The Winchester Boys had finally tracked down the King of Hell. Unfortunately, the new hero in town decided to join the fight. Joining was a bit too strong word to use; he mostly stood at the side-lines and laughed at their failed attempts to beat the King of Hell. He was taunting them and eating some Toffee Popcorn that had appeared out of nowhere. A snarky comment from him distracted both of the Winchester Boys for a few seconds, long enough for the King of Hell to vanish without a trace. When Dean realised they had once again failed to catch the King of Hell he decided to give the Trickster what he deserved. He turned back to the Trickster, but he was gone without a trace. The worst part, according to Dean, was that this wasn't the first time. This had happened for about a month now. Usually there would be some kind of screaming match between Dean and the Trickster but, not today, apparently.
Dean and Sam had returned to their old mentor's house. Dean slammed the door to the Impala and headed inside. Sam hurried after him.
"How'd it go?" a gruff voice greeted them from the living room.
"As if you don't know. Aren't you 'Sir Know-A-Lot'?" Dean snapped, heading towards the kitchen to get a beer.
"Don't you take out your anger on me," Bobby answered. Sam joined joined the old man in the living room.
"Sorry Bobby," Sam started. "Dean's a bit pissed since the Trickster managed to distract us. We lost the King."
"I noticed." Bobby shook his head. "And if that wasn't bad enough…"
"Bobby, what's wrong?" Sam asked just as Dean entered.
"News stated that The Devil is back," Bobby said with a deep sigh.
"Are you kidding me?" Dean took a big gulp of beer.
"I thought he was dead," Sam mumbled.
"Apparently not." Bobby sighed again. "We need to do something, before he ends the world."
"Of course he's not dead," an utterly annoying voice said. Dean turned around so fast his neck almost snapped. The Trickster was standing right behind him . He gave Dean a smirk and a wink. Dean almost cracked right there and then, he hated the guy so much.
"The hell are you doin here?" Bobby's gruff voice brought Dean out of his murder plans.
"Well, if it isn't the oh so sweet Sir Know-A-Lot." The Trickster smirked at bobby who rolled his eyes.
"I asked; what the hell are you doin here?" Bobby glared at the Trickster. "Now answer me."
"You're no fun anymore old man," the Trickster mumbled. "I want to help. Well, not really, but Lucifer's acting up and there's no fun in the world ending, you know.."
"Lucifer?" Sam asked, confused.
"The Devil," the Trickster rolled his eyes and continued. "He has a real name, you know. Just like the three of you."
"I suppose you have one as well?" Dean inquired.
"He actually speaks to me! Oh, praise the lord," the Trickster swooned. "Of course I have one, not as pretty as yours though."
Dean ignored the wink he got. "Just tell us how to beat the Devil and then get the hell out of here."
"You can't." the Trickster snapped his fingers and suddenly he had a chocolate bar in his hand.
"Excuse me?" Dean stared at the Trickster.
"Oh, you didn't know?" The Trickster took a bite of his chocolate and continued. "He escaped from the Cage."
"The Cage?" Sam gasped. "We need to catch him, fast!"
"Sure you do." There was a moment of silence as the Winchesters and Bobby were waiting for the Trickster to continue. "It's just that, the two of you? No real powers, just some luck and pure stubbornness. It won't be enough to catch someone as Lucifer."
"Watch us," Dean sneered at him.
"Sure thing, I do like watching you. Even more when you fail with your quests. You look so cute when you're angry."
"Bite me," Dean grunted.
"Later," the Trickster winked at him again.
"Why are you so sure we will fail?" Sam inquired, slightly annoyed by the obvious flirting between his brother and the Trickster.
"Because," the Trickster focused at Sam. "The Devil used to be known as the Morning Star, the close companion and brother of the Archangel. Until he went mad, of course."
"Balls," Bobby muttered. "We're in deep trouble now."
"And that's why you need me."
"You want us to believe that the Morning Star didn't die, but went mad and turned into the Devil?" Dean looked at the Trickster like he was the mad one.
"Yes, that was what I said," Gabriel stared back. "Are you as stupid as you are pretty?"
Sam was able to distract Dean before he did something stupid. "Dean," he gave Dean a look that said 'Don't be stupid, we need all the help we can get.'
Dean glared at Sam for a few seconds before giving his answer. "Fine. You can help."
The following week was filled with research, planning and preparing. Sam had to endure more of the Tricksters obvious flirting with Dean than he'd ever wanted. Dean mostly acted annoyed or sometimes pure oblivious, but every now and then flirted back before catching himself and grumbling something inaudible before leaving the room. The Trickster kept coming on to Dean at all times and Sam often wondered how they ever got anything done. He guessed it was thanks to him and Bobby; they did most of the planning and research while Dean and the Trickster were drowning in the sexual tension between them.
Soon the plan was in motion and the big fight/capture was upon them. The fight was about to go down at a big field outside of town. Bobby had done all he could to prepare the Winchester boys. With a quick hug, a nod and a promise of the 'good stuff' when they got back, he wished them good luck and left them to pack the last things.
Dean and the Trickster had only gotten worse with their flirting and Sam had finally had enough. He had tried his best to ignore it during the week, but they were not subtle in anyway.
"When we get back you need to take care of all that UST," he almost shouted at them.
"The what?" Dean sounded almost insulted.
"Unresolved sexual tension," the Trickster answered before Sam was able, a saucy smirk on his lips.
"Once again; the what? We do not-"
"Yes, you do! Just-," Sam took a deep breath. "Just solve it later, Okay?" He rolled his eyes at his brother and left for the car.
Dean turned to the Trickster. "Nope, we have no-"
He was silenced by the Tricksters lips on his own. "Yes, we do." The Trickster smiled at him. "And we'll take care of it when we get back."
"Fine." Dean mumbled.
The fight itself was like most fights, there was blood, a few broken bones and every now and then someone flew through the air. Everything went as planned until it didn't, it was simple as that. Sam flew right past Dean thanks to the Devil's hard punch. Dean turned around and saw Sam lying there. He called for Sam to get up, but when he didn't move or react Dean feared the worst. What if Sam was dead? What if he had lost his brother because of his own stupidity? He had failed to keep Sam safe. Without thinking he did a one-eighty and ran towards his brother. He kneeled next to Sam, thank fully Sam was still breathing but unconscious. Suddenly Dean heard another body hit the ground. He saw the Devil only a few feet behind him, laying on the cold ground. The Trickster had saved him. The Devil was out cold and the Trickster had actually saved him. Dean suddenly realized that the Trickster was nowhere to be found. Dean was all alone, with a knocked out villain and an unconscious brother.
Dean did his best to not panic when he called Bobby to tell him to hurry. "Bring the paramedics." The phone call was a quick one and it didn't take many minutes for Bobby to show up, followed by paramedics and the wards from the Cage. After giving a simple nod of thanks to Dean, they whisked the Devil away. Hopefully forever this time.
"Where's the Trickster?" Bobby's gruff voice interrupted Dean's train of thought.
"Gone," he answered hollowly. "Just… gone, I guess."
"Oh…" Bobby seemed at a loss for words. "At least you only broke a couple of fingers. Tha's good."
"And Sammy's unconscious." Dean looked at Bobby, who looked older than he'd ever done before.
"Let's go. Sam's on the way to the hospital and you look like you're in need of sleep."
Dean could only nod. Thank god for Bobby.
"Your own bed or a cold hospital one?"
"I don't wanna leave Sammy." Dean mumbled. Bobby nodded and practically carried Dean to the car. Fourteen minutes later they were at the hospital, and Dean was getting his fingers in a cast and some pain medications. Thankfully Sam had his own room with an extra bed in which Dean crashed.
A week passed without any showings of the Trickster. Sam was awake and back home, with a grave concussion but no lasting brain damage. Dean supposed he was supposed to be happy. The Devil was back in The Cage, Sam was healthier but still he felt emptiness in his chest. He almost felt abandoned. But that was silly, he had his brother, he had Bobby, the Impala was fine. A small part of his mind thought of the Trickster but he refused to think of it. And more importantly, he refused to think about the kiss and the promises made.
The following Wednesday the Winchesters and Bobby were enjoying a normal dinner. For once no one called asking Bobby to help them with research, no one had to spend the evening in bed because of some silly concussion and Dean was back to his old self again. There was no use in moping about something that was never really there. They were in the middle of the meal when there was a knock on the door.
"Get it, kiddo." Bobby motioned for Dean to get it.
"Sure thing, wouldn't want you to break a leg trying to get up, old man," Dean teased.
"Get out," Bobby growled with a small smile. Dean rolled his eyes before leaving the kitchen, wondering why anyone would come knocking. Most people just called. It could be Ellen and Jo, but they always called first. The few times they didn't they just stomped in anyway. He opened the door and all his thoughts vanished. He couldn't utter a word, he didn't believe his eyes.
"Dean," the Trickster said. He opened his mouth to say something else but Dean hit him in the face, making the Trickster stumble backwards. Dean glared at him before shutting the door with a loud bang and leaving for his room. He ignored Sam and Bobby who called out to him. The Trickster was supposed to be gone; Dean was finally moving forwards, forgetting their non-existing relationship. He was not supposed to show up during dinner, expecting everything to be fine and dandy. There was a knock on his door. He ignored it.
"Dean, may I come in?" the Trickster asked, sounding miserable.
"No," Dean's voice was muffled. He noticed that the Trickster ignored his protests when the door opened and he entered.
"I'm sorry I left like that. I know it was wrong, but I had to go," he explained softly, sitting down next to Dean on the bed. "I had some things I had to do right away; unfortunately it took longer than expected."
Dean ignored him, ignored all the feelings welling up inside of him. He refused to act on anything. He refused to accept Gabriel's excuses.
"How about we re-do the whole meeting thing?" the Trickster said. He quickly continued. "Hi, my name is Gabriel, I'm usually called the Trickster. The Devil is my older brother and I had to tell the rest of our family about this whole ordeal. I'm sorry I just left you like that."
"I don't care," Deans voice was hoarse. "You left."
"But I came back," Gabriel murmured, petting Dean's hair. "That's something, right?"
Dean nodded slightly, trying to ignore how every part of him just wanted to hug Gabriel and forgive him. There were a few moments of silence before Gabriel decided to break it with a whisper.
"May I stay?"
"… Sure," Dean mumbled and moved a bit to the right to make room for Gabriel, who quickly threw of his pants and got under the cover. Not another word was said and soon the pair fell asleep.
Dean woke up in the arms of Gabriel, the smell of apple pie clung to the air.
"I made it for you," Gabriel said softly.
"Thank you," Dean smiled, already willing to forgive him. "Keep this up and you'll be forgiven before the end of the year."
Gabriel couldn't help but to grin at the mischievous look in Dean's eyes. "Well then, pie for breakfast until the end of time."