Title: The Smallest Light
Author: samara_draven
Genre: First time, Slash (If you don't like boy lovin' you'll want to bow out now.)
Characters & Pairings: Sam/Cas, Dean, Gabriel, Bobby
Rating: This chapter is PG-13 but overall R
Warnings: Mpreg, eggfic, size-kink
Disclaimer: Pigs will fly before I make any money for this. Beta'd by Sastiel as she's known on twitter. :) Any remaining bad decisions are mine and mine alone.
Summary: When Sam said he was willing to do anything to save Cas, he'd spoke as a friend. He hadn't imagined the consequences it would have. But he's okay with it, much to his brother's dismay.
When Gabriel dropped into their motel room with no small amount of panic on his face and stated that Castiel needed them; Dean didn't know what to expect. But when they popped into a different building with a bloody Cas lying on a bed, shivering and erratically pulsing light he figured questions could wait.
"Cas?" Dean called out. He aborted his run to the bed, however since getting too close was probably classified under Bad Idea.
It was Gabriel who answered him. "His grace has been ripped to shreds; he's dying."
"What? We have to do something!" Sam said; worry clawing in his gut like a living thing.
Gabriel stared at him intently. "You would help him?" the archangel demanded.
"Of course," Dean retorted.
Now Gabriel swung his gaze to Dean. "You would do anything?"
Dean's eyes narrowed. "What are you playing at Gabriel?"
"Plenty of time for chit-chat later; I need an answer now, boys," the angel chided.
The brothers looked at Cas again who was nearly invisible in the light he emitted, his lips parted wide in a scream that the Winchesters knew should have made their ears bleed.
"We'll do whatever we have to," Sam said with a sigh.
"Sam!" Dean was instantly in front of him. "You don't even know what he's askin' for!"
"Does it matter? It's Cas, Dean! And he's dying. If there's something I can do to help - whatever it is - I'll do it."
The words had barely left his lips when he felt a tug from everywhere and nowhere. Heat, light and white noise exploded around him, clamping tight and drawing him in. Something raw tugged at him in numerous places, pulling and stretching in every possible direction and a presence closed around him, seeping into him and through him. It radiated something frantic and Sam reached for it, despite not really being able to feel his body, and wrapped himself around what he perceived as the angel Castiel. Terror and agony instantly washed over him and he gasped, clawing against the drowning feeling. Though his eyes were closed against the rush of burning white energy; his vision washed out and took all sense of the world around him with it.
...oOo.
Everything everywhere hurt. Sam was surprised it hurt simply to think about the fact that he wasn't dead. There were voices not far from his feet so he groaned with enough effort to be heard.
"Sammy?" Dean said a little too loudly. He would have flinched if he thought it wouldn't hurt more.
"Dean, he needs his rest," came Castiel's deeper - and much quieter - tone.
"Dean? Cas?" the hunter croaked. He needed one question answered before he'd let sleep reclaim him.
"I'm here Sam."
"Last thing I remember was Gabe saying you needed help..."
The silence that followed was heavy. "I was mortally wounded but thanks to you, I'm alive."
Sam smiled a little. "Oh. Well I guess it worked - whatever it was."
"We can answer his questions later," Gabriel's voice said from somewhere distant. Sam hadn't bothered opening his eyes and the Gravitron feeling in his head made it hard to pin down where everything was by sound.
His lips parted to allow another question its freedom but cool fingers were suddenly on his forehead, sending him back to sleep.
...oOo.
The next time Sam became aware of himself, the room was quiet and dark and he really needed a bathroom. If the foul flavor of his mouth was anything to go by, he'd guess he'd been unconscious for over a day at least. After calling out to Dean and Cas and getting nothing, he decided he'd have to find the way on his own.
The room tilted when he first put his weight on his feet and a strange warmth bloomed in his abdomen from the effort but he grit his teeth and put one foot forward and then another, heading in the direction of a rectangle of light that marked the door.
He was a far cry from being at death's door this time, but he was also a far cry from his usual self. By the time Sam reached the doorknob, he was sweating and shaking and really glad to hear the flap of wings behind him.
"Hey Cas." Sam didn't even bother to turn around, he was so weary.
"You should be in bed."
Sam half turned and leaned on the door, breathing hard. "Well I haven't wet the bed since-for a very long time and I'm not about to start again now."
There was amusement in the angel's voice when he replied, "You're going the wrong way."
A door by the bed swung open and a light spilled out of the opening, illuminating a sink and toilet inside a little room.
"I thought that was the closet," Sam groaned. It was so close to the bed, he could have made it in and out before he was even half as wiped as he felt now. From here though, it was too far away to even consider going back. The unnerving heat in his belly tied it in knots and he swayed as he stared, darkness creeping around the edges of his vision. He nearly toppled over in shock when Cas was suddenly next to him, grabbing his arm and slinging it over his smaller frame and starting to shuffle back the way he'd come.
Sam wanted to protest but his exhaustion made his head spin a little and even he had to admit he'd been on the verge of going down. He was leaning quite heavily on his friend but then he had to remind himself Cas wasn't an ordinary man.
"Thanks Cas."
"You're welcome, Sam."
"Just don't mention this to Dean, okay? Or Gabriel."
"I won't, I promise."
...oOo.
Dean stumbled through the front door and glared murderously at Gabriel who was already lounging on the sofa, dry as a bone having zapped himself inside from the Impala's front seat.
"Well don't get up and help or anything, Gabriel," the soggy hunter snapped as he kicked the door closed and stomped into the kitchen, leaving muddy boot prints as he went.
The Trickster smiled and waved at the splotches of wet dirt and they disappeared. He listened for a moment to the hunter banging around the kitchen and putting groceries away and smiled. "Sam's awake," he called out blithely and chuckled when, predictably, Dean stopped everything and went still.
Gabriel rose off the couch and sauntered to the doorway. Dean had already resumed stowing cans and boxes of goods but there was a frantic edge to his movements. "You know, he'll be there whenever you get done. My brother and your brother are too busy caring and sharing for Sam to knock off any time soon."
Dean slowed down to a normal speed, more because he hadn't realized he was rushing than to appease the archangel, really. "Care to bet who got all emo first?"
"That's not much of a bet, Dean-o," Gabriel sighed as if put out.
Dean nodded. Gabe had a point: Cas didn't do sappy unless provoked. "Yeah, okay. Well I'm gonna go check on him." He had just pivoted to pass the other man but his view of the kitchen doorway was replaced with that of the room Sam was recuperating in and he was dry to boot. He spun around to see Gabriel looking pleased with himself.
He would have berated the imp but Castiel was standing a few feet ahead of him in an otherwise empty room. "Cas?"
"Dean," the angel deadpanned back.
"Where's Sam?" He deliberately slowed his words so he could think about what he would do if something had happened to his brother.
"In here, Dean!" Sam's voice came from behind the door at Cas's back. "I'm almost done!"
As if to prove it, the toilet flushed, the sink came on and a few moments later Sam staggered out. He did his best to appear normal but the strain was obvious in every line of his body and Dean waited until he was sitting on the bed to begin.
"How are you feelin'?"
"I've been worse… been better too. What happened?"
A nervous chuckle escaped Dean and suddenly none of his planned answers seemed anything but crazy so he fell back on a tried and true tactic: blame someone. "According to these two," he gestured between their angelic companions, "you 'soul bonded' with Cas." Dean swallowed convulsively against the bad taste the words left on his tongue.
Sam stared at his brother, ignoring the hot cha-cha his stomach was doing. "'Soul bonded'?" he said dubiously. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Castiel said, stepping forward. "Nothing; it means nothing, Sam. It's not permanent and once you've regained your strength, there will be no lasting effects."
"So what did it mean?" Sam fixed Cas with his most earnest I'm-Listening-So-Tell-Me-Everything stare and watched as the angel slumped.
"I was dying…"
"I remember that part…"
"My grace had been badly damaged and seconds later it would have burned me out and killed me. It's not unlike having a wound that bleeds you to death. Gabriel bound us to close my wounds so I could heal them."
Sam stared at the angel, replaying what he'd just been told and it made even less sense the second time. "How does that work, exactly?"
Gabriel half sighed and half snorted. "For all that you humans are fragile; your souls are - as far as we know - indestructible."
"And powerful," Castiel interjected. "Once we were bound, your soul stopped the fire from consuming me. When I was healed enough, the bonds were severed, leaving me whole once more, though a little diminished than I was. I lost some of my power before the bond was placed."
"How is that different than angel possession?" Dean asked abruptly.
Castiel turned toward him but his eyes were last to leave Sam's face. "I didn't inhabit his body the way I do a vessel; Sam's soul formed a seal around the places my true form had been injured and provided an impenetrable wall for the… energy, I suppose you could call it, of my grace to absorb and return to me."
"Without it, that energy would have just kept flowing out," Sam said, finally getting it. "You used me like a pressure bandage." Castiel nodded.
"And you kept my dear brother from being turned into a smudge on my good sheets, so thanks for that." The Trickster bowed before the younger Winchester with a flourish and just watching the movement made Sam's head spin.
Dean stared at him, slack jawed. "Why didn't you just tell us this in the first place?"
Gabriel righted himself and patted the hunter's shoulder. "I'm pretty sure I recall saying something about there not being enough time, but since you need to hear it again…" The smile vanished and Gabriel glared at Dean suddenly seeming too big for the room. "There wasn't enough time to explain any of this to you. I needed a broad, all-purpose approval from one of you to do whatever I needed to save Castiel."
"Could it have killed him?" Dean jerked his head in his brother's direction.
"Dean…" Sam said weakly but his brother ignored him in favor of staring down the archangel.
"I never would have let that happen," Gabriel murmured.
"But it could have?" Dean persisted.
"It wouldn't have happened!"
"Guys…" Sam whispered, swaying. The hotspot behind his navel was really getting to him now.
It was Castiel's worried "Sam?" that stopped Dean's retort as he was immediately focused on his brother who looked ashen and woozy.
Castiel pushed him back into the pillows and splayed his hands so they spanned the human's torso. Light bloomed in the palms and he trailed them slowly over Sam's form, face a mask of concentration. Dean didn't want to disturb him so he turned to Gabe instead. "What is it?"
"I'm fine," Sam insisted from the pillows and squirmed away when Castiel's mojo tickled. "Just probably overdid it."
Gabriel frowned thoughtfully. "You should be getting better by the hour, Gigantor, not worse. This isn't normal."
Dean looked back at the younger angel just in time to see his eyes pop open and his mouth go slack. "What is it?" Dean asked again.
Castiel's expression was disturbingly stunned as he looked down at his hands and pressed them to Sam's stomach and gave a cry of shock. "This is impossible," he breathed.
Gabriel dove in and mimicked his brother, eyes blowing wide a second later. "Holy shit!" He stared at Cas. "How did you…?"
"It wasn't intentional," Castiel snapped.
"Cas?"
Sam was looking at him now, wanting answers and his mouth went dry, thinking how best to give them. "It seems… you're… you're…"
"You're gonna be a daddy," Gabriel supplied cheerily, "or more like a mommy since you're the one hauling around an extra passenger."
"I… what?" The words were ridiculous so Sam turned back to Cas, took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm a guy. Guys don't carry babies."
His stomach dropped in slow motion as Castiel avoided his eyes and stammered. "There's another soul here." His face scrunched again as he felt the edges of Sam's energies, just to be sure. "It's less developed but it's there." The angel smiled as the irregularity in Sam's spirit hummed a little brighter. "And it's growing."
"Wait a minute," Dean said. "Are you saying you… knocked my brother up?"
"I didn't think you had it in you, Cas," Gabriel crowed.
"It wasn't intentional," Castiel repeated through his teeth.
"True," Gabriel allowed. "If anyone's to blame, it's Sam."
The hunter in question fixed panicked eyes on them and shrieked, "How is this MY fault?"
"You're the one who wrapped your soul around him."
"Come again?" the Winchesters demanded in unison.
"When I tried to withdraw, Sam, you didn't let me go immediately."
"I didn't?" Sam parroted. His eyes were a little wild, his breathing was a little too fast and the urge to get up and pace was overwhelming but he couldn't seem to feel his limbs.
"No," Castiel smiled softly. "As I said before, I lost some of my power. It was too badly damaged or had dissipated too much to reclaim. I thought it would simply fade away but it seems to have fused with your soul instead. I tried to collect every shard but there were some I simply couldn't retrieve."
"This is messed up. This is so very beyond messed up," Sam was definitely hyperventilating now, the foreign heat in his body swirling like a storm.
Castiel sat on the bed, shoulders drooping. "I'm sorry. This shouldn't even be possible," he waved a hand vaguely at Sam's torso.
The room was quiet save for the different breathing rhythms of the four of them. Sam slowly sat up again and let his mind whirl crazily, trying to calm the agitated feeling inside him; the concerned stares of the other three not even registering until Dean all but shouted again.
"We have to get it out of him!"
Sam tuned in for that but didn't like the sound of the idea.
"And how do you propose we DO that?" Gabriel retorted crossly. "It's a soul big boy. Currently wrapped up in Sam's soul; don't tell me you forgot what we told you about human souls already?"
"They're indestructible," Sam mumbled but didn't look up from where he stared at his belly button.
"So what then?"
"I don't know," Cas answered. "This is different from past hybrids because it is a soul. Human/angel offspring were considered to be an abomination because they have no soul. There's a biological creation but a soul cannot be born to an angel since we don't have souls ourselves. Souls are thought to be born to only humans."
"You're forgetting something baby bro," Gabriel said. "They didn't give consent to anything but copulation and yes that does include potential reproduction but creating a soul requires a whole different kind of approval. They wouldn't have known that – hell we didn't know that! Sam is the first human I know of, who gave an angel permission to do pretty much whatever they wanted with him."
"Wanted? I didn't want to do this to Sam," Castiel growled and stood before Gabe. Then he looked at the hunter. "I truly had no intention of this."
"I know," Sam nodded. "So what happens now?"
"We'll need to find a vessel. It would be ideal to build one but we might not have that kind of time."
"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Dean interrupted, stepping between them. "We just found out Sam is…" He swallowed hard against the hysterical laugh that bubbled in his throat. "We just found out he's… pregnant and you're already goin' suit shopping?"
"Whenever this thing is ready, it'll need a vessel," Gabe said matter-of-fact.
"Thing?" Sam said dangerously. He couldn't help himself. He was still wrapping his mind around the idea of having a life inside him and, of course, it freaked him the hell out but his protective streak was already cranked all the way up, it seemed. "It's a life Gabriel."
Castiel stared and Dean scowled. "It's an abomination Sam. Cas said it himself –"
"He said this is a totally different kind of hybrid, Dean," Sam shot back.
"And you wanna keep it?"
"I haven't had enough time to think about it."
"I think, deep down, you've already made up your mind," Gabriel put in. "But over-analyze it all you like if it makes you feel better."
"So we just wait?" Dean asked. "I mean if we can't get rid of it, do we just go about our lives like everything's normal? Or do we hunker down and get real jobs?"
Sam tried not to feel too happy about the prospect of hanging around one place and living like normal people for a while when he knew that his brother would need to do something with himself, now even more so. It was how he dealt with the curve-balls their lives threw at them. "Let's just get to Bobby's first, like we planned. See what he wanted our help with and go from there."
Dean accepted that with a nod and then announced that since Sam was eating for two, he needed food and rushed out of the room. Gabriel watched him go, panic radiating off of Dean in waves. He chose not to mention it though and instead declared, "I better go help him, make sure he doesn't confuse the gravy with whiskey."
To Sam, the room still felt too full with just him and Cas in it but that was probably because of the elephant in the middle of it and the freak-out he wanted to have looming in his mind. He shoved it back though and studied the angel as he stared out of a window at the rain. Castiel had to be aware of it but he said nothing. Whether he was giving him time to sort his thoughts or just didn't know what to say himself, Sam could only guess but he appreciated the quiet company all the same.
A sudden throb of energy under his ribs brought Gabriel's words came back to him. The truth of them was like a kick to the kidneys; he didn't want to kill the new soul inside him. He wasn't sure he wanted to give up hunting either but he did hope to retire some day. The way their lives went, though, the stakes just got higher and higher and the only way that would end was death. Could he subject a child to that life and then leave it alone in the world?
Then there were the obvious concerns about beings that would stop at nothing to take the child from him. Chances were good that protecting this kid would be a full time job for the rest of his life. He knew Cas would help if he asked for it. The fact that he felt responsible had been plain during the entire exchange. It occurred to him then that he hadn't asked the angel how he felt.
When he brought his vision back into focus, he was startled to see blue eyes boring into him, tinged with sadness. When Castiel spoke, however, he was all business.
"If you could simply be rid of the child, Sam, would that be your choice?"
"Do I really have one? I thought I was stuck with it?"
Castiel's mouth worked in tight circles and he turned his eyes back to the rain as he struggled to speak. "There is one thing we could try… that has a chance of success in terminating the child. I must know if that is what you want."
Sam balked, hearing the words so bluntly made him feel sick in a way that had nothing to do with the ball of heat swirling behind his abs. "I wish I could say I didn't know… Ever since you told me, I keep expecting to wake up and find this has been a really strange dream. In my head, it doesn't seem real and I can't give you an intelligent response but here…?" He poked a finger at himself and made a circular motion encompassing his heart and the hotspot. "I feel it."
Castiel stepped away from the window and closer to the foot of the bed, giving Sam his undivided attention. "And what does that part of you want?" He prayed neither the dread nor hope showed in his tone and when Sam's eyes snapped to his, he stopped breathing.
"I know that the thought of killing it leaves me feeling cold and sick." He laid his hands on his abdomen, searching for the tiny sensation of warmth in his gut and smiled when he found it, letting it suffuse his limbs. He huffed barely audibly and shook his head. "It's probably not the smartest idea… but I'm keeping it."
An emotion Castiel couldn't name passed over him and the breath he had been holding whooshed out of him. He deflated, suddenly exhausted and slumped with the weight of his relief. "I'm… glad." They were two simple words but they trembled and his throat felt tight.
"You okay?" Sam asked watching him.
The angel nodded and swallowed a steadying gulp of air. "I'm fine, Sam. I suppose I'm far more relieved than I thought I'd be with your decision."
Hazel eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You thought I was going to get rid of it?"
Castiel slid his gaze sideways. "I worried that you might… consider this more trouble than you wanted."
Sam smirked. "I didn't say it isn't going to be trouble. I mean, this was made by us, of course it's going to be trouble." They shared a laugh and when the room fell quiet again, the elephant seemed to have shrunk. "I'm going to do this, Cas. I guess what I want to know is, are you okay with it?"
"I would have supported whatever you decided."
"That's not an answer. I just want to know if you're only going along with this. I mean you seem okay with it..."
Castiel pinned him with a Look. "Then why ask if you already know?"
The hunter opened his mouth then closed it and repeated the action before a self-deprecating laugh slipped out. "You know what, forget it. Dean would say I'm being a girl about it anyway." He stood and began a quest for his socks and shoes.
"Sam," Castiel blurted. He didn't know what he was going to say but the sudden withdrawal stung more than the angel was used to and he'd acted on impulse.
"Yeah?" the hunter said, turning to him.
"I wouldn't have wanted you to get rid of the child and I truly am happy you want to keep it. I will share your responsibilities in this; you have my word."
Sam smiled ruefully. "Thanks, Cas. That means a lot to me."
Castiel stared at the place where Sam knew the soul nestled and blushed to think the angel was probably looking through his skin at the moment. Curiosity got the better of him though and he asked, "What do you see?"
The angel started and gawked up at Sam again for a moment before focusing a thoughtful frown on the new life. "It resembles a sphere of white light underneath your own. It turns in its own direction, independently from you but it shines through the colors that represent your soul; separate from the whole but still part of it."
Sam tried to imagine that. It sounded beautiful but all he had was the strangely painless, hot poker sensation twisting around at the bottom of his sternum to equate to it and that seemed inadequate.
"What do you feel?" Castiel asked and it was Sam's turn to blink.
"Um… There's a warm pressure, right here." He placed a hand that covered the space between his last rib and belly button. "It… hums sometimes and at others, it feels more like a throb. But there's always this wave of heat coming from it, sometimes steady and sometimes it hurts."
Castiel tilted his head at him and he laughed nervously. "I know, it's a terrible description but it's what I've got."
"You seem to be feeling better," Castiel abruptly observed, looking away. Sam wasn't as colorless as he had been and the shivers had subsided.
"I am. I'm still a little weak and my head hurts, feel like I could sleep for days but I'm okay." A loud gurgle issued from the hunter's stomach and he laughed. "I'm also starving."
Castiel walked around him suddenly and produced his footwear from under the bed. "Then we should see if Gabriel and Dean have been productive."
...oOo.
They left the next day for Bobby's since Sam was almost his usual self. Dean had to squash the urge to stare at his brother to see if he appeared any different and succeeded only about half the time. Sam, for his part, put up with it because he knew this went well beyond their usual level of weird. It was less strange to have two angels sitting in the backseat of the Impala along for the ride. Castiel's presence Sam could understand since he worried about Sam's safety but Gabriel really had no reason to spend hours cooped up in a car when he could just snap himself to Bobby's when they got there. It didn't stop the Trickster from whining at Dean incessantly about the drive though. When the Winchesters switched driving duties, over Dean's objections about his condition ("I'm pregnant Dean, not broken!") Sam had expected the same needling but it never came and the archangel chose then to fly off for a couple of hours.
It took four days for Singer Salvage to appear on the horizon thanks to a haunting they stumbled on when they stopped at a diner in Virginia. Just after that, the life inside Sam hit a wicked growth spurt that made him sleep for eighteen hours a day. Dean couldn't drive non-stop after getting his ass kicked by the ghost so stopping at a motel had been necessary. It wouldn't have annoyed Dean half as much if Castiel hadn't taken over being a mother hen about Sam. When Gabriel started some kind funky flirting thing, Dean had had enough and drew angel warding sigils in their room and on the Impala. The archangel had enough dignity to stay away for a while but Castiel was in Bobby's yard as they pulled in, looking as kicked as ever.
Dean offered a small smile that was not so much apologetic as I'm-Less-Annoyed-With-You-Now and went inside the house.
"Hi Sam," Cas stated by way of greeting.
"Hey," the hunter returned as he hefted his bag out of the trunk. After he closed it, he leaned against the metal and set his bag down. "I'm sorry about the sigils."
Castiel sighed, shoulders heaving with the motion. "Dean is upset with me."
"Actually, it was Gabriel who really pissed him off." Sam smiled and didn't know how to decipher the angel's sudden interest in the scenery behind him. "He'll probably adjust to the whole… kid issue better if Gabe isn't hitting on him non-stop. One freaky accident at a time, you know?"
Castiel nodded as though he understood though truthfully, he hadn't noticed his brother's behavior toward Dean; he'd been so caught up in worrying about Sam. It still seemed like a strange ruse to him every time he thought about it – which was often. "Is there anything I can do?"
Sam bent to reach for his bag but it was suddenly missing from the spot at his feet and he wasn't surprised to see Cas holding it when he looked up. "You can stop doing that," he huffed and grabbed the bag's handles from his friend's grasp. He pointedly ignored the sensation of his fingers grazing Castiel's knuckles as he reclaimed the duffel.
Sheer determination kept Castiel from lifting his hand to study why it prickled at the contact and concluded that it had to be due to the extra energy Sam was carrying around. He'd have to avoid unsafe electrical currents or he might attract them and be electrocuted and remain indoors during storms. He almost said as much but settled for, "I only wish to help," instead.
"I know," Sam said with a nod and began walking toward the house. "But I've been hauling my own bag around since I was four…" Somehow he knew the exact moment when Cas had stopped following him and turned to find him thinking too hard and chewing on his bottom lip.
Sam sighed and stepped forward. "Look it's not that I don't want your help or anything but save it for the things involving junior, okay? I know you want to help but when I don't need it, it just makes this whole situation that much weirder."
"I'm making you uncomfortable…" Castiel said slowly, staring at Bobby's brown grass.
"A little bit," Sam confirmed. "Just be Cas, our friend, like you used to. Leave the usual everyday stuff to me and if anything happens, Dean or I will be the first to call you. You're not going to miss out on anything. I won't let you. Got it?"
Castiel nodded and followed when Sam resumed his trek into the house. He was so focused on his thoughts, he didn't notice the glare Bobby gave him but when the older hunter spoke, it was hesitant enough to get his attention.
"So Dean says you've got some kind of soul egg in you."
Sam leveled his best Bitchface at his brother who shrugged. "What? According to Cas' description, that's what it sounds like."
"An egg Dean? Really?"
"Oh hell, you're serious," Bobby stated and wandered to his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of rye and two glasses. "I thought he was just having me on." Bobby flicked a hand at Dean and then suddenly went still mid-pour. "Unless you're both pulling my leg…"
"It's true," Castiel said. He leaned over the desk and lifted on the neck of the liquor's bottle before it spilled over.
"It happened when we were trying to save Cas."
"So you're…?"
"Yeah."
"And you're okay with that?"
Sam shrugged. "So far, I'm fine, Bobby; really." He added a smile to put the other man at ease but he just stared at the two of them, mouth agape as if he and Cas grown a second head each.
Bobby was still trying to decide whether they were all messing with him when Dean took the moment to dump half of the overly full glass's contents into its empty twin and sauntered toward the kitchen, proclaiming he was hungry and that the spaghetti would be done in about an hour. The older hunter gave up on gawking at Sam and Cas and went to help Dean.
"Well," Sam said after a moment. "That went well."