his palms.  “Gabriel.  You broke my heart the first time you called me Arthur.  I thought you must have known, that you had to know, and that was how you were pushing me away.” 

Gabriel was frozen, staring up at Sam, the words slowly filtering through his mind, altering the picture of the last seven months.  “Know what?” 

Sam gave him another smile, and this one made him seem years younger.  It was a shy, hesitant smile.  Gabriel spared a moment to think that ‘in love’ was a damn good look for Sam before Sam was leaning closer to him. 

“You don’t need to change who you are, or where you have come from Gabriel.  You are so much more than you even realize,” Sam whispered, stroking his thumbs over Gabriel’s cheeks.  “Your past made you who you are.  Who you are is amazing and I love every part of you.” 

Gabriel was pretty sure he was shaking, and Sam’s thumbs were swiping over his cheeks like he was wiping away tears.  But then Sam was kissing him and it didn’t matter, nothing fucking mattered now. 

He threw his arms up and around Sam’s shoulders, yanking him in closer.  Gabriel let himself melt into the gentle kiss, the feel of Sam’s hands still cradling his face enough to have him shivering.  When Sam finally pulled away to look at him, he grinned. 

“I’ve missed that grin of yours,” Sam admitted, stroking a thumb over Gabriel’s lower lip. 

Gabriel laughed and nipped at the pad of Sam’s thumb.  “And I’ve missed that fucking smile of yours.  God, we’re a couple of fucking idiots, aren’t we?” 

“Indeed,” Sam said, smiling.  “However, Gabriel…” 

Gabriel tensed, bracing himself for what came.  It didn’t matter, none of it did, he was going to have Sam and he was going to keep him.  “Yeah?  What is it?  Did I fuck something up already?” 

Sam laughed and shook his head.  “No, no, everything is fine.” 

Gabriel hummed when Sam kissed him again, soft and slow.  He blinked his eyes open a moment later and smirked.  “Okay, well, if everything is fine, then what do you say we take this to somewhere horizontal where we don’t have to worry about you fucking towering over me?” 

“Gabriel…” Sam said, trailing off.  “I, are you certain?  I am nearly two decades older than you are.” 

Gabriel blinked and stared at Sam for a second before he burst out laughing.  He reached out and grabbed Sam’s hand, turning away from him and yanking him towards the stairs.  He left his luggage downstairs and looked around the landing for a second, wondering which room was the master. 

“On the left, Gabriel,” Sam said. 

“Thank you!” Gabriel sang as he tugged Sam towards the door, throwing it open and fumbling around for the light switch.  Now that they were upstairs, Gabriel kicked off both of his shoes and stripped off his jacket, hanging it over the chair in front of a desk. 

“Gabriel-” 

“Nope, you’re going to strip while I talk for a second here,” Gabriel said, undoing his tie before laying it over his jacket.  He raised an eyebrow at Sam and waited until Sam had at least removed his jacket before he kept talking.  “First of all, yes, I’m fucking certain.” 

He stripped off his socks and took off his shoulder holster, adding it to the growing pile.  “I thought you were fucking gorgeous the first time I saw you standing outside the fucking police station.  Wanted to drop to my knees right fucking there.” 

Sam made a startled noise behind him and Gabriel chuckled.  “Didn’t get any better with all of your ‘Come Gabriel’’s and shit.  Seriously, you’re a walking double entendre, you’re lucky I haven’t jumped you.” 

“So the fitting room…?” 

“Was me finally realizing you wanted me too and Jesus, if Iseult hadn’t been there, I would have been on my knees for you in half a second.  You were in that light grey suit that makes you look fucking unfairly delicious,” Gabriel said, stripping off his pants and then boxers, leaving his boxers on the floor, but adding his pants to the pile on the chair. 

He turned to Sam with his hands on his hips, trying not to blush when his dick slapped against his belly, hard, ready and leaking.  Fuck Sam if he made fun of him for being eager.  He narrowed his eyes when he saw that Sam was still standing here in his shirtsleeves, vest and pants. 

Gabriel huffed and stalked closer to Sam.  “You have a problem with stripping there, Sam?” 

Sam shook his head.  “No, not at all Gabriel, I just…”

“All right, I’m not picky!” Gabriel said, approaching Sam.  “Fantasized about blowing you in that suit more than once.”  So had Sam, if the bulge in his pants was anything to go by.  Gabriel fell to his knees, glad that Sam had picked out a plush carpet for his bedroom before nuzzling the bulge through Sam’s pants. 

“I think I’m going to blow you, just like this,” Gabriel whispered.  “You in the suit, with the fucking holster still on.”  It was a hot idea and fuck if he couldn’t feel his cock getting harder at the thought. 

He reached up and started to undo the button on Sam’s pants and slowly pulled down the zipper.  “Last chance to tell me no, Sam,” Gabriel warned, glancing up at him.  Long fingers immediately combed into his hair, just like they had on the day he found Sam and Gabriel groaned. 

“Yes,” Sam breathed, tugging on Gabriel’s hair.  “Please, Gabriel.” 

He didn’t need anything more than that.  Gabriel licked his lips and yanked down Sam’s boxers, pulling his dick out.  “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he whispered, leaning in and licking a stripe from the base to the tip, sucking the tip into his mouth. 

Sam groaned above him and the sound was delicious, decadent even.  Gabriel swallowed Sam, taking him in inch by inch until was swallowing around the tip in the back of his throat. 

“Beautiful,” Sam said, combing his fingers through Gabriel’s hair.  “Gabriel, please, I need-“ 

Gabriel pulled off and licked his lips, clearing his throat.  “Shut up,” he ordered, looking up at Sam.  “Shut up, let me do this, because I’m fucking amazing at it and I’ve wanted to do it to you since I fucking met you.  Got it?” 

Sam only gave him a bemused grin and a nod and Gabriel decided that was all he needed before he dove back in, swallowing Sam whole and bobbing his head, fast and eager.  The posh bastard was big and the weight of his cock on his tongue was perfect.  He let his eyes fall to half-lidded as he stared up at Sam, watching his breathing speed up with every pass of his mouth, his hands tightening in his hair. 

It was intoxicating, watching Sam lose control, inch by inch.  When there were low, unrestrained groans escaping Sam, Gabriel started to move faster, pulling out all his tricks to get Sam to lose every single bit of that precious control of his. 

Sam didn’t last long after Gabriel lifted both hands to Sam’s ass and gave a slow squeeze, pulling him into each thrust and encouraging to move.  He felt Sam’s cock stiffen in his mouth and he pulled back, sucking hard on the head, glancing up to see Sam throw his head back and shout his name before he needed to swallow. 

He did, eagerly, licking his lips and leaning back to admire Sam like this.  This was going into the permanent file of his spank bank, and he had a feeling that sooner, rather than later, that file was going to include nothing but mental images of Sam. 

But like this? 

In his shoes, white crisp shirt, no tie, first button undone, jacket removed, his pants unbuttoned only enough to get his dick out, Sam had never looked more tempting, or more fucking gorgeous.  Gabriel groaned and wrapped a hand around the base of his dick.  Fuck, he needed to come, yesterday. 

“No,” Sam ordered, grabbing Gabriel’s forearm and pulling his hand away.  Gabriel whined and couldn’t stop his hips from bucking towards Sam. 

“No, no, fuck, Sam, please, I need to come, I fucking need it, please,” he begged. 

“You will, don’t worry Gabriel,” Sam said, leading Gabriel over to a chair that was across from the bed.  He did up his pants a moment later and sat down.  “As eager as I am to get you horizontal, I have to admit that this, is a fantasy of sorts, if you will oblige me?” 

Gabriel swallowed down a groan and stood in front of Sam as he settled into the chair, holding his legs together.  “Fuck, you have to know I’ll give you anything,” he whispered, swaying closer. 

Sam reached up to brush his thumb along Gabriel’s lower lip.  “I know you will, you beautiful, beautiful boy.  But this will be for both of us.  Straddle me.” 

Gabriel shivered at the tone in Sam’s voice and did as he was asked, carefully straddling Sam in those pants, planting his knees into the chair on either side of Sam’s hips.  “All right, now what.” 

Sam wrapped a hand around Gabriel’s cock and gave a slow stroke.  “I watch you, as I get you off, like this.” 

“Fuck,” Gabriel whined, flexing his thigh to drive his cock into Sam’s hand, setting a desperate rhythm.  He reached out and gripped Sam’s shoulders, which brought their faces even closer together. 

“Oh,” Sam whispered.  “Yes, just like this.  So I can watch your face.  Each and every little reaction to my touch.” 

Gabriel whimpered and rocked into every stroke of Sam’s hand, biting down on his bottom lip.  “Fuck, Sam, you’re going to kill me talking like that!” 

“Only little deaths,” Sam teased, swiping his thumb across the tip. 

Gabriel bucked, his entire body jolting, and when Sam repeated the touch, he tried to open his mouth, tried to warn Sam, because he was going to mess up Sam’s suit and he had no control, especially not when fucking straddling Sam like this and the bastard looking at him like he was.  “Sam, I can’t, fuck!” 

“Yes,” Sam whispered, leaning in to kiss him again. 

Gabriel moaned into the kiss, tilting his head into it, letting Sam lick into his mouth, his whole body shuddering.  He wasn’t going to last, there was no way that he could last like this a single second longer. 

He bucked into Sam’s hand twice more before tightening his grip on Sam’s shoulders, his head falling back as he came, exploding all over Sam’s hand and shirt, letting himself have a few deliciously slow slides through the mess he’d made before he slumped down, boneless. 

“That was far more beautiful than I ever could have imagined,” Sam said, bringing his fingers to his lips, licking Gabriel’s come off of them. 

Gabriel stared at Sam, his dick giving a hard twitch against his thigh. “Are you trying to get me worked up again?” 

“Perhaps,” Sam said, sucking one finger into his mouth, before pulling it out with a pop.  “I do still have to get you horizontal as I recall.” 

Gabriel gave a delighted laugh and leaned in for another kiss.  “Fuck, I love you, you kinky bastard.” 

“I’m not the one sitting naked in the lap of someone still mostly clothed,” Sam pointed out. 

Gabriel looked down at himself and smirked, looking up at Sam through his bangs.  “Maybe not, but you are the one who put me here, remember?” 

“Oh yes, and I have a great deal many other places that I would like to put you,” Sam said, patting Gabriel’s thigh.  “Now, off my lap.  Get on the bed.” 

Gabriel scrambled towards the King bed that took up a large portion of the room and flopped back on it.  He tilted his head up just enough to watch Sam strip off his remaining clothes.  A thought occurred and he started laughing. 

“Gabriel?” Sam asked as he climbed on the bed. 

Gabriel rolled over on top of Sam and planted his hands on either side of Sam’s shoulders, still grinning.  “So I’ve got only one question for you.” 

“Of course, Gabriel.” 

“Does this make me the Bond Girl, or you?” 


 

The Kingsman compound was quiet when Gabriel got out of the shuttle.  He strode past the dorms, not letting himself look into them as he headed for the conference room where Arthur’s office was. 

He’d either get permission to help, and then do the job that needed to be done, or get rejected, arm himself to the teeth from the Kingsman shop, and then go hunt down Metatron on his own.  Gabriel pushed open the door to the office and stood in the doorway, staring at Arthur. 

“Gabriel, come in,” Arthur said. 

Gabriel gave him a wary look, but walked into the room. 

“Do you know what this is?” 

Gabriel looked at the bottle and then back to Arthur.  “Brandy, if I had to guess.” 

Arthur chuckled.  “This is a Napoleonic brandy from 1815.  We only drink it when we’re toasting one of our own that has fallen.  Tonight we toasted Galahad.  But you knew that already, didn’t you?” 

Gabriel watched as Arthur poured them both drinks, walking closer.  “I did.”  There was no point in denying it.  “Sam told me you were a bit of a stickler for the rules.  Why are you breaking them now?” 

“Galahad was your mentor.  I believe that allows for an exception,” Arthur said, waving at the seat next to him. 

“Thanks,” Gabriel said, sitting down.  He picked up the glass and sniffed it.  Sam had given him a book on different types of drinks and alcohols for his last birthday, and he had maybe been a bit obsessive about reading it.  Something was wrong with the color.  He glanced at the larger bottle and studied it. 

“Galahad was very proud of you for getting as far as you did, Gabriel.”

Gabriel hummed, looking around the room.  Something was off.  Arthur wasn’t this friendly.  Was usually damn-near hostile around him.  Kingsman 101 training, when something felt off, it was.  He looked up at the portraits hanging in the room behind Arthur.  “Are those founding members?” 

Arthur turned to them and Gabriel caught sight of the scar behind his ear.  The same scar the professor had had before Sam was injured.  The one that he had managed to capture with his video feed.  The same scar.  The one that Metatron’s assistant had had during his demonstration.  Metatron had gotten to Arthur, somehow.  In a blink, Gabriel switched their glasses and smiled blandly when Arthur turned back to him. 

Trust no one.  If he couldn’t trust Arthur, the other Kingsmen were likely out as well.  Who could he trust?  Merlin, maybe.  Sam’s brother, Dagonet, not that he knew how to contact him.  Kali.  Kali would have told Metatron to take his stupid fucking idea and go stuff.  Just like Sam.  Gabriel swallowed down the wave of pain and raised his drink in a toast. 

“To Galahad.” 

Gabriel didn’t bother echoing the toast as he swallowed down the brandy, watching as Arthur stood and dusted off his pants.  “When did Metatron get to you?”

Arthur chuckled.  “Smarter than you look, boy.  Sam was right about you.” 

Fuck.  Gabriel looked down at the empty glass in front of him and stood up as well.  Arthur held up a pen in front of him. 

“Do you know what this is?” 

Gabriel stared at it and swallowed.  “Sam showed me, yeah.”

“Will you join me, Gabriel?  I could make you my proposal for Galahad’s position.  You could have another chance.  As far as you got in training, I have no doubt you would succeed this time,” Arthur said. 

Gabriel scowled at Arthur and raised his eyebrows.  “You want to tell me why the fuck you are doing this?” 

“Because,” Arthur said, smirking.  “When the world ends, and there is only one billion of us left on the planet, we will shape the world.  It will be paradise.  None of the issues, problems, fighting that exists today.  It will all be gone, because we survived together.” 

“If you think that’s true, you’re fucking mental,” Gabriel snarled. 

Arthur nodded calmly.  “Is that your final answer?” 

“You fucking bet it is,” Gabriel growled, glaring at him.  “I would rather die, and be with Sam than I would to live in your perfect fucking paradise!” 

“So be it,” Arthur said.  “Then you know that once I do this,” he said, twisting the cap.  “I’ve activated the gel in your drink.  You’ll be dead in less than twenty seconds.  Sorry m’boy, but I couldn’t have you-ghurk-” 

Gabriel watched Arthur slump over the table, his eyes going wide in horror.  He tapped his cheek and smirked.  “You know, I learned slight of hand long before I showed up here.  That’s the problem with you blokes.  Too fucking arrogant.” 

“You little f-fucking…” 

Gabriel ignored Arthur’s last death croak and grabbed the pen that had fallen to the table.  He uncapped it and turned towards Arthur.  Using the nib of the pen, he cut the chip out of Arthur’s neck.  Merlin could make some use of this, if he fucking believed any of it.  Gabriel grabbed Arthur’s phone, pocketed it after looking at the countdown clock.    

He stole the pocket scarf in Arthur’s pocket and wrapped the chip in it before stuffing it in his pocket as well.  Now he needed to get the fuck out of here and find Merlin and Kali. 

Gabriel headed for the door, but paused in the doorway.  He looked back at the bottle of brandy on the table.  If he managed to fucking live through this, he knew exactly how he was going to celebrate it!  He smirked.  Time to go save the world! 

The pocket with Merlin’s phone received another safety notification about getting to a bunker and Gabriel cursed, turning to sprint for the engineering level.  It was late, and if he was lucky, then Merlin would be the only one of the staff there, and he could attempt to explain everything. 

“Hold it right there, Gabriel.” 

Gabriel cursed and lifted his hands behind his head, turning to look at Kali.  “Kali, I have to speak with you and Merlin, please, it’s fucking urgent.” 

Kali shook her head.  “They’re not going to take you back, Gabriel, not this time.  They’re over and done with.” 

“I don’t give a fuck if Kingsman robs me of every single valuable item I have ever had.  We have to stop Metatron and what he’s fucking planning!” 

“And what exactly is that?  All I know is that you’ve murdered Arthur-“

“No I bloody well didn’t, Kali!  He tried to kill me and I stopped him, look!” Gabriel said, reaching in his pocket for the phone there. 

The sound of Kali’s gun cocking had him freeze.  Gabriel raised his hands and stared at Kali.  “Kali, you have to listen to me.  Arthur’s phone is in my pocket.  It’s counting down, to the end of the bloody world and we need to stop it!” 

Footsteps approached and Gabriel felt the weight of his phone leave his pocket.  He tensed until Merlin entered his line of vision.  “Arthur had the same scar.  He offered to let me join him, switched our spiked drinks and he ended up dead.  His implant is in my right pocket.” 

Kali and Merlin shared a look and Gabriel could feel himself getting desperate.  He had to get them to believe him, but a thought occurred.  “Merlin,” he said. 

Merlin turned to look at him and Gabriel flinched, but he had to ask.  “How do I know that Metatron didn’t get to you too, Merlin?” 

Merlin merely stared at him before he quirked an eyebrow, reaching out to pull out the scarf stuffed in his pocket.  Gabriel swallowed hard as he unwrapped the scarf and took out the chip. 

“Kali, it’s all right.  This is Arthur’s phone, and it’s receiving updates about getting to a safe zone.”

Kali lowered the gun, but Gabriel only stepped closer, his eyes trained on Merlin.  “Merlin, you didn’t answer my question.” 

“I didn’t answer your question, because it’s a bloody stupid question.  Do I look like I have the hairline to hide that scar?” 

Gabriel couldn’t help the burst of surprised laughter that escaped him.  “Oh fuck, I didn’t even think of that.” 

Merlin snorted.  “No, you clearly didn’t.  However, since you do raise an excellent point that we have no idea who we can trust, we’re going to need to take care of this ourselves, there’s not a lot of time.  C’mon you two.” 

~!~!~!~!~!~!~

“Have you figured out what the fuck this is yet?” Gabriel asked, kicking the large black bag that held several different yellow pieces.  Merlin had had them lug the thing (and it was fucking heavy) aboard, just before they took off. 

He picked up a piece that looked like a gaming joystick and fiddled with it.  “I mean seriously, what kind of use could a fucking thing like-“ 

“What you’re playing with,” Merlin interrupted.  “Is a trans-atmospheric vehicle.  It was designed back during Reagan’s administration.  First of it’s kind.” 

Gabriel looked down at the joystick and put it back down, carefully, on the pile.  No need to be fucking things up before they even really got started saving the world. 

“So here’s what we’re going to do.  Kali, you’ll be in this,” Merlin said, kicking the bag of parts.  “You’re going to go up to the edge of the atmosphere and take out one of Metatron’s satellites.  Price being the sharp shooter on the team pays.”  He looked to Gabriel.  “That’ll buy us at least two hours while he re-routes the signal.” 

Gabriel swallowed hard when Merlin turned to look at him. 

“You’ll get me a way in to his network, and I’ll hack it, then we can stop this from happening when we are far, far out of range.” 

“All right,” Gabriel said, nodding.  “Makes enough sense to me, so we’d better get ready.  How far out are we?” 

“At least two hours from Kali’s drop zone.  If you can, I suggest both of you take a rest.  Gabriel, I’ll need to wake you up an hour early.  Kali, change into your helo suit.” 

“Yes, Merlin,” They both replied in unison. 

Gabriel settled into one of the seats while Kali headed into the back to get changed.  They didn’t have long now.  Fuck, when had his life turned into a spy movie!  They were flying to the lair of a secret villain to stop a plot to end the damn world.  In what world was this even remotely normal? 

Kali was able to doze off almost immediately after changing, but Gabriel couldn’t get his mind to quiet enough so that it could.  He walked over to where Merlin was examining the implant under a magnifying glass.  “So what do you know about it?” 

“It’s designed to counter-act the signal that is going to be coming from those sim cards,” Merlin said, tilting it a little to the side. 

Gabriel blinked and stared at the card.  “The signal that turns everyone into a psycho killer?”  His mind wanted to pull up the image of Sam, spinning in that church, deadly grace and movement, but he shook his head, focusing on Merlin. 

Merlin nodded.  “Quite.  However, what Metatron didn’t tell anyone, was that it could also heat their soft tissue to the point where it explodes.” 

Gabriel knew that he was giving Merlin a blank look and he could feel the frustration from the other man.  He grinned a little bit.  “Which means?” 

“It means, the same thing that happened to the Professor that Sam visited, happens.  Head goes kaboom.” 

Gabriel nodded and looked at the micro chip again.  “And how does that help us with what we’re trying to do?” 

Merlin huffed and put the put the chip down.  “It doesn’t.”  He stood and headed for the front of the plane.  “Try to get some rest Gabriel.  You’re going to need it.” 

The reminder didn’t help, but Gabriel dutifully sank back into the seat on the plane and took a deep breath, trying to force his mind to relax. 

~!~!~!~!~!~!~

“Gabriel, wake up!” 

Gabriel snapped out of his chair and to attention before he even thought twice about it, glaring at Merlin.  “What?” 

“Here.  You’re going to be impersonating Arthur.  You’re going to need to blend in.” 

Gabriel raised both of his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.  “I’m supposed to play Arthur?  How the fuck do I pull that off?” 

“They’re expecting him.  Here, give them his phone, that’s where the invitation is.  Give them his real name.  Zachariah King.  Oh, and you’re going to need to blend in.” 

Gabriel looked down at the case in Merlin’s hand and snorted.  “Merlin, is that going to fit me?” 

“A bespoke suit always fits,” Merlin said, offering the heavy leather back to Gabriel.  “Just be glad that Sam had it made for you.” 

Gabriel swallowed hard and took the bag from Merlin, his heart pounding in his chest.  Fuck.  This was the suit that Sam had picked out for him that day in the shop.  The day that they couldn’t look away from each other.  The day he knew that Sam wanted him too.  He nodded at Merlin and turned towards the back of the plane. 

He stripped out of his clothes and took out each of the items that were carefully laid in the case.  If Sam were here, he’d probably make some bullshit comment about how he was shedding one skin for another.  That was all well and good, but it was a bunch of bullshit.  He was still him, just wearing way more fucking expensive clothing. 

Gabriel tucked his shirt in carefully, made sure his jacket was settled properly across his shoulders, added his watch, signet ring and glasses.  By the time he straightened to look in the mirror and add the gel to slick back his hair, he wasn’t sure he recognized the person looking back at him in the mirror.  Holy shit. 

If Sam had seen him like this, Gabriel was relatively certain that there is no way they would have been able to keep their hands off each other, and the thought made him laugh. 

He headed back out of the plane to Merlin and Kali and held his arms out, spinning to show off for both of them.  “Not bad, eh?”

Kali gave a wolf whistle.  “So there is a man under all of the snark and swearing.  I was beginning to wonder.” 

Gabriel laughed and gave her a wink before turning to Merlin.  He straightened a little bit more under the gaze of the other Kingsman. 

“Looking good, Gabriel.” 

Gabriel smirked.  “Feeling good, Merlin.” 

A ringing sounded from the cockpit and Gabriel dropped his eyes to Kali.  “Looks like we’re at your drop off zone then, Kali?” 

“Indeed,” Merlin agreed, grabbing the black bag.  “You two, start assembling this while I land.” 

~!~!~!~!~

It didn’t take long to get Kali set up with the damn thing.  It wasn’t anything more than a big yellow skeleton with a missile attached to the top of it, but it would do the trick. 

“The balloons will continue to expand as you rise.  You need to wait until you reach the edge of the atmosphere before you fire your missile.  Afterward, you need to disengage immediately from this as you fall, or you’ll burn up on re-entry.” 

Kali nodded and looked up at the balloons.  “Yes, Merlin.” 

Gabriel watched Merlin head back to the plane and strode closer to Kali, reaching out to take her hands.  “Listen to me, yeah?  You can do this.  You’ve got this, and I’ll see you after I’m done getting us into the bastard’s place.” 

Kali swallowed and gave him a nod.  “Yes.” 

“Good girl,” he said, grinning at her. 

“Gabriel, come on, we need to go, we’re out of time!” Merlin called from the steps of the plane. 

Gabriel gave Kali one last grin and dashed back towards the plane.

Now all they needed to do was infiltrate Metatron’s big fucking party for the end of the damn world, stop him, and maybe kill him if he had the chance.  Gabriel grinned and settled into his seat again.  Wasn’t going to take much longer.  Not at all. 

~!~!~!~!~!~

“Gabriel, we’re approaching,” Merlin called. 

Gabriel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  He could do this, hell, he’d even been trained to do exactly this.  Now he needed to go in and save the people there.  He stood up and made his way over to the cockpit. 

He tapped his glasses twice and swore at the sight of anti-aircraft missiles and more than sixty men guarding the entrance.  He had no doubt that at any hint of a disturbance, they would be on his ass in a heartbeat.  “Holy fuck,” he whispered.  

“You’ve got that right,” Merlin said, flicking another switch and angling the plane for landing as the anti-aircraft missiles were pointed away from the plane.  He took a deep breath.  “I’m going to stay here, as I am your pilot.  You get in there and get me online.  Got it?” 

Gabriel nodded as the plane finally slowed to a stop.  He summoned up an image of Baldur and straightened his spine.  If he wanted to fit in with a bunch of posh snobs, well, he had the perfect fucking model to be able to do so at least. 

He stood and jogged down the steps of the plane, pulling out his phone to present to the woman that was waiting for him with five different armed guards.  Time to turn on the charm.  Gabriel smiled at her and presented his phone.  “Zachariah King.” 

She didn’t do more than glance at the phone before handing it back to him.  Gabriel relaxed and grinned again when she held up a scanning rod. 

“Mister King, welcome.  I’m sure that you’ve remembered Metatron’s strict no-weapons policy, however, may I?”

Gabriel held out his arms.  “Of course.” 

“Do you have any luggage, sir?” 

Gabriel turned back to where Merlin was still standing in the doorway of the plane.  “Congratulations Mycroft, you’ve been promoted form my pilot, to my valet.”  He could see the exasperated look from Merlin and gave the woman a genuine grin when he turned back around and followed her deeper into the base. 

The walk took them past dozens of cells and it was easy to hear people calling out from behind them.  Gabriel recognized a voice or two.  Well, that explained one other mystery, where all of those missing persons had gone.  Metatron had them locked up in a massive facility that was more maze-like than he was expecting. 

When Metatron’s assistant stopped in front of a party (full of snobs, perfect he’d fit right in pretending to be like Baldur), and gestured him in, Gabriel gave her another winning smile and stepped into the room. 

His eyes went straight to Metatron, standing in a glass room, almost twenty feet above them, a large desk spread out in front of them. 

“Would sir care for a drink?” 

Gabriel turned to the waiter.  “Absolutely.  Martini.  Gin, not vodka, obviously, stirred for ten seconds while glancing at an unopened bottle of vermouth.”  The man didn’t flinch, only nodded and headed back to where the bar was. 

He spared a moment to wonder if people actually fucking ordered drinks like that, before the martini was in his hand.  Gabriel took a slow sip of it and hummed.  Fucking hell, this was probably how Sam drank his martini’s.  It was easier to ignore the spike of pain through his heart as he stepped deeper into the party. 

“You clocking this Merlin?”  He asked, getting closer to the glass room so his glasses would capture the images properly for Merlin.  He tuned out Merlin talking to Kali and focused on the room.  Seeming distracted would only get him noticed by more people in the room, and he couldn’t afford that right now. 

“Yes.  Stay focused.  Find a way to get me online, now.” 

Gabriel scanned the room, looking for someone with a laptop.  On the second level, there was a man sitting alone with his laptop.  Perfect.  Chance for him to use this new fancy watch of his.  “Got it,” he whispered to Merlin, lengthening his stride as he made his way up the stairs and towards the man he’d seen. 

He took another sip of his martini as he approached.  “Society is dead, long live society.” 

The man looked up at him, smiling and chuckling, and Gabriel recognized him a moment later.  He was the Swedish Prime Minister.  He’d been in the news more than once.  Fuck, it’d feel good to make sure this asshole got what he deserved. 

“Martin Lyndstrom.” 

Gabriel held out his hand and shook it.  “Zachariah King.”  One firm shake.  Just like Sam had taught him.  He cleared his throat and gestured to the computer.  “How’d you get online?  I couldn’t.” 

“Ah, well, it’s pre-authorized connections only.” 

Right, of course it fucking was you wanker.  Gabriel only smiled and glanced down at his watch.  “Oh, I’m sorry, do you have the time?  I think I’m still in my last timezone.” 

He turned a dial on his watch the second the bastard looked away and shot a small dart into his neck.  The second the man slumped, he slid into the seat and pulled the flash drive out of his pocket, plugging it into the computer. 

“Good job, Gabriel!” Merlin called. 

Gabriel focused on the computer in front of him, pretending to type while Merlin’s flash drive did whatever the fuck that it needed to do. 

A long, slim blade was suddenly under his neck and he swore, leaning back in his seat. 

“That’s right you fucker.  Slow and steady,” Baldur breathed against his neck. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gabriel hissed, turning to look at him. 

Baldur rolled his eyes, slowly coaxing Gabriel to stand with him.  “My family were invited, obviously.” 

Over the radio, Gabriel heard one of Kali’s balloons pop and her scream shortly afterward.  Fuck, she hadn’t gotten off the shot yet! 

“Metatron!” Baldur’s voice rang out over the party, causing everyone to hush.  Gabriel swallowed.  Fucking hell if he was holding back on this asshole for one more second. 

“I’ve caught a fucking spy!” 

Gabriel twisted away from the knife, grabbing Baldur into a lock, pressing his signet ring into his neck and flicking it on.  Baldur immediately released him, his body shaking with spasms.  “How does fifty thousand volts fucking feel, hun?” He snarled, pulling his hand back and slamming it with all the force he could manage into Baldur’s cheek. 

The bastard went flying and Gabriel focused on the room again, where everyone, guards included, were staring.  Fucking hell he needed to make a quick exit. 

“Gabriel, I’m online, get back to the plane, now!”  Merlin shouted. 

Absently, Gabriel heard Kali manage to get her shot off before the second balloon popped.  He took two steps forward and grabbed the railing in front of him, vaulting over it and landing back on the main level.  Posh bastards all backed away from him and left a route through the crowd. 

Thank you fucking weak bastards.  Gabriel ducked his head down and sprinted.  Merlin would tell him whatever way he needed to go, he just needed to et there as quickly as fucking possible. 

“Take your next left,” Merlin ordered. 

Gabriel spun on his heel, but did as he was ordered, ducking when a few more guards turned a corner.  He needed to pick up a fucking gun and get the hell out of here! 

“Two guards, now!” 

Gabriel slid down on one knee, kicking the bastard’s legs out from under him, yanking his gun away from him.  The rest of the run back to the plane was a blur of men in white outfits, coming at him like fucking storm troopers, one after another.  Unfortunately, these bastards were a hell of a lot better shut. 

By the time he made it back to the plane, he was panting hard, his chest heaving under the suit.  Thank fuck for bullet proof suit jacket material.  He was going to have some fucking amazing bruises, but that was a hell of a lot better than some bullet holes. 

“Merlin, let’s get the fuck out of here!” 

“We can’t.” 

Gabriel snapped his eyes open and resisted the urge to groan at the look on Merlin’s face.  Fuck that wasn’t a good one.  “Why the fuck not?” 

“Metatron has biometric security.  You’re going to have to go back in there and make sure that his hand never touches that fucking table.” 

Gabriel stared at Merlin and thought of the swarms of guards that he had just fought through.  There were probably twice as many now, fuck!  “Are you fucking shitting me right now?” 

“I’m afraid not, and you need to hurry.” 

Gabriel pushed himself out of the chair and reached for the machine gun in Merlin’s hand.  “Let’s fucking have that then.” 

“Ah, no.  This is mine.  I’ll show you yours,” Merlin said, leading Gabriel to the back of the plane and into the room where he had got changed.  He glanced around once they were both inside and grinned wide when Merlin tilted the picture on the wall just enough to reveal a wall of several different weapons. 

His eyes went to the umbrella and stuck there.  He remembered seeing Sam dispatch Crowley and all of his fucking goons with it and reached for it before he even knew what he was doing. 

“Good choice,” Merlin said, turning to leave. 

Gabriel waited until he had left and then grabbed the pistol, two extra clips and one of the hand grenade cigarette lighters.  Merlin would probably notice if there were two missing and he needed to avoid that.  Not that he could do anything about it. 

“Gabriel!” 

Gabriel spun and left the room, striding to the door of the plane.  He and Merlin waited for any wave of guards to come at them in the plane, but when there was nothing, he took off running.  This was what he had trained for, after all.  Now he just needed to get the fuck back into the main room, kill Metatron and live to tell the fucking tale. 

As he sprinted through the corridor, he could hear Metatron counting down through the feed in Merlin’s computer and swore when it hit zero.  Fuck, he wasn’t close yet and he still had to get by all of the guards!  Dammit! 

“Yes!  Well done Lancelot!” Merlin said, relaxing back in his chair.  “Gabriel, the chain is down, but Metatron is going to try reconnecting it immediately.  You have to get to him.”

Gabriel took a deep breath.  Okay, Kali had bought him some time, but he still needed to get to Metatron and stop the bastard from reconnecting the chain of satellites. 

Which was great, in theory, but even he couldn’t fight against a hundred guards and win.  As he turned another corner and opened up the umbrella, catching the immediate spray of gunfire that came his way, he couldn’t miss the number slowly counting down on the integrity of his bullet proof shield.  Fucking thing wasn’t going to last forever. 

He yanked the grenade out of his pocket and activated it, throwing it into the sea of guards.  Why the fuck did Metatron have so many guards in an isolated base like this?  It was fucking ridiculous! 

He turned a corner and a loud boom echoed in the hallway.  Gabriel ducked behind the umbrella again, but there was a hole that got ripped right through the top of it.  A second boom caused a second rip.  Were they shooting at him with fucking fifty caliber rounds?  Talk about overkill! 

Gabriel ran back around the corner, the way he had originally come and nearly ran into another massive wall of guards.  Dread settled over him and he ducked into one of the little inlets created by the cell doors.  “Merlin!  Merlin I’m fucked.  Got a wall of guards on both sides, and I can’t get out of here.” 

He could hear the guards approaching even closer, slowly, cell block by cell block.  He wasn’t going to be protected anymore.  Fuck, fuck, fuck!  “Kali, I need a favor.  Call my Aunt.  Tell her to lock herself away from Anna.  Merlin, call Sam’s brother, tell him to lock himself away from this mess and both of you get to safe fucking places, you understand?” 

Silence on the comm told him that they did.  Gabriel took a deep breath and tightened his hand on his umbrella.  Fuck if he was going down without a fight.  He might be about to die, but he would do it taking down as many of the bastards as he possibly could. 

Wait. 

Wait. 

“Merlin,” he hissed.  “Remember those implants that weren’t of any use to us?  You think you could turn the fucking things on?”  

Stunned silence from Merlin and suddenly the sound of moving had him grinning.  Gabriel took a deep breath and prayed that Merlin could hack his way through this fast enough. 

Now there was the sound of frantic typing in the background.  Come on Merlin, come on, he chanted, cheering him on as he heard the guards get closer.  He was out of fucking time, he had maybe thirty seconds to live if he was lucky. 

The echo of Merlin’s ‘Yes, please’ came over his glasses and Gabriel tensed up when he heard the guards start to move. 

Then there was the sound of explosions.  Gabriel kept himself pressed back against the cell, but there were blood splatters and hats flying fucking everywhere and he couldn’t help but grin.  They’d all had implants, every single fucking one of them had had the implants! 

“Merlin, you’re a fucking genius!!” he shouted, punching the air as he leaned back against the cell. 

“What the fuck is going on out there!” A voice from behind him shouted. 

Gabriel blinked and turned to the door, raising an eyebrow.  He reached out for the hatch in the center of the door and pulled it down.  Angry green eyes met his and he grinned.  “Well hello there.  Aren’t you that Prince that went missing?” 

“Who the hell are you?  Let me out!” 

Gabriel grinned and lazily leaned back against the door.  “If I do, will you give me a kiss?  I’ve always wanted to kiss a Prince or a Princess.” 

The Prince smirked.  “If you get me out of here, I’ll give you more than a kiss.” 

“You bastard,” Metatron’s voice echoed in the hallway and Gabriel stepped away from the cell, looking up. 

“You think I’d put one of those implants in my own head?  You think I’m that fucking stupid?  You think I don’t already have another satellite being re-routed so I can start this all over again in about forty seconds?” 

Gabriel swallowed and tightened his hand on his gun. 

“Do you think you did anything other than murder thousands of innocent people?  For what?  You didn’t stop anything!” 

Merlin’s voice replaced Metatron’s a moment later.  “Gabriel, get going, you have to get his hand off that table and you need to do it fucking now!” 

Gabriel turned back to the Prince in the cell and winked at him.  “Sorry, but I need to go save the world first.” 

“You save the world, I’ll bottom for you,” The Prince said, winking. 

The offer was tempting, but…  “Unfortunately, I’m a bit hung up on someone else,” Gabriel said, winking back at the Prince.  “I appreciate the offer though!” 

Gabriel waved and then started sprinting down the hallway.  He stopped for a moment to pick up one of the machine guns and two extra clips off the now-headless guard and slipped them into his jacket pocket, running for the main party room. 

Now that there were no guards in the way, he made it into the room in sixty seconds.  He started firing at the glass where he could see Metatron almost immediately when the edge of his gun was suddenly cut off. 

“What the fu-“ he swore, immediately diving out of the way when another razor-sharp blade swung only inches past his head. 

He came up immediately and dumped the extra clips out of his pocket.  Gabriel stared at the woman standing across from him and took a deep breath.  She had been in Metatron’s files.  Meg. 

“Well done, Gabriel, you managed to get him off the machine!” Merlin called. 

Gabriel allowed himself one quick smile.  But it wouldn’t take more than thirty seconds if he was lucky before Metatron was back starting up whatever insane countdown he had.  “I don’t suppose you’d just let me put a bullet through his head, would you?” 

Gabriel ducked under the blade that was suddenly aimed for his head and swore.  “Guess that’s a no!”

There was no way he could launch an offensive of any sort when someone was attacking him with razors for legs.  She was lethal, and she could fucking twist in ways that made no sense.  Gabriel slammed his shoulder into her and twisted away when she lifted her leg over her shoulder and tried to stab him that way.  Fucking hell! 

“Gabriel, the world is going to shit, you have to get Metatron’s hand off that desk!” 

Gabriel cursed and went flying into a table as Meg managed to land a knee to his stomach.  At least he’d landed a blow and sent her sprawling as well.  “Working on it!” 

“Is he dead yet?” Metatron shouted over his shoulder. 

“Not yet!” Meg called, smirking widely as she leaned down and sprinted for him. 

Gabriel pushed himself up and ran at her, twisting out of the way of her leg at the last second.  He managed to (barely) tap his heels together and nick her in the arm with the poisoned blade before he landed back on the tile floor hard enough for his jaw to fucking clack together. 

“Tired already?” Meg called, walking closer. 

Gabriel managed to get back to his feet and pulled away the now cut in half tie and scowled.  Sam had picked out that tie for him.  He looked up at Meg and watched as she stumbled and glanced at the cut on her arm. 

“Neurotoxin,” Gabriel said, smiling blandly at her when her expression changed to shock, and then pain before she slumped over. 

“Gabriel!  You have to stop stuff with Metatron now!” 

Gabriel swore and looked around for a weapon, fucking anything he could use to knock the bastard away from the desk. 

His eyes fell back to Meg’s artificial legs.  Well.  She wasn’t fucking using them anymore.  He stumbled closer and managed to unhook one of them, extending the blade.  Gabriel took a deep breath, then ran two steps and chucked the blade towards Metatron. 

He watched it arch through the air before impaling the bastard with a satisfying ‘thunk’.  A second later, Metatron stumbled back from the desk and he could hear Merlin and Kali cheering over the comm. 

“Well done you two, well done both of you!”  Merlin called, sinking back in his chair.  “Gabriel, Sam was right.” 

Gabriel was only half-listening as he walked closer to Metatron.  The bastard was still breathing, but he’d be dead soon.  Gabriel pulled his Kingsman gun out of his inner pocket and put a new clip in. 

“Come to exact revenge on me for your falling friends?” Metatron spat as soon as he caught sight of him. 

Gabriel smiled and pointed the gun at Metatron’s head, savoring the way the bastard’s eyes widened.  “Yes, I am.  This is for Sam.”  He pulled the trigger.  Right in the head.  Just like the fucker had done to Sam.  Gabriel dropped the point of the gun and flicked the safety on before returning it to his holster. 

It was over and done with. 

~!~!~!~!~

Except it wasn’t. 

Gabriel made his way back down the hallway and had Merlin give him the code to all of the cells, opening them a minute later.  People flooded into the hallway, all of them looking for answers to what the hell had happened.  He sank down against the wall and closed his eyes. 

“Gabriel, make your way back to the jet, we need to pick up Kali.” 

He opened his eyes and sighed.  Right.  There would still be so much more work to do, now that hundreds of world leaders were dead, thousands, maybe millions of people would be dead too.  There would be a clean up, and then a cover up of some sort.  Gabriel made his way through the crowds of celebrities and royalty, heading back to the hanger where the jet was. 

Merlin was waiting for him, and clapped him on the shoulder, squeezing it.  “Sam would be proud of you, Gabriel.” 

Gabriel ignored the pulse of pain in his heart at the mention of Sam’s name and limped onto the jet.  He settled back into one of the seats and let his head fall back against the smooth leather.  At least he’d managed to avenge Sam.  And he’d saved the day.  He’d even been propositioned by a Prince.  Damn good day all in all. 

Except for the niggling fact that, at the end of it, Sam was still dead.  Gabriel let himself have one moment to wonder if Sam would be proud of what he managed to do, that he’d saved the world before he took a deep breath. 

They would need to know if any of the other knights had been turned like Arthur had.  There would be emergency councils and elections across the world.  There would be chaos, at least for a little while.  He wasn’t done yet.  He couldn’t be done yet. 

Gabriel managed to give Kali a grin when she complimented his suit.  He did look fucking posh as hell in this suit, despite the loss of the tie that Sam had picked out for him.  He’d have to get another when they were back in London. 

He blinked, staring out the window for another few minutes.  Exhaustion was demanding he sleep, and the soreness that he had tried not to think about after tearing through Metatron’s facility, killing Meg, all of it was making his head pound.  He could rest a little while.  Just for a little while.

He was out before he remembered closing his eyes. 

~!~!~!~

The three months in the wake of Metatron’s attack were a blur.  Gabriel went on more missions than he could have ever imagined wanting too, even as a James Bond-esque super spy. 

To add insult to fucking injury, he’d even assumed Sam’s old title - Galahad.  Merlin assured him there was a sense of poetic justice in doing so, but Gabriel still had to fight the urge to look around for Sam whenever he was addressed by his alias. 

Kali knew, but let him pretend that he was fine.  Merlin pretended that he didn’t know Gabriel was living in Sam’s townhouse.  He didn’t care what they thought of him, how pathetic he was - pining for a man he barely knew. 

The only person who understood was Sam’s brother.  Dean would come to stay in the townhouse, from time to time.  But often, he was never in town for more than one night before he was being sent off on assignment again.  He’d come in often enough when Gabriel was blackout drunk, regretting everything he had never bothered to say to Sam.  They’d even gotten drunk together.  Merlin was worried about him, fuck, about them, but they were too busy to do anything about it. 

He returned the favor when he could, taking Kali out and covering her back while she worked off some of the tension the job gave them, fucking men and dropping them like the flies they were to her.  Merlin was far easier, Gabriel simply had to order Merlin home and have Kali take him there while he covered the base and monitored the missions the other Kingsmen were on. 

When the next class of recruits came in, he wouldn’t be able to do it anymore, but for now, Merlin gave him a quick, grateful smile, and dragged himself up to one of the emergency suites available for all Kingsmen. 

The monitor in front of him beeped.  Incoming transmission, urgent.  Gabriel frowned and opened the file.  All current missions were in steady-state.  Nothing urgent should have come through.  If he’d thought that something could have happened, he never would have been able to tell Merlin to piss off and sleep for eight hours. 

The file was encrypted and he ran the standard translator application on it.  He frowned when the file got more garbled than before.  He downloaded it to his personal tablet and ran another search on the metadata of it.  Where the hell had this message come from and why wasn’t it using standard Kingsman encryption? 

Gabriel ran a few more tests on it, before pulling up the metadata.  The message had originated from…

No.

He ran the metadata again.  Then on Merlin’s computer.  Gabriel swallowed and watched it come back with the same result.  The file had originated in Kentucky, sent to the Kingsman mainframe, which only agents had access to.  It was encoded with a non-standard key, something that…

No.  It couldn’t be.  It couldn’t.  It’d been three months.  Three months!  Sam was…

“Being a spy is less about guns and gadgets and far more about blending in and thinking on your feet.  You must be memorable, yet forgotten in a moment.  You must be witty, but never the smartest man in the room,” Merlin said, tapping the collection of books in the bookcase behind him. 

“I can teach you fighting skills, I can teach you to better your weapons skills.  What I cannot teach you is the ability to think on your feet.  Now,” he smiled at each of them.  “You will have a test in four hours.  You will be presented with several scenarios.  The answers to those scenarios, are in these seven books.” 

Gabriel stared at the stack of giant books that Merlin tapped with his pen and felt dread settle into his stomach.  Shit.  There was no way that he would be able to read what he needed to in order to pass a test in only four hours. 

“I suggest you employ whatever means necessary to pass this test.”  Merlin held up a packet of papers.  “If you do not, you are going home.”

Silence reigned in the room as Merlin left.  Gabriel looked up at the clock.  11:47am.  The test would be at exactly 3:47pm.  Merlin was nothing if not meticulous. 

“I’ve got a plan,” Baldur announced, standing up.  “There’s eight of us.  We each take a book, study and then take the test together.” 

“Merlin said-“

Baldur raised an eyebrow at Kali.  “Merlin said to use whatever means necessary to past the test.  If we each take a book, and then take the test together, we’ve got a greater chance than if we each try to read the books.” 

Gabriel scowled, because that was a shit idea right there.  “And what happens if, and I do mean ‘when’ when I say if, Merlin has us all take the test separately?  We’re all fucked and we’re all gone.” 

“You don’t know that he’ll make us do that-“

“And it’s the best idea we’ve got.” 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and stood up.  Fuck this. 

“We could also take each of the books for a half hour, skim them and then trade.  That would give us enough time to go through each of them, and then we could trade off reviewing one of the others a second time,” Kali suggested, striding towards the desk. 

Gabriel stretched.  “All right, while you fucktards decide what to do, I’m going to go take a piss.  C’mon Loki.”  He didn’t bother to wait to hear if any of them responded as he strode from the room.  Any means necessary meant any fucking means necessary.  That meant cheating was absolutely on the table, and Baldur was thinking too damn small. 

Gabriel headed down to the hangar and glanced around the corner, smirking when he saw the stack of papers Merlin had waved in front of them.  He looked down at Loki.  “Stay,” he ordered, slipping towards the desk.  He pulled out his phone and snapped a few quick pictures of the test.  Merlin would notice if he took a copy, but no one would notice a few pictures. 

Gabriel turned and whistled the whole way to the bathroom, making sure that at least two of the other people from the Merlin department heard him.  No harm in having some backup to his story about going to the bathroom.  He made his way back to the room where everyone was still debating the method of studying the books fastest. 

“Glad to see someone decided to join us,” Baldur sneered.  “Always pleased to see someone taking this seriously.” 

Gabriel tightened his hand around his phone and debated just pretending that he hadn’t done this for all of them.  He should let them fucking suffer, share the questions with Kali and then just cheat off of her.  He should!  But…

‘You forgot the most important thing.  Teamwork.’

Fuck Merlin for getting in his head, the bastard.  “I am taking this seriously,” Gabriel interrupted, striding to the table, pulling out his phone.  “And that is why I went to get pictures of the fucking test we’re taking, so we know what to look for instead of trying to memorize an entire book.” 

Gabriel gave them three minutes of stunned silence before he held up his phone.  “We’ll know what to look for.  We’ll all be able to pass, and move back on to whatever the next test is.  Deal?” 

Kali grinned at him, her eyes bright and proud and Gabriel smirked back at her.  “Now.  Who has a pen so we can write this shit down?” 

~!~!~!~!~!~

Gabriel threw his pen at the test as soon as he finished filling it out.  He wasn’t the first, but he wasn’t the last either.  Kali and Baldur had both finished before him, but fuck if he cared.  He’d taken it, they’d known all the answers, and he was pretty fucking sure they’d all passed.  Things had gone according to plan. 

He stood and motioned for Loki to follow him to the other side of the room as he left the test on the desk Merlin was now sitting at.  Gabriel leaned against the wall and gave Kali a grin when she raised an eyebrow.  Well, at least they knew they’d both be moving on.  They’d fucking nailed it. 

It took another half hour for two of Baldur’s friends (Ganesh and Digby, because posh pricks couldn’t name their kids normal fucking things) to finish, and then another fifteen for the rest of them.  Gabriel let himself relax and doze as he leaned against the wall.  He snapped to attention when Merlin cleared his throat and stood up. 

“Well done.  I have to say, I’m impressed that six of you managed to pass.”

Gabriel shared a look with Kali.  Six?  How the fuck had only six of them managed to pass?  They’d had the answers.  Who the fuck had managed to screw up?  Unless…

“Gabriel, excellent job.  Pretty ballsy, snapping pictures of the test to bring back to the others.  However, despite your efforts, two of your colleagues were unable to pass.  Malcolm, Richard, pack your things and go home.” 

Gabriel bit down the angry response he wanted to have.  Fuck!  They should have all passed!  They’d found the answers, with time to spare, they’d quizzed each other!  They’d stacked the fucking deck! 

“The rest of you, go to bed, get some rest.  You have an early morning tomorrow,” Merlin said.  “You’re dismissed.” 

Gabriel turned to Baldur and Kali.  “What the fuck happened?  We all had the answers.” 

Baldur lifted his hand and looked at his finger nails.  “They didn’t.  I gave them the wrong answer to two of the questions.” 

Dread settled into his stomach.  “You did fucking…what?” 

“Any.  Means.  Necessary,” Baldur said, glaring at the two of them.  “I needed to weed out some of the competition.  You two didn’t look at the answers I gave you, so you were fine.” 

Fuck.  Fucking hell.  He was not going to deck the prick.  Not only would it get him kicked out, but it wasn’t going to earn him any bonus points with Merlin. 

“Baldur, I wouldn’t be so keen to admit that.  Merlin has said, more than once, how important teamwork is,” Kali said, heading for the door. 

Gabriel smirked when Baldur blanched and followed Kali out.  He pushed his hands through his hair.  They’d survived another day.  Loki headbutted his leg and Gabriel crouched down and rubbed behind his ears.  “What do you say, bud?  We get to stay for a little longer.” 

~!~!~!~!~!~

The one thing he had to say that was nice about training was that he got to see Sam in all sorts of situations.  He’d had to duck into the bathroom the first time he saw Sam wandering around in a red Kingsman robe, boxers and nothing else.  Gabriel hadn’t come that hard or that fast since he was fucking fifteen. 

Then he found out Sam had been hospitalized after a mission.  He’d been hit with an unknown material of some kind and was in a coma.  The second Merlin released them from their latest test (another target practice test that had gotten them down to the final five after Rufus had missed his second to last shot), Gabriel had hauled ass to the infirmary. 

The sight of Sam, on the bed, white as a sheet, hooked up to oxygen masks and various tubes made his heart lurch and he immediately sank into the chair beside Sam, staring at the tall man.  “Jesus, Sam,” he whispered. 

At one point Merlin came in, and though he could tell that Merlin was surprised, Gabriel just stared at him, until he got given a status update on Sam.  

Sam would be fine. 

And for the next six weeks, as Sam slowly grew a beard, Gabriel spent every spare moment he could in the medical area, next to Sam.  He ignored the looks from Kali and Merlin, brought his books in there to study and Loki even took to sometimes sitting on Sam’s feet on the end of the bed. 

“Gabriel,” Merlin called, opening the door.  “You need to stop sleeping here.” 

Gabriel blinked himself awake and cracked his neck, sitting up from where he absolutely had not been holding Sam’s hand and sleeping.  Because the sight of Sam’s slowly rising and falling chest was one of the most calming things he could see, especially here.  Absolutely, definitely fucking not. 

“Sorry Merlin,” Gabriel mumbled, standing and staring at him.  “Do we need to report?” 

Merlin sighed and tapped his tablet.  “Yes.  Outside, in the courtyard, in one hour.”  He turned and headed for the door.  “And Gabriel?” 

Gabriel looked at Merlin’s back and cleared his throat.  “Yes, sir?” 

“Sam would be proud of how far you have come, but don’t let yourself get sloppy because you aren’t getting proper rest.  He’ll wake up when he’s ready.” 

Gabriel swallowed hard and looked down at Sam, his hand twitching closer to Sam’s.  “Yeah.  Yeah, all right.”  He gave a determined nod.  Merlin was right.  He needed to concentrate so he could kick Baldur’s ass. 

He showered, managed to grab some quick breakfast and a change in the hideous jumpsuit before he headed outside.  Gabriel grinned widely when he saw the array of different hand guns and rifles laid out on the table.  Another fucking weaponry test.  He aced these, and the only one who consistently scored better than him was Kali.  Who had been a fucking sharpshooter and sniper in the army. 

“Today, we will be testing a combination of skills.  Your speed, accuracy and appropriate use of each weapon,” Merlin explained.  “And for an added wrinkle, you will be running through the endurance course.  You must meet a time of five minutes, or you fail.  On the table you will find the five weapons you will use.  You must carry the ammunition, each of the guns and switch between them on each part of the course.  If you fall below a ninety-five accuracy, you will fail.” 

Gabriel looked over at Kali and then at the guns on the table.  Twenty five weapons, and at a quick glance, only two that he wasn’t comfortable with on the run.  Five minutes on the endurance course was pushing it, but he’d managed four minutes and thirty seconds his last run through. 

He walked over to the table and stared at the list of weapons.  Gabriel grinned widely when he saw that he didn’t have two the guns he was worried about using.  He grabbed them and started loading them, throwing the two rifles over his shoulder and grabbing holsters to the other three guns. 

If there was one thing he knew how to do well, it was this.  He’d aced it in his training for the Marines and he was going to ace it here.  Gabriel leaned down and tucked in the laces for his boots after tightening them.  No need to have something stupid like a loose shoelace slow him down. 

“Ganesh, you’ll be going first.  Then you, Digby, then Gabriel, followed by Baldur with Kali going last,” Merlin said.  “Before you complain about order, it’s based on your current scores and training to date.  You have only yourself to blame.” 

Gabriel nearly started snickering at the look of shock on Ganesh’s face.  Oh, that had been a thing of fucking beauty.  He tucked the remaining revolver into his boot and straightened up, surveying the rest.  Kali had copied him and had set up her weapons in easy to reach places versus secure ones.  They were both going for accuracy over speed. 

He watched Ganesh head towards the course and closed his eyes.  Though he couldn’t be certain, he’d be able to tell what parts of the course Ganesh was using a rifle and what places he was using a pistol.  Maybe they’d be the same. 

An airhorn sounded and almost immediately, Gabriel heard pistol shots, and the sound of Ganesh running through the course.  So the targets were up immediately.  Ganesh was firing too fast though, he couldn’t be aiming between shots. 

Gabriel glanced over at Merlin and noticed the tight frown of his mouth.  Ganesh was not doing well. 

A few minutes later, Ganesh came around the corner, panting hard as sweat ran down his face, his hand still on his rifle. 

“Thank you Ganesh.  Digby, line up,” Merlin ordered. 

No mention of scores or performance until they were all done then.  Well, at least they’d all know if they fucked up together. 

The sharp snap of a rifle had Gabriel turning towards the course.  Even though he couldn’t see it, the difference in gun type had him cursing.  Either they had both read the obstacle differently, or it had changed for each of them.  He’d have to be prepared for both going in.  Merlin’s face was impassive, with none of the distaste that had shown with Ganesh. 

So, leaning towards the rifle a bit, but potential for a little of both.  Ganesh was a shit shot with a pistol, so maybe that was what had pissed Merlin off. 

A moment later, the airhorn sounded and Gabriel snapped to attention when Merlin looked at him.  He nodded and jogged towards the course.  He took his place at the starting line and took a slow, deep breath.  He could do this.  This was easy. 

Find the target, shoot the target.  Use the optimal gun to shoot each of the targets.  Get through the obstacle course.  Easy enough. 

He took off the second the air horn sounded, his eyes snapping open.  He reached for the rifle and froze for a second at the sight of the course.  It had been filled with dozens of civilian dummies.  Panic filled him for a second.  Where were the targets?! 

A flash of red in a window caught his eye and he smirked, ripping the rifle off of his back, aiming and shooting it a second later.  Now he knew what he was looking for. 

He fired six more shots in quick succession before hitting the rope bridge.  Gabriel valuted into the middle and used his momentum to hit the other side of the bridge in one bounce.  His knees protested the move, but fuck if he wasn’t going to use some of his gymnastics training to his advantage. 

Last time he’d pulled that move, he’d seen Baldur and Digby nearly blow out their fucking knees trying it.  Gabriel stowed the rifle and pulled out his pistol and hit the next moving targets, swinging in front of him, cursing when he missed the last one.  Ninety-five percent.  He could miss one.  Just not the next one. 

He scrambled a little as he hauled himself under the barbed wire trenches, digging his feet in and propelling himself forward.  Sometimes being small came in as an advantage.  Gabriel got out of it and grabbed the revolver from his boot, squeezing off two quick shots that probably brushed too close to the civilian targets, but didn’t hit them directly. 

He panted and made his way to the next obstacle.  Fucking hills.  He hated running over small hills.  Gabriel tucked the revolver away and grabbed his rifle.  Two more sections.  He squeezed off one shot and was glad that he’d paused to take it.  Accuracy would be important here. 

It wasted precious seconds each time he stopped, but he didn’t miss a single one.  One section left, and he’d saved the Sig for last, since that’s what he was best with.  Gabriel pulled it out and started sprinting through the last leg.  This was where he would have to make up speed.  No civilians here, just blank road and targets coming from somewhere. 

A target flew out from between the trees, hauling ass and Gabriel cursed and caught it just before it flew into the treeline.  He kept up the sprint as best he could with the gun up and hit the remaining eight targets before skidding over the finish line to the sound of the airhorn.  He dropped to the ground to catch his breath for a second, panting hard. 

Baldur and Kali still had to hit the course.  Gabriel stood and dusted off his pants, heading back towards where the others were waiting.  Gabriel grinned at them all and started disassembling the weapons, laying them out on the table. 

He listened closely to Baldur and pictured running through the course.  Baldur got through the hills faster than he did, but there was no way that he had been as accurate at the end sprint.  Too many quick and desperate shots. 

Gabriel met Kali’s eyes and nodded, clearing his throat.  “Knock ‘em dead!” he called, waving to her as she entered the course.  He had no doubt that Kali hit every single target by the time she was done.  Every shot was measured and precise, and there was no staccato of gunfire indicating a miss.  Exactly what he’d expect from a sniper. 

It did make him feel better that she at least looked winded after the course.  He grinned wide at her and waited til she joined them again before they turned to Merlin. 

“All of you, well done.  You all met the minimum 95% score.  Gabriel I was going to offer you congratulations on missing only one target, a new Kingsman record, however, Kali beat your record shortly thereafter with perfect score.  Both of you, excellent job.” 

Gabriel gave Kali a blinding grin and nearly floated back to the dorm.  Fuck, he needed to shower and take Loki on a proper walk before bed, but oh god, he didn’t want to move. 

“Gabriel, if you do not get up and get into the shower, I am going to shoot you,” Kali threatened.  “I can smell you from here.  Get into the shower.” 

He made a sad noise, but hoisted himself off the bed and towards the showers.  “I understand, it’s okay, you just want to ogle me in the showers.  I suppose that I can oblige.” 

Her snort of derision made him grin.  Gabriel turned one of the showers on to scalding and stepped under the water.  If he did go walk Loki, it wouldn’t be a big deal to stop by the Infirmary to say goodnight to Sam before heading back to the dorms for the night.  Merlin was right, he needed to make sure that he made Sam proud. 

~!~!~!~!~!~

He fucking hated etiquette training.  Hated it.  He got by by watching Kali and Baldur like a hawk and then imitating them with his most bullshit posh accent, but fuck he hated every second of it.  Who cared what spoon you used to eat your soup as long as you didn’t spill it all over yourself? 

Same deal with fucking conversation topics.  If he did not have one more conversation about what appropriate conversation topics with certain people were, it would be too fucking soon. 

“Gabriel,” Merlin called. 

Gabriel nearly turned and bashed his head into the suit of armor he was walking past.  No, no, no, no, they were done, he’d been dismissed, he wanted to go watch trashy tv and not fucking think for the rest of the afternoon! 

He took a deep breath and turned to Merlin, snapping to attention.  “Sir?”

Merlin smiled at him.  “Sam is awake, and asking for you to visit him.” 

Gabriel froze and then grinned, bright and wide.  “He’s awake?” 

“Aye,” Merlin said, chuckling as he watched Gabriel turn and jog towards the infirmary. 

Gabriel opened the door, his heart doing another of those really fucking annoying flutters at the sight of Sam standing in front of the mirror, wearing that red fucking bathrobe again.  At least this time he had pants and a shirt on this time. 

“You know, gentlemen knock, Gabriel,” Sam said, turning to smile at him. 

“Good thing I’m not one of those,” Gabriel said with a laugh, walking closer to Sam.  Loki gave an excited bark and tugged at his leash, going after Sam. 

Sam raised an eyebrow.  “Is Loki’s training going well?” 

“Loki,” Gabriel said.  “Heel.”  In a second, Loki was happily sitting by his feet.  He gave Sam another grin. 

“Excellent.  You’ve been doing even better than I hoped.  The final five is a true achievement Gabriel, well done,” Sam said. 

Gabriel absolutely did not blush.  He didn’t blush, even when Sam’s eyes were shining with the compliment and he looked like he needed to be ravished.  “Thanks, thanks Sam.  Merlin said that you wanted to see me?” 

“Yes, Gabriel, I-“

“Ah, Gabriel,” Merlin said, stepping into the room.  “I need to have a private conversation with Sam.  You’re dismissed.” 

Gabriel tried not to let it bother him.  Now that Sam was awake, they would have plenty of time to catch up. 

“Nonsense.  Let him stay.  Learn a thing or two about how stuff works,” Sam said, turning to face the TV. 

Merlin huffed, but tapped a few buttons on his tablet.  “As you wish.  Now, we still have no idea what you were gassed with, however, your glasses feed did capture a few additional pieces of information.” 

Gabriel watched the feed and swore.  “Sam, did you blow up some bloke’s head?  That’s a bit much, don’t you think?  I mean, did he deserve to get his head blown up?  Fucking hell!” 

“Actually, it was a chip, embedded just below the scar you see here,” Merlin said, zooming in on the image of the video before it cut off.  “Your glasses picked up the signal, however, I traced back the signal to a corporation owned by Curtis Metatron.” 

“That dude ended up with one of those fucked up last name,” Gabriel said, shaking his head.  “I thought I got the short end of the religious stick, he got fucked.”  He looked at the blank looks being given to him by Sam and Merlin and grinned.  “He goes by Metatron, right?  Well, Metatron was an angel, is, if you believe that sort of stuff.  Anyways.  Scribe of God.  His job to write down the word of God.  Fucked up dude in some books too, because he started writing his own shit and calling it the word of God.” 

Gabriel gave a sheepish shrug at the surprised looks from the other two men.  “But, regardless of what I think of the shaft he got on his name, the man is a fucking genius.” 

Sam cleared his throat.  “And why is that?” 

Gabriel blinked.  “Didn’t you see his announcement today?”  At the blank looks, he snatched the tablet from Merlin and pulled up a link off Metatron’s website.  “Here, look!” 

“We spend on average more than $2,000 a piece on internet for our cell phones, and for our computers a year.  I find this figure disgusting, when this money could be spent properly revitalizing the planet and our own economy.  So, I came up with a plan.  Starting tomorrow, every single man, woman and child is welcome to pick up one of my sim cards that are compatible with any computer and cell phone currently on the market.  Free internet, for everyone, forever.” 

Gabriel grinned widely.  “I’ve got to figure out how to get one of those.”  Merlin snatched the tablet back from him a moment later with a dark look, only to have it pulled out of his hands by Sam.  Gabriel managed to keep from laughing at the indignant look Merlin’s face, but only just. 

“Look at this,” Sam said, tapping on the video and zooming in.  “Metatron’s assistant, the one that introduced him on stage?  She has the same implant scar.” 

“Oh shit,” Gabriel whispered, staring at the video. 

Sam hummed and looked down at the tablet.  “Merlin, I think Metatron and I need to have dinner.  Preferably in the very short future.” 

Merlin took his tablet back and tapped at it.  “There’s a gala dinner next week.  I’ll get you an invitation, but be careful.  Hundreds of VIPs have gone missing in the past few months, especially after events like this.” 

“Well, I would make sure that my alias is someone worth kidnapping,” Sam said. 

Gabriel grinned widely.  It was almost like they had forgotten he was here, but it was so damn nice to hear Sam again, with his quips and sarcasm.  Fuck, he’d missed it so much while Sam was out.

He headed back to the dorms, completely unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face.  Kali gave him a knowing look, but he decided that he didn’t care as he settled into bed.  Sam was all right, they were tracking down whoever the hell had hurt Sam, and he was going to land this job and figure out some way to land Sam along with it. 

~!~!~!~!~!~

Gabriel stared at Kali as she sucked in slow, calming breaths.  He reached out and touched her knees.  “Not a fan of heights?” 

“I’ve done it before, but yeah.  Not what I would call a fan,” Kali muttered. 

“You’ll be fine,” Gabriel said, rubbing her knee.  “You’re top of the class.” 

Kali nodded and held onto the straps of her parachute. 

“Twenty seconds to the drop zone,” Merlin called over the comm.  “Your objective is to land within the target without being on the radar.  Open your chute too soon and you’re out.  Land outside the target and you’re out.  Understood?” 

Gabriel grinned widely at Kali.  Fuck, he’d always wanted to try jumping out of a plane like a hero.  This was going to be fucking fantastic.  He stood up and pushed his seat back against the wall, turning to look at Kali on his left. 

“Gabriel, I don’t know if I can do this,” Kali said, her breathing coming harder. 

Baldur rolled his eyes and pushed past her and Gabriel.  “Move to the back, because you clearly can’t, so let me show you how, yeah?” 

Gabriel scowled at the bastard, but reached out to squeeze Kali’s arm as the hatch in the back of the plane opened. 

“Go, go, go!” 

Gabriel ran for the exit, but a hand on his arm by Kali stopped him.  He growled and grabbed her shoulders.  “Kali.  Listen to me.  Stop fucking about.  You can do this.  Just follow me.”  He turned and stepped to the edge of the ramp before leaping off and heading to where the other three where already gathering into a circle. 

Gabriel waited, but didn’t see Kali following him.  She was going to miss the drop zone!  “Kali, it’s now or never, now trust me, and fucking jump.”  A moment later, a figure in black leapt out of the plane and Gabriel grinned. 

He focused his attention on catching up to the others.  A few seconds later, Kali joined them and they all cheered, doing flips in the air and spinning around each other.  Gabriel laughed and floating up closer to Kali, giving her a nudge just to make her chuckle. 

“My, my, you are all very excited.  Any idiot can read a Heads Up Display.  A Kingsman agent needs to be able to solve problems under pressure.  Such as what to do…when one of you, has no parachute.” 

Gabriel’s eyes flew wide and he looked to Kali.

“What?”

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking joking!” 

“What are we gonna do?” 

Gabriel cursed and looked at the sky.  They were an odd number, so they couldn’t pair off.  The others were frantically glancing at each other for ideas.  Fuck, he wasn’t positive it would work once you got down to two people, but it would be close enough.  “I know what to do!  Quick, form a circle!” 

“Good thinking Gabriel, but you’re running out of time.  You have thirty seconds,” Merlin said. 

Gabriel grabbed Kali’s hand and reached out for Baldur.  “Come on, come on!  We each open, one by one, then the last one grabs the one who’s fucked!” 

“Ah, good plan Gabriel, but you’re running out of time.  Hurry,” Merlin urged. 

“Me first!” Ganesh yelled, yanking on his parachute. 

Gabriel watched as it immediately deployed and shifted to close the circle.  “Okay, okay!” 

Digby immediately reached for his chord.  “Me next!” 

A few seconds later, the next chute deployed.  He looked to Baldur, about to yell that Kali was next when the jackass beat him to it. 

“I’m next, I’m next!” 

Another yank, another chute.  Gabriel ignored the fear settling into the pit of his stomach and grabbed on to Kali again.  “Kali, look at me, no matter what happens, I’m not letting go of you, got it?” 

Gabriel shifted and wrapped his legs around Kali, holding onto her tightly.  His HUD was blaring red at him.  They were below the safe deployment zone, and fucking hell, they needed to get one of their chutes deployed now!  “Kali, pull yours!”  he shouted. 

Kali fumbled, and Gabriel watched the altitude meter blare alarms at him until she pulled the chord.  He shouted as Kali’s body was suddenly jerked upward, causing him to fumble his grip.  He screamed, holding onto her tightly. 

The ground was coming up, too fucking fast, and shit, if both of them survived, he was going to kill her for waiting so fucking long to deploy! 

His legs hit grass, the impact jarring him, and Kali had landed half on top of him.  Gabriel lifted his head, just enough, to make sure that they’d landed in the fucking circle before he let his head fall back and pant.  “Fucking, hell Kali.  Let’s not do that again, yeah?” 

Kali punched him in the shoulder.  He might have deserved that, he really might have, but they’d nearly died, so he was pretty sure that he could be forgiven for it. 

Baldur landed almost three minutes later, only a few feet away from them, but still within the circle.  Digby and Ganesh didn’t show up at all.  Fuck, it was down to just the three of them. 

“Fall in,” Merlin ordered. 

Gabriel tugged off his helmet and fell into line with the others.  He was more than a little pissed at Merlin for picking him as the one that didn’t have the parachute. 

“Ganesh, you opened too soon.  You were all over the radar.  Digby, you don’t land in the K, you’re not in the K.  Both of you, pack your bags, go home,” Merlin said, marking another item on his clipboard.  “Gabriel, Kali, congratulations, opening at three hundred feet is another new record, two of which you now hold.  That hasn’t been accomplished by a Kingsman trainee before.  Well, well done.” 

Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest.  “And is there any reason that I was the gimp one?  Am I the expendable candidate?” 

Merlin frowned.  “Oh no, no, no, you have a problem, you come here and whisper it in my ear.” 

Gabriel stomped closer to Merlin and opened his mouth when Merlin reached behind him. 

“You need to take that chip off your shoulder.” 

Gabriel flailed and fell backwards as his chute suddenly deployed.  He looked backwards at it and could hear Merlin walking back towards the house.  He stared at the clouds above him and grinned.  Fucking hell. 

If Sam was proud of him for reaching the final five, he had to wonder how happy Sam would be that he reached the final three.  Holy fuck, he’d actually managed to beat out most of the candidates.  Gabriel grinned even wider and turned around to grab his parachute. 

Time to head in and see Sam! 

Fucking hell he was a teenage girl. 

~!~!~!~!~!~

Now that they had reached the final three, Merlin seemed in no hurry to knock them down to two candidates.  Gabriel sighed and slumped against the wall of the dorms, rubbing at his forehead.  Everything they had done before they were now doing again, it seemed like, only harder, faster and with harsher deadlines.  Even Kali was starting to feel the strain.  If Kingsman was trying to make them break, they were doing one hell of a job. 

“Gabriel!” Kali said, jogging up to him.  “You left before Merlin could debrief all of us,” 

Gabriel groaned.  Fuck.  That probably counted against him in the massive scores that Merlin magically kept tallied on his clipboard.  “Can I go just pass out for the next six hours?  I really fucking need to Kali.” 

“Not tonight you don’t, we’ve got another task,” Kali said, slapping a folder to Gabriel’s chest.  “And be glad I fucking grabbed this for you on my way out.” 

Gabriel watched as Kali stomped into the dorm room, her hips swinging angrily.  Fuck, and just a few months ago, he would have been after that like a mouse on fucking cheese.  Now, because of a tall bastard with dimples, he was ruined. 

He flipped open the file and stared at it.  Observational testing, again.  Go to a VIP party, find celebs and see what information you can bring back as a result.  He sighed and snapped it shut.  It sounded like the worst game in the world of who was fucking who. 

At least now he’d have a chance to wear some of his nicer stuff. 

He finished pulling on his trainers and made his way downstairs to where the limo was waiting.  Ash, one of the mechanics waved at him as he was walking by.  Gabriel checked his watch.  He still had a few minutes before Merlin had ordered them to report.  “What’s up?” 

“Hey, you heading out to that fancy party with the other two?” 

Gabriel looked down at his outfit.  His best jacket, trainers and jeans.  He’d been pretty fucking obvious about where he was going tonight.  “Yeah, why?” 

“You want anything fancier?  I got some stuff that I’m sure’ll fit-“ 

Gabriel scowled.  “I paid two hundred for these shoes, and more than that for the jacket.  My stuff is plenty fancy, thank you very fucking much,” He scowled and stomped to where the car was waiting. 

“Gabriel?” Kali asked, looking him up and down with a raised eyebrow.  He managed a quick nod at her, but Ash commenting on his outfit had rubbed him the wrong fucking way. 

“You’re wearing that out?  Honestly Gabriel, if we want to get any information at all, we can’t be seen with you,” Baldur said, adjusting his cuffs.  “You look like a gang member.” 

“Baldur, that’s enough,” Kali snarled, turning to face Gabriel with a nod.  “Let’s go.” 

Thankfully, she had enough manners to not fucking insult him.  Gabriel smiled at her as they pulled up to the club.  He tucked the pen that would allow them to communicate easily into his front pocket and made his way straight to the bar.  At least there was alcohol. 

It took less than fifteen minutes for it all to go to utter and complete shit. 

“All I’m saying Kali is that he’s not made to hack it in this world.  I mean, did you see the way he’s dressed?  He doesn’t fit in with us and he certainly isn’t Kingsman material,” Baldur said. 

“Just because he doesn’t dress like you or I doesn’t mean anything, Baldur-“

“But you can’t deny that he is noticeably struggling.  I mean, he could never fit in around a place like this without our help,” Baldur shot back. 

“Baldur-“

“You don’t disagree Kali, I can see it in your face.  You just like him, so you aren’t willing to say it.”

Gabriel scowled and stomped out of the club, depositing his drink on a nearby table.  This was what he got for thinking that he could ever hack it with these posh bastards.  Fuck them.  Fuck them both, fuck Kingsman, they could all go to fucking hell.  Well, now they had made it abundantly fucking clear that they wanted nothing to do with him and he felt the same way, so they could all fucking go screw. 

He heard Kali come across the comm line before Gabriel ripped it out of his ear and dropped it on the ground behind him.  The pen was next.  Well, if there was anyone that knew how to fuck up in style, it was him.  He smirked and made his way back towards the Kingsman compound.  He knew just what to do. 

He ignored the thought of Sam's disappointed face and what it would like coming his way again after everything he had tried to do, but fuck it, he was a fuck up and Sam should have never tried to help him.  He would never have escaped the shit heap.  It was where he belonged after all, and he knew just how to remind everyone of that. 

~!~!~!~

Sam headed down to the garage, glad that he did not need to use a cane to walk for the first time in months.  Merlin had finally decided he was done mothering him, and Dean was off in Spain, preventing a terrorist ring from hitting several prominent landmarks in Madrid.  He had the house to himself and could relax and catch up on the video of the latest recruit tests.  Gabriel had been doing well, despite all supposed evidence to the contrary, and Sam couldn't have been more pleased. 

He frowned when he realized his car wasn't waiting for him in its usual spot.  He turned to one of the engineers.  "Jo, where is my car?" 

Jo only blinked at him and looked at the empty space behind him.  "It was just there, I'd finished looking at the rocket launchers like you'd asked..."

"Well, it is clearly not here, as it should be." 

She frowned and picked up her tablet from her desk.  "None of us would have moved it, and I only just finished the work on it this morning." 

"Activate the-"

"What do you think I'm doing?" she snapped, tapping at her tablet impatiently. 

Sam waited, letting his shoulders relax.  There was no need to exacerbate the broken ribs now that he had finally been freed from medical. 

"Galahad..." 

Sam snapped his attention back to Jo and swore at the image on the tablet.

~!~!~!~

Gabriel pulled up in front of Smith Street and parked, rolling down the windows so he could grin at Balthazar.  "Hey, fancy a ride?" 

He winked at the stunned looks on his face and unlocked the doors for Balthazar to climb in before he gunned it.  If you were going to fuck up, you did it in style, and nothing was more stylish than Sam's car.  Especially now that he knew it had fucking rocket launchers. 

Gabriel swerved in and out of traffic, delighting in the shouts of Balthazar as he sped down the street.  Now this was a car that the cops couldn't keep up with.  He flicked a few buttons on the dash and activated one of the smoke bombs, dropping it behind him before he turned down a side street and gunning it all over again. 

Gabriel yanked on the wheel, spinning them down another street, firing the rocket launcher into one of the buildings behind him as he gunned it harder, the engine giving a loud whine.  Balthazar screamed and Gabriel laughed again, grabbing the stick shift and drifting around the next corner.  Fuck this car was awesome. 

He was about to pull a sick u-turn and get back into normal traffic when the car shut down and pulled into the emergency lane.  Gabriel frowned and hit the gas pedal, but the engine stayed at a low rumble.  He tried to turn the key in the ignition, but it wouldn't move.  He cursed and stared at the ceiling.  "Ride's over Balthy.  Get out," he ordered. 

Balthazar didn't hesitate this time, and bolted.  Once he was out of the car, it started driving again, this time melding seamlessly into traffic.  Gabriel put his hands on the wheel, but it delivered a sharp shock to his hands and he raised them up and off.  "I get it, I get it, I'm done touching it." 

He settled back in the seat and scowled, closing his eyes.  Well, if he was going to be chauffeured somewhere to get yelled at, he might as well take a nap while he did.  Gabriel opened his eyes when the car pulled to a stop in front of Sam's flat.  He cursed.  Of course, of course they couldn't just take him to some random field and shoot him and leave his body in a ditch somewhere.  They had to attempt to be gentlemanly about this. 

He climbed out of the car and put his hands in his pockets, sauntering up to where Sam was standing on the stoop.  "Hey there Sammy," Gabriel drawled, watching Sam's eyebrows pinch together in frustration. 

Gabriel grinned when Sam didn't answer, only turned and led him back into the house.  Apparently there was a song and dance that had to be followed before he was thrown into a cell for the rest of his life or shot.  Not really surprising.  Sam always had been a sucker for protocol. 

He was surprised when Sam led him into an office and went to go sit behind his desk.  A moment later, Sam pulled out a bottle of brandy and placed it on the desk before pouring himself a glass.  Gabriel let Sam do whatever he needed to and looked up at the frames on the wall.  It looked like old news article stories. 

"Wouldn't have thought you a reader of that sort of bullshit," he said, glancing back to Sam. 

Sam reached behind him and tapped the closest frame without looking at it.  "I defused a bomb in the Vatican here." 

Gabriel's mouth went dry as Sam shifted to another picture and pointed. 

"Here I figured out how to disable a death ray that had been pointed at a number of major cities on the planet." 

Gabriel clenched his hands into fists and pulled them out of his pocket.  He was not going to think about it.  He would not.  "You're a badass that saves the world regularly, that's not news to me." 

"Exactly.  It's not news," Sam said, turning his eyes to Gabriel. 

Gabriel snorted.  "It should be.  You've saved the lives of thousands." 

"I don't do this job for the accolades.  Neither does Merlin, or any of the others.  This job will not give you recognition and no one will ever know what you do," Sam said. 

"Then why do it?" Gabriel asked, shrugging. 

Sam gave him a hint of a smile and Gabriel gave Sam his best poker face.  He would never see that smile again and he would deal with it. 

"Because it must be done.  And because I can," he explained, sipping his brandy slowly. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the news stories.  He remembered some of these.  What had happened behind each of them that had made Sam put them up on the wall of his office? 

"I grew up where you did, Gabriel," Sam said. 

Gabriel blinked and turned back to Sam.  "What?" 

"About two blocks down from where you were living with your father, actually," he added, standing and walking to the window. 

"Oh, save the fucking 'you can change just like me' speech and tell me where I'm going to be locked up for the rest of my life," Gabriel said, glaring at Sam's back. 

"What happened, Gabriel?" 

Gabriel laughed and stepped away from where he was standing so Sam couldn't look at him.  "I realized that I'm never going to fit in, that I don't fucking want to, and y'all can keep your silver spoons shoved up your-"

"Gabriel," Sam interrupted.  "Tell me what happened." 

"I don't need to tell you what happened, I'm sure that it's all on tape for you to watch." 

"You caused more than two hundred thousand dollars in property damage and could have killed someone," Sam said, turning to stare at Gabriel's shoulders.  "You are not one for mindless violence, Gabriel, so tell me what happened." 

Gabriel shrugged.  "I failed my interview.  I go back to my shithole and you get to move on with your life happy that you don't have to deal with me on a daily basis." 

Sam frowned and leaned back against the window, staring at Gabriel.  "I won't be happy, Gabriel, but you understand-"

"I can't go back, yeah, I fucked up, yeah, I did it on purpose, you don't need to analyze my motives-"

"What if you could come back?" Sam asked.

Gabriel froze and closed his eyes.  "No thanks." 

Sam smiled and kept staring at Gabriel.  That response had been more reflex than an actual response.  "Liar." 

Gabriel snarled and stalked towards Sam, who only stared at him calmly, as though he had been expecting it.  "I am not a liar!" 

"Then prove me wrong," Sam whispered, looking down at Gabriel. 

Gabriel sucked in a few harsh breaths and glared at Sam.  He'd let Baldur and those other twats get the better of him, and he'd dealt with bastards like that his entire life.  None of them deserved to be a Kingsman.  Kali was the only one that did. 

Sam was still smiling at him, waiting for his answer.  Gabriel growled under his breath.  Damn Sam for being able to read him so fucking easily, and to play him like this.  Fucking damn him!  "Fine." 

"You'll come back?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Gabriel said, glaring at him. 

"Excellent," Sam said, raising his sleeve and hitting Gabriel in the face with a burst of gas. 

Gabriel wanted to hit Sam, but his body felt heavy and it was impossible to move.  The last thought he had was that Sam's arms were warmer than he thought as they closed around him and kept him from falling to the ground.  Fucking bastard.