The Longest Night
Confrontation
Summary: After the plan to beat Amara failed, Dean found himself not only facing a long night working to help Sam cope with having to deal with Lucifer but also some past issues he hadn't known his brother was dealing with. That resulted in him making some surprising decisions on who he trusted & what he would do to help Sam. (Sam/Dean) *Spoilers for 11x22 We Happy Few (And read the warning and note)
Pairings: Dean/Sam
Warnings: Language, eventual explicit content by the end of this story. There are spoilers from recent episodes so watch for those but more importantly THIS IS NOT CASTIEL FRIENDLY. If you are a fan, if you are a minion, if you find any excuse for the angel over the years then this IS NOT the story for you. Avoid it now. Also warning for possible triggers and violence, past and current
Spoilers: Yeah, some.
Tags: Not really tagged to given things but it is set after 11x22 We Happy Few
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author Note: So usually my Wincest fics don't get avoidance notes or warnings put on but given the venting the muse did in this one, I'm flat out saying now like I said in the warning if you're a fan of the angel who has long since outlived his usefulness then this won't be the story for you because I've vented on feelings for things he's done wrong but was given a pass for over various seasons. Dean does not pull punches.
This story was also written as a way to express dislike in how it was swept under the rug basically by our writers that Sam was forced to work with, deal with Lucifer given the amount of pain, torture, abuse, not to mention mental anguish he endured at his hands. It isn't all venting. There's some huge brother moments, some humor but I'm just warning ahead of time, DO NOT READ if you are a Castiel fan because it is in no way friendly towards him.
~SPN SPN SPN SPN~
"No! No! Get…getawayfromme! Get…don' touch! Don'…let…nooo!"
The shouting sounded loud to Dean Winchester's ears but he supposed it would be even louder if he was actually on the other side of the closed door in the dungeon he'd once really loved but now decided he was dismantling it as soon as they were done fixing another end of the world type of mess.
Sitting with his back to the door like he had been for the last three nights after he'd figured out after a frantic search of the bunker this was where Sam had retreated to in order to at least attempt to sleep.
The older Winchester had known that by having to resort to freeing Lucifer from Amara in order to try to convince him to help God…Chuck…to put her back in her box it would not be a good thing for his brother.
Dean knew he hadn't showed it. He knew he'd kept up his hard, cold, professional hunter's face the first time the mention of Lucifer or freeing him had been brought up had caused Sam's whole body language to change. He suspected Sam thought he'd missed the warning signs just the mention of the former Archangel caused.
Or how after it was done and the selfsame bastard who had helped to torture and rape his brother for more years in that Cage than Dean liked to think about, that his now very quiet, very on edge little brother had spent 45 minutes puking his guts up but blamed it on Chuck's teleport rather than what they both knew it was.
Sam had refused any mention of the Cage, his memories or what having Lucifer inside the bunker was doing to him emotionally. The one time Dean had gotten him alone, after they'd seen the new prophet off, and had tried to get Sam to talk to him his brother had just insisted that he was fine and would handle it.
"We need him to help defeat the Darkness," Sam had said while backing away from his brother's almost normal, brotherly touch; the earlier cringe had already warned Dean to not take the touch to the other level. "We need him," he'd repeated tightly, fingers clenching into a fist before making himself meet Dean's worried gaze. "Saving the world is more important than…than how I might feel. And I'm fine. I'm…all aces."
"Sam's…upset," Chuck had said when Dean came stalking back thru the bunker after having the door to Sam's room shut in his face and hearing the lock thrown; something that had never happened between them in years.
Throwing a disgusted look toward the creator of everything, the hunter turned a much harder look on the smirking face that was slouched in a chair at the table. "Yeah, you could say Sammy's a little upset. Now ask this asshole why my brother would be upset at not only having to rescue his ass but having to touch him and then have him in our home!" Dean shot Chuck a dark look before turning his glare back on what had been the face of an angel that the hunter had once considered an ally. "Ask your kid what he did to Sam for over a goddamn century in that goddamn Cage!"
"Hey! Michael had a hand in that too!" Lucifer shot back like a sulky child not wanting all the blame placed on him. Then just as fast as he was sulking he shot a slow, sneering suggestive smile toward the hunter while starting to stand. "Maybe little Sammy and I should just have a quiet little…chat to…work out any…ugh!"
Before Chuck could do anything more than blink, Dean's fist had lashed out on the still recovering and clearly shocked Archangel and hit him in the face with enough force that it knocked him back into the chair with a pissed off, infuriated hunter in his face; the tip of an angel killing blade pressed against the center of his chest.
"You do not go close to my brother," Dean's tone was low, gravelling and pure furious big brother as he narrowed his eyes to glare into the eyes that were stone cold and shark like but the sneer remained until the blade was applied with more pressure. "You are in this bunker because you helped Chuck before. You are not still rotting on Amara's spit like the pig you are because you might be useful in defeating her but understand this one thing really closely.
"If you go within 10 feet of Sam, if you look at him cross-eyed, if you speak to him in any damn way that mocks him or you insinuate anything sexual towards him or try to remind him of what the fuck you two pricks did to him for 120 years…I will ram this goddamn blade thru your chest and this world can burn by her," the hunter heard Chuck, felt the hand actually tug him back with a lot more strength than anyone would've naturally thought the smaller man would have had normally. "Touch my brother and Archangel or not will end you."
Chuck hadn't yet told either Winchester that he'd made it so his errant child had no access to his power so the fact that Dean had just gotten into Lucifer's face like he had, angel blade not withstanding actually told him he'd seriously underestimated a few of the things that he might not have seen.
"Okay, so let's all take a step back and you go check on Sam or…the car or both and…" he'd been trying to nudge Dean towards a door that led to where he knew Sam had gone when it was all he could do not to groan with what he heard next.
"Nice bravado, hero, but we both know you wouldn't use that blade on me," Lucifer sneered while running his hands down the lapel of the trench coat this vessel seemed attached to. "If you did then any slim chance at rescuing your buddy Castiel would be gone and you wouldn't want to hurt him," he said arrogantly only to frown a little when the hunter turned with a look that Lucifer wasn't sure he liked.
The slow quirk of Dean's lips wasn't kind. It was cold, cocky with more than a little arrogance as he fought back his first reaction to just end everyone's issue right then. "You think?" he smirked at the sneering Archangel while turning to meet his gaze fully, finger trailing over the blade like he had other blades in a much different place.
"You seriously think to get you the hell out of Sam's life, his fears, his dreams that I wouldn't kill Castiel? You think that after everything he's done to fuck with our lives, including knocking the wall in my brother's head down, opening Purgatory, costing us Bobby's life and so much more that I wouldn't kill whatever of him is left inside that burning out vessel to get rid of you?" Dean took a step forward and this time his smile was pure ice cold hate when he saw Lucifer stand up as if unsure of what he would do. "Let me make one thing clear to you, Chuck and maybe even Castiel if he can hear, he is nothing to me. I will kill anyone or anything to keep my brother safe from you."
It took every ounce of will power Dean had not to keep that promise when he first realized that the goddamn arrogant bastard took over Sam's room but what really almost tipped the scale was when he realized his brother had chosen to not only sleep on the floor in the dungeon but that he'd put up new wards to even keep God out of the room; something he learned when Chuck tried to enter and things went weird.
Now given what had just happened in the confrontation with Amara, Dean was left not only trying to pick up the pieces of a scattered plan that hadn't worked but cope with the fact that she had come very close to killing Chuck, had maybe, hopefully, killed Lucifer but had also left Sam more than a little withdrawn once they'd gotten back to the bunker.
Dean hadn't been happy to learn that Sam had offered to bear the damn mark if Chuck could lock her back up since that was one thing he wouldn't have wished on anyone, much less the only person in his life that he loved.
So at first, once they'd picked up the pieces of their make-shift mini army and returned to the bunker to see where that left them, Dean thought Sam's distance and the way he'd jerked when Dean had gone to check his arm to be sure nothing of the mark had stuck around was because his brother knew he was not happy with that plan or the fact that he hadn't been told of it before hand.
It wasn't until Crowley had put the varying pieces together and had him in Dean's face that both hunter and brother realized how much worse this situation had been on his brother than he even could've imagined.
"Squirrel! Did you lose what overprotective jackass brains you had?" he demanded while grabbing the surprised hunter by the front of his jacket to shake him. "You actually brought Lucifer in here? In here with my Moose? In here with my Moose where even a goddamn bloody look from that monster could reignite any of those damn bloody marks he still has that those two raving nuts left on…oh bloody hell. You didn't know because you can't see them," Crowley had seen the way Dean's face changed and saw the truth a second before what he'd said registered with the hunter. "Bollocks."
Dean had been debating between punching or stabbing Crowley when he suddenly felt all the blood rush to his head as those words sank in and just like that a very sick feeling was settling in the hunter that explained so much.
From the first time since reuniting with Sam, even before learning his brother's soul had been left in Hell, there had been moments that Dean had seen little things that had tried to tip him off that something else was wrong with Sam.
At first he'd excused the cringes, the way Sam would jerk away even while soulless or the absent way he would rub at his throat or one arm that tingled a warning in the older brother that Dean hadn't been able to place or decipher as something their mother's family was doing.
Once Sam's soul had been restored, Dean had still noticed the way Sam would stay back…far back whenever they had dealings with Crowley or even…
Spinning to pin Castiel with a burning glare, the hunter heard Crowley mutter something to him that nearly had Dean doing exactly what he'd promised Lucifer he would.
"Did you know?" he demanded in a tone that was pure hate, pure big brother pissed off fury with more than a little betrayal coming out while he was slowly reaching for the angel blade he always kept handy these days. "Castiel! Did you know when you yanked Sam outta Hell…without his soul, that he had sigils on him that are still live? Did you know and did nothing to remove or deactivate them? In all this time, with all the crap he's done to help save the world from your and Heaven's fuck ups, you knew he could still be hurt and you did nothing? Did you know what he did to my brother?"
The silence in the large room and the angel's refusal to meet the searing glare of the hunter gave Dean all the answers he needed and the only thing that kept him from lunging was a sudden sound from deeper in the bunker; a sound that had his head turning and his decision made.
"I have a little brother to help. I want nothing to do with any of you until in the morning so that means don't go snooping where you have no place, don't go casting spells that I won't like, don't even try to lie to me that you did what you did for the good of anyone's ego but your own and Chuck, stay off my laptop," Dean growled before stalking from the room, pausing at the comment that they needed to make plans.
"No. I need to go suck up to my brother that I let the hunter in me, the same old stupid need to clean up everyone else's mess convince me it was a good idea to not let both you and Lucifer burn by Amara!" he said without looking back. "I knew Lucifer scared the crap outta him. I knew Lucifer being close would bring back stuff Sam had been burying since it happened. I knew in my heart that all that crap he's been spouting about being fine and all aces when I could see him shaking were lies that he needed to believe to be able to handle having him here…something that would not have been an issue if you hadn't decided to act like a butt hurt baby because you screwed yourself out of your powers and tried to play hero."
This time Dean did look back and he smirked at the bland face angel but noticed the tension around his eyes that spoke of anger rather than shame or apology. "Pissed off because no one thinks you did good? Pissed off because I couldn't care less if you had burned with that jackass after everything you've caused to happen to Sam? Get used it to because after this is over and assuming we don't all burn out with the world, I want you gone. I don't want to see you, hear from you and if Heaven's guards want to shove a blade in you for the crap you caused up there…Hell, I'll do it for them. Crowley! You're in charge!"
"Huh? Me? Why me?" Crowley was clearly shocked at this given the past he had with both hunters. "And don't you mean you have to go suck Moose?" he chose to add mainly to get the growl he heard next. "And that's the pissed off Squirrel I know so well," he smirked while choosing to ignore Chuck and his mother to glare at the angel. "And just imagine how much more he'd hate you if he knew half of what I knew after that brief jaunt through your head. Along with what else I know you know and didn't stop from happening to Moose."
"Dean was needed in too many ways to be distracted by knowing certain minor things," Castiel finally replied, wincing as he went to stand only to frown when he was pushed back into the chair. "This does not concern you, Crowley. You…"
"I've done more to help Moose and Squirrel than you have recently and at least I bloody well wouldn't have let Lucifer out of the bloody Cage knowing what he'd do to Sam if he got the chance!" Crowley roared, furious at the blatant uncaring tone the angel was using even now. "If Sam ever tells Dean the truth about what he does remember from his time with Campbell, what he remembers about your part in that travesty? You'll be lucky if he just stabs you and doesn't burn you slowly in the Holy Oil we both know he keeps handy…especially once he figures out just what Lucifer's death has caused to happen."
Dean grabbed a few things from the kitchen, his room and what he thought might be safe from Sam's room until he could have it fumigated or just moved Sam into his room like he'd been considering for a while now before heading for the dungeon where he could still hear the shouts of fear, of pain, of memories that he wished he could take back from his brother.
Every fiber of Dean wanted to go into the room now, to wake Sam up and force the moment he knew was coming but as someone who knew Sam from the moment he'd been born, as the man who had raised and loved him all their lives, Dean also knew he had to wait and so sat with his back to the dungeon door and waited.
As he listened to the words said in sleep, Dean could see Sam twisting and trying to fight the memories that were still so real for him and a huge part of him wished it had been him who had sent Lucifer to wherever asshole Archangels went after being smited by God's ticked off sister.
"Get out."
The growl was made at the first sense that he wasn't alone. Dean's hand moved automatically to the angel blade he had near him while slowly lifting his eyes up to glare at Castiel who stood just outside of the main dungeon door.
"Dean, I…understand that you might be upset with my choice to allow Lucifer to use this vessel but…" he stopped when the blade was touched. "I thought it was a way to help defeat Amara since Lucifer said he could defeat her and Sam refused to…"
"Finish that sentence and I will blast your goddamn useless ass out of here so fast that Crowley's head will spin!" Dean pushed to his feet, eyes moving to the anti-angel sigil he'd already drawn beside the door to the dungeon. "Lucifer said? Lucifer knew he was going to still be stuck in that Cage! Lucifer knew he wasn't getting close to Sam or the freedom he wanted and he saw the perfect patsy in you! He knew, just like Metatron knew, give you a convenient lie, something to make you think that you might be able to do something important, feed that ego that is so much like every other goddamn dickhead that I have ever met and you'd sell yourself like a cheap whore! And that's what you did, Castiel.
"You sold out to the very goddamn Devil that cost me my brother for a year! You sold out to the bastard that tortured and raped my brother for 120 years and did nothing to stop it! You gave Lucifer access to not only the world but Sam! Then I find out that you knew about these marks on him and have done nothing to either null 'em or remove them and you think I'm…upset?" Dean's jaw clenched and the only thing that kept him from moving was the way Sam's voice was changing inside the other room and knew it was coming time for him to intercede.
"I am more than upset. I am pissed off and as I told you once, touch my brother and I will end you. You think because you pulled me out of Hell that I owe you something? You think because he 'saved' Sam from the Cage that I should be grateful? You think any of the crap you've done earns you my respect? Well, let me tell you what you deserve from me, Castiel," Dean pulled another angel killing blade from where he'd had it hidden in the bag he'd brought down with him and knew the moment the Angel realized the difference.
"Feel it? I never realized there was a difference in these babies until Gabriel left this one along with his last porn type video for me and Sam back before that whole Apocalypse mess went down. I never realized that the blades an Archangel carried was a lot heavier in power than what normal dicks like you and Zach carried," he smiled the same slow, dangerous smile that was a result of 40 years in Hell and too long in Purgatory. "Let me tell you what you deserve from me after every goddamn thing you have either done or not done in some cases.
"Even if I chose to ignore the obvious two things that really pissed me off, when you finally decided to pull Sam out of the Cage but also chose to leave his soul someplace else to help in your little War in Heaven or how you knocked the wall Death put up to protect him from those memories to keep me and Bobby from stopping your from opening Purgatory…even if I chose to ignore those two huge issues there's still so much crap I'm done pretending never happened," the hunter slowly stepped away from the door, blade held easily in his grasp.
"Let's start with…you didn't pull me out. You were part of the garrison attack that chose to come in…after I'd already broken the first seal. Gabriel said that the angels were told to hold off until it happened because they needed me broke and that seal opened," Dean knew he should push this off, wait until a better time but the more he heard his little brother scream and beg and slowly began to understand that not all of Sam's nightmares were of Hell the rage was too raw to keep back everything he had been for the 'greater good'. "You didn't 'raise me out of perdition'. You were a foot soldier, someone else had that honor but you got the glory.
"Heaven knew what Sam was doing. Heaven knew what Ruby was doing to Sam. Heaven, according to Gabriel and Anna, could've stepped in but then that would've blown the whole vessel for Lucifer plan and we didn't want that. You knew why Sam was lied to by her. You knew that Zach fucked with my phone message for him. You knew all the plans for us and you let my brother out of the damn Panic Room that night!" he shouted furiously, seeing Castiel step back but also saw his hand move; looking confused when what little power he'd gained back didn't work. "Amara broke a lot of wards when she crashed this place but I put up some that I don't you'll like cause what juice you got? It won't work here and it sure as hell won't work on me."
Dean extended his arm to show the thin line of sigils on his arm and nodded at the sharp look he got. "You think all Alastair taught me in Hell was to torture and maim? You think between him, Purgatory, and Crowley that I didn't learn tricks to make damn sure I'd never be anyone's bitch again? Give me a chance, lie to me one more time, try to excuse what you've done or come close to my boy in there and I will show you exactly what I learned in Hell," he stepped as far as the door with the angel blade now raised. "Get away from my brother. Stay the hell away from us unless Chuck decides you can be a use because I'm done buying your lies."
"Dean, I can…I can help Sam," Castiel said, quickly going on before the blade was raised and used. "Yes, I realize I made some questionable decisions between your release from the Pit and…my choice to allow Lucifer to use this vessel but…if you'll release the wards so I can touch Sam then I can…Dean!"
The hunter moved with a speed and agility that took the angel off guard and Castiel found himself being slammed against a wall outside the main door to the dungeon with the point of the blade against his throat and a very furious Dean Winchester glaring at him.
"Do you not have any brains or common sense, even for an angel, left in that head or maybe you do think I'm that gullible that I'll let you close to Sam now?" Dean wasn't sure but he was certain of one thing as pressed the tip just hard enough that it broke skin and he saw the faint shimmer of what he knew was weak grace. "Knowing, suspecting what I do now? I wouldn't you near him. But the main reason you will never be allowed close to or near my baby brother unless I'm in the same damn room? You represent Lucifer to him now and the second he tells me that he or you did anything to him in any way this time? You had better pray Chuck has power because I will end you and not feel one damn thing about it."
A sudden scream of Dean's name had the hunter losing interest in Castiel's stuttering excuses and offers of help to turn back to the dungeon, pausing in the door to look back just as Chuck and a muttering Crowley appeared in the hall.
"In seven years, all you have done is hurt and try to cast doubt on him or us. The only exception was one time and I think the time you 'fixed' his mind after you broke it in the first place, was only because you knew and those jackasses in Heaven knew that if Sam went down, I was done and all of you could rot," he threw a hard glance over his shoulder. "You could've helped him any number of times, Castiel. You didn't. Now you think I'll let you? Now that I know and you know I know, you want to 'help' him? No, thanks. I'll take my chances on Chuck, Crowley, or a few other little…skills I picked up in Hell to help Sammy. You will never touch him. Now get the hell away from us!"
This time the door to the dungeon slammed and the lock was heard being thrown, effectively making whatever happened now just between the brothers.
Castiel sighed as he touched his throat. "He's angry with me," he said as if surprised, blinking when this time it was Chuck's hand slapping him upside the head while the King of Hell was deciding on the best way to hurt him for screwing with the Dynamic Duo of Denim Clad Nightmares.
"Son, I think in one of those times I put you back together and for some reason that escapes me now I can't see why I thought that would be a good idea, but I think I left a screw or two loose," Chuck remarked with a dark, unhappy look crossing his normally happy face. "I think I need to fix you…or let Dean kill you. Let's go see about that and maybe have a little chat about a few of your choices."
Crowley stared at the closed door for a long time before placing a hand against it and feeling the power surge back at him, instantly recognizing it for what it was and realizing how bloody lucky he had been while the Mark of Cain controlled Dean that time that he hadn't tried to use of those bloody spells against him or else Hell would've had a hunter for its King.
"Good luck, Squirrel," he murmured as he heard the broken voice scream for his brother to make it stop. "You're going to need it."
TBC
