100 Fics That I Love #001

I'm going to kick this blogging challenge off with one of my favorite Sam/Gabriel fics.

It's called Highway of Love (Or: How Sam Winchester Learned to Stop Worrying and Relax Already)
Pairing: Sam/Gabriel
Rating: NC-17
Summary: AU. Sam noticed a few things weren't quite right after they killed the Trickster. After going back to check things out, his life will never be the same.

It's an AU of Season 2 that takes place right after they've "killed" the Trickster in "Tall Tales".

Okay, I was so excited when I learned that Jassy was writing a Sam/Gabriel fic for gabriel_bigbang. It was back when there were actually more Sam/Gabriel fics than Dean/Gabriel and Castiel/Gabriel fics coming out of that challenge (I miss those days when Sam/Gabriel was gaining popularity ;_;) and I'd had no idea that Jassy was into the pairing. I discovered some of her Sam/Dean fics months before, one of which is possibly my #1 fave Sam/Dean fic of all time. So when I found out that she was doing a Sam/Gabriel one, the sound that came out of my mouth was not human.

Some of the things I love about this fic specifically:

- The voices. That's something that caused me to fall in love with her other fics before. She writes the character's voices so well that I can just hear them in my head. Sam is perfect and his banter with Gabriel is exactly what I imagine they would sound and act like together.

- The characters are IN CHARACTER. Sam is wary of the Trickster at first. He knows how powerful this being is, knows he isn't human and he doesn't immediately trust him. He's incredibly intelligent, just as he is in the Show. Gabriel is obviously an other-worldly being and larger than life but he's still the candy-loving prankster we all know and love. Dean is protective of his brother and Bobby is worried and protective and they're all wonderful.

- The interactions. This author does not push aside the Sam'n'Dean relationship. The story focuses on Sam and Gabriel's interactions and how they slowly become involved with one another. But when Sam and Dean are together? They're just like they are in the show. They banter and punch each other in the shoulder and they're just… brothers.

- The gradualness of Sam and Gabriel's relationship. I adore first time fic and it isn't easy to find with my OTP. It's especially hard because so much of it is set post-Mystery Spot and there is a lot of drama and hurt to try and fix. It's hard to work through that and get the characters to want to be together, so why not make it an established relationship where you don't have to worry about that? But this takes place in Season 2. When the boys are still brothers and the only thing they've got to worry about is the YED. So Sam's still Sam, he isn't the Sam bent on revenge, bent on saving his brother. The Trickster is the one who pranked the boys silly but let them go. And they work really well together; they play off each other and the entire thing feels natural when I read it. It's just gorgeous.

- And completely selfishly? It's bottom!Sam. I can read top!Sam with this pairing when Gabriel isn't written to be less than he is (he's an archangel of the Lord and was a Trickster for millennia, I just don't see him as being very woobie). But bottom!Sam is just about always my preference. I would have read this anyways because the characterizations and the entire story is amazing, but that made it that much more enjoyable to me.

So, yes. This is a fic that I love. I've reread it at least 4 times (just did tonight, actually) and I always rec it when people ask for Sam/Gabriel recs.