When Sam wakes up the next morning, Gabriel is nowhere to be seen. Castiel says he disappeared not long after the humans went to bed, and Jack seems confident that he'll be back soon. Sam decides to take his word for it, if only because he lacks the ambition to go look for him again.
Instead, Sam sits down at the war room table with his laptop and starts searching for a case. He's sure there are plenty out there, and he's in desperate need of something to do. Running after a flight risk of an archangel gets annoying after a while. Dean seems to agree, though he obviously wants no part in actually looking for a case; he just wants to go hunt something.
Searching for a case is, as expected, incredibly boring, but he does eventually find one, and he and Dean agree to check it out, leaving Cas, Jack, and Mary behind to keep an eye on things (and by "things," they mostly mean Ketch, who pops in and out incredibly inconsistently and they never know when to expect to see him, nor do they want to).
Sam is just starting to gather his things when Jack asks, "What about Gabriel?"
Sam glances back at him, confused. "What about him?"
"You're just gonna leave him?" Jack asks.
Sam snorts. "He left us, Jack. If he wanted to say goodbye, he'd come out and do it, but I don't think he's really in the mood."
"But what if he comes back to see you and you're not here?" Jack asks, and Sam comes to the frustrating realization that the kid picked up his propensity for puppy dog eyes.
"I don't even know where he is," Sam reminds him. "Unless you know where I can find him...?"
"I dunno," Jack says, "but he's probably still in the bunker. Can't you go look for him before you leave?"
Sam heaves a sigh. "You're killing me, Jack." He pats the kid on the back. "I'll take a look, okay? And if I don't find him, you can tell him where Dean and I went yourself."
Jack beans. "Okay!"
"Just make it quick," Dean says. "The monster's not getting any more dead while we're here."
Sam waves that off and begins his trek around the bunker. He's not at all surprised to find Gabriel sitting in the library, his usual go-to hideout. He's tucked away into a corner between some shelves with playing cards laid out in front of him. Sam stays where he is, watching the archangel play his game in silence. He's not sure what he thought he'd find Gabriel doing but this was not it.
After a minute or two of silence, Gabriel asks, "Do you see anything else I can do here? 'Cause I think I lost again," without looking up.
Sam takes that as a sign that he's welcome here, so he walks over and takes a seat on the floor opposite him on the other side of the cards. From here he can easily see that the card game the archangel is playing is solitaire, and he's not doing particularly well with it. If he could just find the ace of hearts, he might be able to get somewhere; unfortunately, that card is nowhere to be found.
"What's in the stock pile?" Sam asks.
Gabriel gestures for him to take a look.
"Are you playing draw one or draw three?" Sam asks.
Gabriel scoffs. "Do I look like an eight-year-old? Draw three, duh."
"Of course," Sam deadpans. "I should've known."
He flips over the first three cards in the stock pile, and when he sees that the ace of hearts is the first card in the pile, now buried beneath two more in the waste pile, he knows this is game over. There's absolutely no way he can get that thing out unless he's missing one really good move somewhere else.
To humor him, Sam flips through the rest of the stock pile in groups of threes, but, as expected, there are no moves left. The hunter shrugs. "Tough break."
Gabriel taps his chin with his forefinger, thinking, then clicks his tongue. "I'm gonna try it one more time, just in case."
Sam shakes his head, "If it makes you feel better, then sure."
Gabriel flips over the first three cards, and the ace of hearts lies on top. Beaming, Gabriel places it with the rest of the foundations piles. "See, Sammy? Sometimes you just gotta persevere, even when you think you've lost."
Sam snorts. "You couldn't have picked a less obvious way to cheat?"
"Of course not," Gabriel says. "It's no fun if you don't notice." He waves a hand over the cards, and in the blink of an eye, they're all back in a neat pile. "So, what can I do for you, Sammy? I take it you're not here to play solitaire."
Sam chuckles. "No, actually, Dean and I are going on a hunt. Wanted to make sure you knew where we were."
"Sounds boring," Gabriel says. "Well, you go have fun. Or, you know, don't have fun. It's up to you. Meanwhile, I will be playing solitaire until I finally win one — which, for the record, is exactly why I hate solitaire. It's more about luck than skill. Absolutely ridiculous."
Sam cocks an eyebrow. "You could always stop playing solitaire, you know."
"But then I'd have nothing to do."
"You could talk to Jack," Sam suggests. "Or Cas or my mom."
"Meh." Gabriel waves that idea away. "Think I'll stick with my card games."
Sam purses his lips, eyeing the archangel warily. "You know, I really can't figure you out."
"Very few people can," Gabriel quips, which Sam ignores.
"Yesterday you seemed thrilled to talk to people. The day before, you looked like you'd rather be anywhere else."
"So?" Gabriel asks.
"So..." Sam frowns. "Are you okay?"
"I am doing fantastic, thank you for asking," Gabriel says with a cheeky smile.
"No, I mean, seriously," Sam says, "are you okay? Because I know you love that annoying smartass facade and I know that's not you."
Gabriel's smile falls at that. "Can we just... not do this today?"
"What?"
"This little therapy session you're trying to do," Gabriel says. "Can we not do that right now? I'm just really not in the mood today."
Sam frowns. Well, that answers his question, at least, but that doesn't mean much if he can't even try to help him.
Gabriel gestures for him to leave. "Go hunt your whatever-it-is-you're-hunting. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" Sam asks.
"I'll be fine," Gabriel repeats, more firmly this time. "Now go. There are lives at stake." He pauses. "Probably."
Sam pushes himself to his feet with a sigh. "Okay, I'll see you later. If you need something —"
"I'm not a child, Sam," Gabriel reminds him.
"Right, sorry," Sam mumbles. He's not sure what it is about this quiet, more subdued Gabriel that makes him think the archangel needs help. It just comes naturally when he sees the guy like this. "Okay, well..." He clears his throat. "Make yourself at home, and I'll see you in a few days."
Gabriel's head snaps up at that. "'A few days'?"
"Um... yeah?" Sam says uncertainly. "We're going halfway across the country. It's not a quick trip, and who knows how long the hunt itself is going to take." He cocks his head to the side. "Is that gonna be a problem?"
"Of course not," Gabriel says quickly. "I was surprised, not concerned."
Sam might have believed that if he didn't try so hard to play it off. He doesn't want to ask, though; the archangel has made it clear that he doesn't want to talk. Sam hates to just leave him like this, but if he won't admit that he doesn't want them to go, there's not much he can do about it.
"Well," Sam says finally, "I'll see you in a few days."
"See ya," Gabriel says. "And, hey, quick favor?"
Sam raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Don't die," Gabriel says. "It'll be weird if you don't come back."
Sam chuckles. "I'll do my best. Bye, Gabriel."
"Bye, Sammy."