Alternate Route: An Unexpected Detour
Pairing/Characters:/b Sam/Matt (OMC), Dean/Elizabeth (OFC, minor pairing), The Trickster/Gabriel, Ruby, Castiel, Anna, original characters
Rating: R
Spoilers: For the first 4 seasons
Warnings: Post Season 3 AU, mpreg, slash, implied sexual content, bottom!Sam, some religious talk might be considered offensive. Also, some dialogue has been taken straight from the show.
Summary: Sam is on a downward spiral after Dean goes to Hell. Ruby is trying to get her claws into him as Sam drinks himself to a stupor every night. When he meets Matt, a good-looking bartender who has knowledge of the hunting lifestyle, it might be enough to change destiny. Well, Matt and the infamous Trickster, of course. Then Dean comes back...
Notes: This was submitted for the Supernatural MPREG Big Bang 2013. It was my very first big bang and I had a lot of fun. I will be posting one chapter every other day.

Chapter 1

Sam was not a happy drunk. He was on his sixth or seventh, maybe eighth beer? He lost count somewhere along the way. The feeling was supposed to be nice and floaty. He wasn't supposed to be feeling any pain. That's why people got drunk after traumatic events, to make all of the pain go away.

He couldn't remember the last time he got this drunk. Probably after Jess's death. If he remembered correctly, it didn't help him then either. What made him think this time would have been any different?

Instead of making everything go away, it just made his loss all the more acute. Dean would probably be teasing him right about now about being such a lightweight, poking him until he threw up.

He would give anything to have someone call him a princess who couldn't keep her beer down.

Tears pooled in his eyes as he ignored the rowdy bar around him. He wanted his sometimes an asshole brother back. He signaled for another beer. He wasn't quite drunk enoughyet.

The good looking bartender seemed hesitant about giving it to him, but most bartenders went by the rule that as long as their patrons weren't causing fights and they could pay for it, they served their customers, no matter how drunk they already were.

As expected, the beer was slid into his hand. The guy had to attempt to be a good citizen though. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

"Not yet," Sam slurred. He rested his head on his hand, propping his head up enough to drink the beer.

The bartender opened his mouth, most likely to reprimand, but he was called away by another customer. The bartender's eyes slanted to him before he moved away.

The man has a nice ass, Sam thought in passing. Sam noticed that the rest of him wasn't bad either. His tall frame was easily matched by the bartender's, not an easy feat. His strong facial features made it seem as if he was carved out of marble. The bartender had brown eyes that was a shade lighter than his own and straight, cropped red hair. Although the bartender was very muscular, it didn't look as if he spent all of his time at the gym.

The thought that he was checking out a dude didn't even register as unusual in his mind as it wasn't the first time in his life that he checked out a guy. And he definitely wasn't a virgin when it came to having sex with a guy.

His thoughts once again turned to his brother and the empty space next to him, both figuratively and literally.

Dean had always had a big presence; it was just the way he carried himself with the utmost confidence, even if it was mostly a front to hide behind. Sam missed that fake confidence like one would miss a leg. He found himself floundering without it, not knowing which way was up.

There had been so many things he had wanted to say to Dean, but never got the chance.

He wanted to say sorry for not being a better brother. He always took Dean for granted, always thought Dean was invincible, even with all the close calls.

He had relied on Dean way too much to protect him. He should have been more independent, should have been doing the protecting every once in a while. Heshould have made sure Dean was aware of how much Sam loved him, admired his strength. He should have risked the harassment for starting chick flick moments so Dean would know how important he was to Sam, how grateful Sam was to have Dean as his big brother.

He wanted to apologize for not keeping contact while in Stanford. It was one of his biggest regrets,all that lost time. Maybe if he had hunted those four years instead of wasting time at school, he wouldn't have made the rookie mistake of turning his back on a potential threat and he might have not been killed by Jake, and Dean wouldn't have been forced to make the deal in the first place.

Sam shook his head. If Dean had been present to hear Sam's thoughts,of the constant 'what if's' swirling around in his head, Sam would definitely have been punched. But Dean wasn't present. That was the crux of Sam's problem.

Sam's eyes surveyed the bar, subconsciously looking for any threats. He should have done that before entering and proceeding to get drunk, but oh well. What was done was done.

He saw a man, leather jacket covered back to him. In his haze of drunkenness, the idea it could possibly be Dean popped into his fuzzy mind.

Sam jumped up on wobbly legs, hurrying to the man he was hoping was his brother. He had enough sense to not hug the man, thankfully. Because after a tap to the shoulder, a man too clean-shaven to be his brother turned around with raised eyebrows.

Sam felt his face drop. "Sorry, thought you were someone else," he mumbled before turning around, swaying as he made his way back to the bar. Tripping over his own feet, he nearly gave himself a concussion on the bar, if a man standing next to his destination hadn't caught him.

"You okay, dude?"

Sam shook his head woozily, instantly regretting that decision. He was trying to remember if he had eaten anything before drinking all that beer. He couldn't for the life of him recall any food intake since lunchtime. Dean would definitely be kicking his ass right about now.

Rough hands grabbed him by the arms. Sam blindly fought.

"Stop," the familiar voice commanded.

Sam couldn't recall where it was from,though. He was unceremoniously pushed out of the bar. He angrily turned around, demanding to be let back in. He wasn't done getting drunk yet, goddamn it!

"Don't bother," the man, who Sam now recognized as the bartender, said shortly. "You're too drunk to have in there, which makes you a liability, I'm not taking the chance of you starting a bar fight. Go sober up,and don't let your drinking get so out of hand next time if you want to be allowed to stay."

Sam blankly stared at him, unable to process the idea that he was actually being kicked out of a bar for drinking too much.

"Go," the bartender said, arms crossed. He might as well have been a wall.

Sam turned around in a huff, but it must have been too fast for his alcohol-filled stomach. He ran to the nearby alley before spilling his guts all over the pavement. He heaved as gentle hands rubbed his back. It was acidic tasting as everything came back up. The hands never stilled in their gentle rubbing,though.

When Sam felt like he was done for now, he looked up, meeting Ruby's black eyes. He wiped his mouth, silently wishing he had water to rinse the taste out. "What do you want?" he asked guardedly, still not sure if he should trust the demon.

Ruby ignored the question. "Let's get you home, Sam."

She led him out of the dingy alley. Sam's eyes blearily met the bartender's, who had moved to the alley opening. Ruby pushed past him, ignoring the man who seemed worried.

Sam ignored him and his worry. What did that man know? He was normal. His biggest concern was trying not to be mugged. He didn't have to worry about creatures in the night that couldn'twait to claw out your eyes. He didn't have to mourn the loss of everyone he loved. This man had a normal job with normal concerns. He was lucky. He could go shove his worry where the sun doesn't shine.

Sam was drunk again.

"I guess you didn't take my words to heart."

Sam jumped, wishing Dean was there to yell at him for not being more aware of his surroundings. "So what? My life. Can do what I want."

"And it's my bar. Can kick you out if I want," the bartender said, arms crossed, looking very unimpressed.

"I'm not hurting no one."

The bartender gave up, at least he seemed to through Sam's beer goggles. "I doubt your girlfriend liked you getting so drunk."

Sam had to think. He didn't have a girlfriend. It took him a minute to connect the dots. "Ruby's not my girlfriend. Not sure what she is." Sam paused and then added as an afterthought, "My brother doesn't like her." He took another sip of blessed alcohol.

The bartender looked around the bar,probably making sure no one needed his services before turning back to Sam. "Got to admit, something did seem off about her. Why aren't you listening to your brother?"

"Dean's dead," Sam stated flatly, daring the annoying bartender to say anything else.

The bartender all at once softened and seemed to come to a conclusion. About what, Sam had no idea.

"Sue, going on break," the bartender called to a busty brunette that Dean would be seriously hitting on right now. He took a seat next to Sam.

Sam in turn tried to ignore the bartender's pesky presence.

"My name is Matt. What's yours?"

Sam looked at Matt, seriously considering what was wrong with the guy. You just don't go up to strangers and start asking questions. Sam might be socially awkward, but even he knew that.

Sam decided to humor Matt. "Sam."

"Well, Sammy, when—"

"Don't call me that," Sam said in a voice he knew sounded frightening. He didn't care, though. Only one person was allowed to call him that.

"Sorry. Well, Sam," Matt stressed the name, "whenyou're not drowning your sorrows by getting drunk, what do you like to do for fun?"

"Researching, reading, fighting, typical things."

"Fighting?" Matt asked.

"Yup!" Sam didn't bother to elaborate,and Matt looked as if he wasn't sure if he should fear for his life.

Unfortunately, Matt's uncertainty didn't deter him from asking Sam questions.

"What do you like to read?"

Sam sighed, finally seeing that Matt was a real persistent person. "Mythology, lore, that kind of stuff." Sam ignored the fact that he read it out of necessity, not because he particularly enjoyed it. Even so, Sam could admit that if some of the stuff didn't try to kill him, he would consider it fascinating.

"Really? I find myself partial to Greek and Egyptian mythology. Do you have any particular culture you are more interested in?"

Sam placed the beer down. "Nope, I'm an equal opportunity kind of guy. I'll look at Greek, Egyptian, Asian, Pagan, even Christian. The culture doesn't really matter to me."

"Do you actively research mythology,too?"

Sam rested his head on his hand, feeling his eyes droop. "Yes."

Before Sam was aware of it, a couple of hours had passed. Even when Matt was forced to go back to working, he had kept a steady stream of conversation going with Sam.

Now Ruby was here, dragging Sam away as Matt watched.

As Ruby was driving Sam back to the motel, he realized what had happened. By Matt keeping them talking, Sam had not gotten nearly as drunk as the night before. He knew that had been Matt's plan all along. He wanted to be angry at Matt for meddling where it wasn't his place, but Sam was just grateful not to be vomiting.

"Hey,Sam."

Sam sighed, "Matt." Sam was only on his second beer, not close to being drunk yet.

Matt's eyes focused on his arm, and belatedly,Sam remembered the bruise that his shirt didn't quite cover. "What's with the—"

"None of your business."

"Come on,Sam, I'm just worried," Matt needled.

"Demon," Sam snorted. Sam decided to just be honest. Maybe if Matt thought Sam was crazy, he would be left alone.

Matt's response was surprising,though. "Do not joke about demons; there's nothing funny about them."

Matt seemed so serious that Sam did a double take. "You religious?"

"No."

Sam suddenly thought he knew. "Are you a hunter or a retired hunter?"

Matt's eyes widened. "No, my brother is…was," Matt corrected himself. Matt's eyes showed so much pain, pain Sam understood.

Sam could admit it. He fled like a coward.

Sam went into the bar, forgoing the normal alcohol. He instantly went over to Matt, who was serving a customer. He quietly and patiently waited for Matt to be alone.

"What happened to your brother?" Sam didn't bother to beat around the bush. Ever since he found out about Matt's brother the night before, all he wanted to know was what happened.

Matt looked to be sizing Sam up. "Died protecting me."

"Demon?" Sam asked, remembering how Matt reacted to what he thought had been a joke.

Matt nodded. "What happened to your brother?" Sam hesitated. "Fair is fair."

Sam wanted to lie,to keep Dean's sacrifice a secret. The more people that knew, the more real it became. But Matt was right. He was honest, so Sam owed it to Matt to be honest as well. "Made a demon deal after I died. The demon collected,and he went to Hell."

They shared a look of silent understanding, mutual sympathy. Both had brothers who had been willing to risk everything to save them.

They talked that night. Matt wasn't able to talk to Sam the whole time as it was a Friday night, making the bar crowded. Even so, Sam watched his alcohol intake, getting an approving nod and smile from Matt.

Sam found himself blushing a bit from Matt's approval, but thought nothing of it.

When Ruby came to drag him away, she glared at Matt while her eyes flashed black.

As Sam was dragged out of the door, Sam saw Matt's spine was stiff, eyes worried as the two of them left.