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It was the Battle of the Bands, and tonight’s theme was Rock Music, which usually meant classic rock or hair metal, which meant Dean was all over it. Sam had been in a band with his older brother for nearly five years now. He played bass while Dean sang and played rhythm guitar. A girl named Jo was the lead guitar and she may be small, but the chick was bad ass. The newest edition was a kid named Kevin on drums, he was quiet but always reliable for a strong beat and unexpectedly sick drum solos.
They walked into the venue liked they owned the place, because they more-or-less did. These battles were already over before they started, most of the time; everyone knew The Brothers Winchester was the best band in town. The other bands in town were alright, but mostly garage bands made up of teenage wannabes. Some of them were going places, but they needed the experience to get there.
When it was their turn to take the stage, Dean strutted onto the across it like a proud peacock. He was always the show runner, while Sam preferred to stay a little back to the side, giving the group support with rhythms. He and Kevin tended to connect more while Dean and Jo ran the show. Everyone liked a hot girl with a guitar who knew how to play it.
“Hello Kansas!” Dean shouted, waving his hand to the cheering crowd, pick tucked between two fingers. “What a show tonight! Are all you other bands ready to get smoked?”
Some of the other bands booed, but most of the audience was made of fans, cheering him on. Dean just laughed. “So what do you wanna hear tonight?”
Dean started picking out the intro to Heat of the Moment, to which Sam crowded in on his space, leaning over him like the giant he was, pointed at his chest and said a firm, “No Asia.”
It was a gag and the fans laughed. Sam smirked and moved back to his place, just as someone out in the audience shouted, “FREE BIRD!”
“No way, man.” Dean shouted back at them, not bothering to spot the heckler. But Sam squinted his eyes and spotted Lucifer. Lead guitar in the one band that could rival them here tonight: Archangels of Rock. A group of guys who all took names from angels, Gabriel was their front man, Michael was on drums, Lucifer was lead guitar and Raphael on bass.
“You can play Free Bird when you get up here, Lucifer.” Sam shouted back at them and Kevin slumped his shoulders behind them.
“Oh man, not those guys.”
“Whatever, forget them. Come on, are we ready to rock?!” Dean shouted to the audience.
After the swell of cheers, Dean grabbed his guitar and started picking at it, the familiar digadiga-digadiga intro to Eye of the Tiger. Jo and Sam hit the cue right on time, always prepared for Dean’s sudden starts, and Kevin joined when the music got more intense. The crowd cheered again and everyone was moving to the steady, hard beat of the song. Dean took to the mic and began singing.
Dean and Jo danced behind their guitars and smiled and gave the audience their best blue steel smolders while Kevin got to hide behind the drums, head down as he beat away on them. Sam slunk back on the stage; it was an easy song on bass so he took the time to scan the audience. Because the Archangels were there, that meant Gabe was somewhere in the audience.
Sure enough, he found the small man, working his way through the crowd towards the front, eyes glued to Sam. His arms were crossed and a smirk was plastered across his face, but mischief, as always, danced in his eyes. He stared Sam down through the whole song, but it didn’t throw Sam, not once. All Sam did was lift his head, proud and certain, and shoot an easygoing smirk right back at Gabe.
During the chorus of the song each time, the audience sang along, loving every moment of the show. They danced and smiled and pumped their fists in the air or head banged in time with the beat. By the end of the song the crowd was wild with excitement. Eye of the Tiger was always a fan favorite and Dean loved the hell out of it.
“How about them apples?” Dean asked, obviously looking at Lucifer in the crowd.
Jo laughed and grinned while Kevin spun his drumsticks around, the four of them sauntered off the stage again while the MC passed them, taking the mic to ask for one last cheer for The Brothers Winchester. Next he introduced the Archangels and the two bands passed each other by the stage sets while the staff swapped out the equipment.
“Not bad Winchester,” Lucifer said, “Too bad it still isn’t good enough, though.”
“You guys have nothing on us.” Dean rolled his eyes.
“Nothing but a buttload of talent.” Gabriel laughed and shrugged.
“I don’t really wanna think about your butt or your load.”
“Bet your baby brother does,” Gabe shot back and smacked Sam on the ass when they passed. “This next song is for you, kiddo.”
Sam rolled his eyes and pretended not to care. When Dean gave him a questioning look, he shoved his brother by the shoulder and kept on walking.
They moved out into the audience. Kevin took a seat off to the side at one of the many tables while Dean and Jo headed to the bar for drinks and to flirt with the fans. Sam worked his way into the audience and while he wasn’t front and center the way Gabe had been, he made sure to be in direct sight of Gabriel as the man took the mic at center stage.
“Well, that song wasn’t too bad if you guys wanted to take a nap,” Gabriel said as he adjusted the mic lower. Some of the audience laughed, a few of them booed. “But this one is sure to wake all of you up.”
The Archangels had their own fans, who were there in good quantities and were making their way to the front of the stage as the band got ready.
“What do you say, Luce, ready to give them a good show?”
“Hell yeah,” Lucifer said, a wicked grin turning up the corner of his lips. He was known for being the bad boy of the group and enjoyed the stage presence. When they were all ready, he began picking out the melodic (if distorted with a pedal on his guitar) intro to a familiar song.
Recognition slowly spread through the audience, then Michael kicked it in with the drums and the guitar broke into the well known riff and Gabriel leaned over the mic, holding it with both hands as he began to sing.
“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn woman I had ever seen!” He practically made out with the mic stand, eyes closed, shoulders tipped, hips jutting to one side. The girls in the audience went nuts and Sam knew that back by the bar, Dean was cussing them out for singing AC/DC.
Lucifer was at his usual moves, rocking his hips and nearly humping his guitar, which only drove the crowd wilder. Girls were screaming, guys were rocking out, and out of the corner of his eyes, Sam could tell a couple people were even doing the air guitar. But he only had eyes for Gabriel, a little smile touching his face as he watched the motions of that slender body.
It wasn’t until Gabe got to the chorus that he opened his eyes, locking them on Sam as he said, “My mind was aching and we were making it! And you! Shook me all night long! Yeah you! Shook me all night long!” He grinned his shit-eating-grin like he knew exactly how badly Sam wanted him in this moment. And he was going to work it through the whole damn song.
Gabe pulled the mic from the stand by the end of the chorus and strutted across the stage as he went into the next verse. He stopped beside Lucifer, who was doing some vulgar motions with his hips. The two of them leaned shoulders together and danced back to back through the verse. At the next chorus, they shared the mic, as they usually did, but Gabe’s eyes always found Sam for the chorus.
When the song ended, it was clear that The Archangels of Rock had probably beaten The Brothers Winchester this time. And while that would piss off Dean and the others, Sam was beyond caring. He didn’t need the titles, he just enjoyed the shows and they’d made a few new fans tonight, surely.
The band made their way through the crowd and more than a few girls were after Gabriel and Lucifer, but after a few minutes, Gabe made his escape while Lucifer distracted the fans and found Sam, who was leaning against a wall by the door, far out of the way. Gabe stepped in front of Sam, hands in his back pockets and looked up. “Hey there, how’s about we go find my van and shake it all night long?”
Sam scoffed a laugh and grabbed the front of Gabe’s shirt, right at his stomach and pulled him forward until their hips touched, “I think I’m worth a little more than a van.”
“Hmm, I guess you are, Sammy. But if we aren’t gonna rock a van, we better rock the bed. I didn’t sing that song for nothing, you know.”
“Shut up,” Sam rolled his eyes and leaned down to kiss Gabriel, raising his free hand to hold the back of that golden-haired head. Gabe laughed into the kiss but returned it all the same. Kisses were always a good way to shut him up.