Chapter Text
Sam sat in his dads boat with a frown. They were just off the coast doing what he hated doing. Fishing. He couldn't describe how much he despised the way his father acted when they fished, not that he liked they way his father normally acted. All he wanted to do was read his books, but his mother had asked him to to go with his father as a favor to her because Dean was sick and stuck at home. She also said it would be a bonding moment between the two of them, before he reached full puberty.
"Not that way, son" John snapped him out of his thoughts. Sam suddenly focused back on what he was doing but realized that his pole was just resting on the side of the boat. HE cringed as he heard his father groan. "How about we be done for the day?"
"Ok" He answered quietly, ducking his head as he started to pack up. He knew that tone, his father didn't really like him. He was getting used to it. He shuffled to the back of the boat and sat down. John ignored him as his started the engine and turned the boat towards home. Sam sat there with his chin propped up on his hand as he watched the waves. It was relaxing but not really his thing. It was too loud, unlike the library. He zoned out again, but this time it wasn't his father that snapped him out of it. It was the boat rocking wildly to the side.
"Sam. get in here" Johns voice roared over the rush of the wind, but he barely heard it. He jumped to his feet and started to make his way to him. A large wave hit the side of their boat as the storm raged and he was in the air.
"Dad!" a panicked scream tore from his chest right before he hit the waves. Sam trashed around, confused about which way was up. Then something slammed into him and he lost what air he had left, making everything start to fade black as his muscles froze and mind frantically tried to make his body move towards air. Towards life.
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His head hurt, and the bright light that was shining in his eyes wasn't helping one but. Sam shifted slowly, struggling to make his stiff joints move before a hacking fit over took him. He spat up mouthfuls of water, then most of his bacon and eggs he had for breakfast that morning. He laid slouched over the side of what ever his was in before he was finally able to start taking note of were he was.
The middle of the ocean. He was in the middle of the ocean. On a life raft, with no idea how he got there. There was no boat in sight. Panic shot through him and he crawled around the boat. He frantically searched the sea, then the raft for any sign of his father. There was nothing. He slowly sunk to the bottom of his tiny boat and cried. He wasn't usually the crying type but he was so scared. He knew the statistics of being lost at sea, and that was with older people who were more experienced. He didn't know anything. He was as good as dead. He would never be able to go to college, or get a girlfriend, or anything. He stayed there til the sun started to go down. He gazed at the sky and decided that he would figure out what to do after a short nap. He was exhausted.
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He woke up to the boat lurching to the side and something wet landing on him. He squawked and tried to back away. He didn't know what to think, but he figure that he was hallucinating.
"Sorry" The kid flashed a smirk, but Sam barely noticed. He was staring at the kids tail. A deep orange mermaid tail to be more exact. "Hey!" the merman poked him in the forehead. "Staring is rude"
"Oh..I uh..Sorry" Sam stuttered out, before he blinked. The merman was still there. "Oh my gosh" Sam reached forward and took his hand. It was webbed. "How? I mean even...How?" He asked excitedly, playing with the fingers before moving up the arm to what looked like very faint fins. He started muttering to himself about what he was finding, as he slowly moved to the chest and neck. Then he realized what he was doing.
"Are you done?" The kid asked, holding back laughter but Sam could swear he was blushing. He pulled back and rubbed the back of his head with a hand.
"Uh, sorry again" Sam shot a nervous look around but couldn't really take his attention off the kid.
"Now that that is over, introductions" The kid wiggled around so his elbows were propped up on the side of the raft. "My name is Gabriel" This time Sam did see the smirk, which for some reason made him grin.
"Sam" He cocked his head to the side. "How?" He asked, hopeful that he would get something out of it.
"The real reason is why" Gabriel answered, pointing in to the water. Sam peeked over just in time to see a shark fin drift by. "The storm weakened me, plus pulling you into this boat, but they will tear me to pieces if I go back in there"
"You did what?" Sam lunged forward in his urgency.
"I was curious" Gabriel wrung his hands and broke eye contact. Sam arched an eye brow but had no idea what to think.
"What about my father?" He placed his hand on Gabriels shoulder to find that it was dry. "Hey, don't you need to stay wet?"
"Yeah" Gabriel coughed, making his body shake and Sam quickly searched the boat for something he could use to get the merman wet.
"Here" He found a cup and dumped into the water before tipping it over Gabriels head. He bit back sudden laughter at the annoyed face Gabriel got when he did it.
"Thanks" Gabriel sneered, making it even harder to hold in his glee.
"Sorry" He muttered, slightly afraid that his voice would give him away. "Wait, my father?"
"No idea kid" Gabriel dropped his head to rest on the side of the raft.
"What do you mean you were curious" Sam pressed.
"Uh, we aren't allowed to check out anything around humans, but I wanted to see what they were like" Gabriel started looking a little guilty, "So I was...hanging around your boat when the storm started. Which is also my fault"
"How can a storm be your fault?" Sam inched closer, desperate to know more.
"I was suppose to go to this family thing but I forgot, because I was so focused on your boat. Micheal must have gotten really pissed that I didn't make it, or maybe it was Luce" Gabriel tapped his chin before giving a shrug. "One of them threw a fit, which made the storm"
"Mer-people can control weather?" Sam reared back slightly at the new information.
"Stop asking questions if you want the whole story" Gabriel snapped, reaching over to splash some water into his face. Sam shot him a bitch-face but stayed silent. "It was my fault that you were thrown overboard, and I couldn't just leave you like that. So I grabbed this boat thingy and dragged you onto it, but it was harder them I thought it would be, and you fought me" Gabriel paused to give him a annoyed look but he could tell that it was pretend. "I was about to go back home when I noticed that you were on a water channel that would take you further out to sea. I pushed the raft as much as I could so you would be closer to the shore, but the sharks came and I was almost eaten"
"Well thank you, I guess" Sam said uneasily, before looking around again. "But we are still stuck in the middle of the ocean, and you're drying out again" Gabriel looked down before he peered into the water.
"On three" He said before he flipped himself into the water, seconds later he appeared on the other side and tried to pull himself in. Sam gave a rough gasp and leaned over to help. Once he was back in they both were laying on the bottom of the raft. To tired to do more them flick a piece of trash off of Gabriels shoulder, they both rested.
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"Sam!" A voice called distantly, making him groan. "SAMMY" but he knew that voice. It was Dean. How did Dean get out here? Sam struggled to open his eyes, which had been glued shut by goop. The raft suddenly lurched and hands grabbed him. He was lifted up and dragged over something before he was set on a hard surface. He gave a little whimper as his sun burnt skin was touched. "Sammy" A worried voice accompanied by a hand on his head. He shifted, trying to wipe the gunk from his eyes so that he could see. Something soft and cool rubbed his face, then his eyes. He slowly opened them to see his brother and mother standing over him.
"Dean!" He tried to smile but it made his dry lips crack and bleed.
"Sammy" Dean hugged him and he closed his eyes again.
"Oh that the heavens. We have found one of them" A voice said from the other side of the boat.
"One of them?" His voice was rough and someone pressed a bottle to his lips. He took a long drink, thinking that the plain water was the greatest thing he had ever tasted.
"Dad is still missing" Dean spoke softly, now sitting by his head. "But don't worry, we're going to get you to a hospital and everything will be fine" Sam opened his mouth to ask about Gabriel when he stopped. If Gabriel was there, everyone would be making a fuss over him. He must have left when he was sleeping. He had to be real. He couldn't have imagined seeing the spunky merman. Even though he was just a kid, he was very scientific so he didn't believe in them, but he was proved wrong. He hoped he would see him again.