Lucifer takes his new friends home and Michael is a bit of a jerk. Everyone got more than they bargained for.
John was a dick so this is your blanket warning for implied child neglect.
Lucifer eventually managed to make his way to the back door of Sigyn's house with all three puppies in tow. He couldn't use the front door because this was his secret. Mica might not let him keep the puppies,but they were his!
As far as he knew, breakfast wasn't over yet, and if Mica came looking for him in his room first, he'd find the puppies fast. So he'd have to take them somewhere else. Puppies had come up in the conversation between Sam and Gabriel, so Luci knew that Sam liked puppies. He'd have an ally! Sam wouldn't let Mica take his puppies away.
The new wing with Sam's bedroom and the library also had a second staircase so Lucifer didn't have to enter the kitchen to use the stairs. He did, however, have to walk past Mica's room to get to Sam's. But Lucifer could hear Michael talking in the kitchen, and maybe he wouldn't look for puppies near his own room if he figured out they were any in the house.
Lucifer got the puppies to Sam's room with a scattering of feathers, fluff, and drool, but he didn't care. He had puppies and it was time to play!
Sam went back to his room after breakfast. To his great surprise, the room was not as empty as he had left it that morning. Instead, there was a Lucifer and three puppies frolicking on the floor in a mess of cream down, pink feathers, shed fur, and endless puppy slobber. All the bedclothes from his bed had been pulled from his bed and flung across his room like fallen decorations.
"Sammy play!" Lucifer squealed when he saw Sam in the doorway while rolling over to better angle himself away from the puppy gnawing on his toes.
After the breakfast dishes had been cleared away and his siblings and parents had wandered off, Michael headed back upstairs to see if Sam was feeling any better than that morning. The hallway to their bedrooms was a furry mess of down and feathers, and coming from Sam's room he could hear the incessant giggling of fledglings. It was a beautiful sound, but also suspicious because not only was there giggling, there was also the occasional yip and squeal of something else.
Michael found the door to Sam's room closed so he very quietly pushed it open. Sam and Lucifer were lying on the floor laughing as they played with three hellhounds. Both children were covered from head to foot in slobber and Michael was certain that he could see bite marks on the flesh of them both. "What is going on in here?"
"I has puppies, Mica!" Lucifer exclaimed while Sam grinned and said, "I've always wanted a dog."
Of all the things any of the children could have brought home, it had to be hellhounds? They were small and Michael was hard pressed to guess at an age. Were these even hellhounds? How had they gotten through the wards? What if they hurt someone? "Lucifer, where did you get these?" It had to be Lucifer. Sam had come straight back here after breakfast and Lucifer was the only one missing at breakfast. How had the fledgling snuck away long enough to go and find hellhound puppies without anyone noticing?
"Outside." Lucifer wasn't going to tell Mica about Growley. Mica was using his 'I'm not sure I'm happy with you' voice and Luci didn't want to get his new friend in trouble. The puppies were his now, and Mica wasn't going to take them away. Memories of another puppy he'd wanted to keep surfaced at the edge of mind, but he wasn't going to think about that. "Mine!"
Michael considered. He was sure they were hellhounds and Father had been very specific in his command that the hellhounds were too violent and could not continue to exist. But Lucifer had disobeyed. He'd stolen a very pregnant hellhound and taken it somewhere safe before God could destroy it. Had that been the catalyst?
Were these even actual hellhounds? What if they were actually creatures even more dangerous disguised as hellhounds. Also, where had they even come from? "Luci, I said you couldn't have a dog." Carefully, he gathered up each of the beasts by the scruff, and stuffed them in his arms. "Let's go see what Mom and Dad say about this." Sigyn or Loki would probably be able to figure out whether or not they were actually hellhounds.
"Mica, no!" Lucifer screeched as Michael wrangled the pups, jumping up and firmly attaching himself to Michael's leg.
Sam said nothing, standing up slowly. He hunched in on himself, pouting slightly. All he'd ever wanted was a dog. But Dean had taken that away from him repeatedly, and now Michael was doing it all over again.
Michael walked to their parents' study behind the living room where he was sure their parents were. Lucifer wailed and the hellhounds bayed and Michael had to steel himself against Lucifer and Sam's injured puppy expressions. Hela and Gabriel were in the kitchen and gave him some very displeased glances, but they didn't move to interfere.
The door to the study was closed, but the light was on, so Michael tapped on the door before opening it. Sigyn was sitting on the desk facing Loki, who stood with his back against a bookcase. He was reading aloud from a thick, large book he held open in his hands entitled, "The Complete Works of Ovid" .
"Zeus assured Baucis and Philemon that his wrath would not include them, for they had proven to be kind and giving hosts. He told them to step outside their hut and to look around them. They were astounded to see only water where once there thrived fertile land and grand buildings. A huge lake had swallowed the entire countryside, people and all, and only their own humble hovel stood unscathed." Loki stopped reading as he was interrupted by the displeased howling of one of the puppies that almost drowned out Lucifer's wailing.
Sigyn looked over her shoulder at the solemn and upset party making its way into the study. She spoke as Sam closed the door dolefully. "Did the pregnant Grim finally give birth to her puppies? I'd been starting to wonder about her."
Michael tilted his head in confusion while Lucifer stole his opportunity to keep them. "Yes!" That was exactly what happened. These were grim puppies, not hellhounds, what was Mica thinking?
Sigyn hopped off the desk and used Michael's momentary confusion to ease the puppies out of his grasp. No wonder they were howling, they were very young and scared creatures. She put the two quiet puppies down so that she could get a better look at the howling one.
Lucifer let go of Mica and snatched the two remaining puppies off the floor and scampered over to Daddy with them because he didn't want Mica taking them back. They were his!
"This is not a Grim puppy," Sigyn decided. "I would say this female hellhound has the development of a six to eight week old puppy. But I bet she also only just left Hell, which makes them what, ten Earth hours old?"
"My puppies!" Lucifer exclaimed.
"I knew it!" Michael said.
"We can keep them, right Sigyn?" Sam begged.
"They're dangerous," Michael said. "We should not keep them."
"But, Michael," Sam argued. "Why not? They're just puppies. They can be trained."
"They're monsters, Sam!"
Michael's words caused the room to freeze. It shocked Lucifer into temporarily ceasing his wailing. All three puppies quit howling and squirming, and even Sigyn paused in her examination of the puppy in her hands.
The moment of silence was the calm before the storm. There was a roaring in Sam's ears. A gust of wind crashed around the room. It rattled the window pane and knocked books off the shelf. The Complete Works of Ovid was wrenched from Loki's grasp, flying across the room and striking Michael in the head.
Lucifer curled into the puppies he was holding, breaking into loud messy sobs. He remembered another time someone had called the puppy he liked best a monster. "Ramsey," he whimpered. The sounds of crying and baying hellhounds echoed in his head as he recalled God cutting them down because they weren't the sturdy but obedient and benevolent creatures he had intended to create. Canines had come later, the "best friend" of His last creation. But Hellhounds were supposed to be to the Celestials as Canine were to humans. The angels were weapons of celestial intent, why would their hounds be any different?
Loki knelt near Lucifer's head, pulling the fledgling and both puppies he was holding into his lap. "Shhh," he cooed, rubbing small circles in one of the small wings. "You and your pups are safe here."
The wind settled as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the room in disarray. Sam huddled on the floor, shaking as he was immersed by a flashback. Blood dripped from his nose as he was subjected to yet another nosebleed.
Memories of one of the weirdest hunts from his childhood drifted through his mind. Researching voodoo lore had revealed a poison that created zombies. The mind-controlled slaves of a shaman mad with power. Sam remembered being excited upon discovering the cure for the poisoned civilians and the crushing disappointment when John had shot him down. "They're not people any more."
"But we can turn them back!"
"No!"
"But, we can-"
"They're monsters, Sam!"
Sam could still remember the cold of the steel trigger, the sting of the recoil, and the tremble in his hands. It had been his first kill.
Tears ran down his face, not of his own volition. Another memory played in front of his eyelids. "But dad! We could have saved them! How come you didn't even consider it? I had a cure!"
John turn abruptly toward his younger son, Dean was hiding in a corner, cleaning the weapons and hoping his father wouldn't strike his brother's face for his insolence. It was true that Dean had prayed once, but after discovering demons, fairy tale monsters, and humans in general, he had lost his faith. What was the point in praying if no one was listening.
But Sam, Sammy was different. He had this heart of gold and a vision of the world that was simply unique.
"Quiet boy! That is quite enough!" John slapped the table, as both boys flinched at the sound of his voice.
"I'm gonna say this once and so help me, if you don't listen to it, Samuel."
"Dad-" John grabbed the boy's arm pulling his closer.
"Monsters are monsters, Sam. There is no saving whatsoever. Repeat it."
Sam watched him, defiance on his posture, John shook him, his fingers leaving bruises on the boy's arm. "I said, repeat it, Sam!" John yelled.
Hiccuping a sob, Sam mumbled, "Monsters are monsters. There is no saving whatsoever."
"Louder!" His father screamed, Dean closed his eyes, and swallowed his fear, knowing this would take longer. Sam repeated until his voice was hoarse with the strength of his proclamation. The phrase becoming a mantra in their minds. Sam dragged his body to bed, eyes tired, throat aching, mind racing, his heart heavy and his tears dried on his cheeks.
Dean laid behind his brother as soon as his father stormed out of the precarious hotel room they shared, the young boy searching blindly for his brother's affection.
The memory changed and transformed itself again. This time the memory was bittersweet, Sam had found a small black puppy behind a dumpster in their way back to their motel room, again their father had left them alone and Sam had decided to walk around to burn some steam. He picked the puppy easily, the small creature yearning for love and brought it close to his body, hiding him inside his sweatshirt.
"Dean! Look!" He called his brother and closed the door behind himself.
"I found him all alone." He cooed at the dog, smiling softly.
Dean smiled as he approached both his younger brother and their newest companion.
"You know we can't keep him, right?" Dean asked, caressing the puppy's pink belly.
"But Dee, we could train him, he could hunt with us." Sam tried to reason with him.
Dean sighed, tiredness and sadness coursing through his bones, knowing he would have to break his little brother's heart once again.
"Dad won't allow us. You don't want him to make you kill it, now do you?" Sam shrugged and shook his head, pulling the puppy into his arms and hugging it lovingly.
"Can we at least find a shelter or a nice place for him? He deserves it."
"Okay, Sammy, let's ask and see if there is one nearby." Sam jumped and hugged his brother, thanking him softly.
Dean put on his sweatshirt, picked up a gun, hiding it inside his clothes and they marched out of their hotel room, the puppy safety inside Sam's sweatshirt. The boy talked nonstop to him. It was heart wrenching. Dean wished he could allow his brother this little indulgence, but he knew his father better, knew he would make both of them a responsibility for Dean, and Sammy was already one. He couldn't have another even if he knew it would be the only light in their messed up lives.
They walked two blocks and reached an animal shelter. The woman who receive them was around her mid 30's, on her white coat embroidered in cursive writing and pink was her name: Juliet.
"Hello there, kiddo's. How are you? Did you come here to adopt you first best friend?"
"Actually Ms., my little brother and I found this little stray dog and we cannot keep him, we travel a lot for our dad's job and it would be very tiring for a little puppy."
Juliet could smell the lie from a mile away, but smiled brightly at them.
"Let me see this little guy, hmm? Did you guys gave him a name?"
"No, because we weren't going to keep him." Sam said morosely, opening his sweatshirt and extending the puppy towards the smiling woman, kissing and snuggling it a little before finally letting go.
Meanwhile, Sam's family could only watch. The puppy in Sigyn's arms jumped down, scurrying towards Sam.
"Can you promise he'll have a nice and good home?" Sam asked, eyes filled with hope.
Michael moved to stop the hellhound, but Sigyn shook her head as the puppy put her front paws up on Sam's waist, as high and she could reach. She was the smallest of the three puppies and couldn't reach his face to lick it. Unlike some predators, she made no attempt to lick at the drying blood on his lap or shirt. The puppy whined, trying to get the hunter's attention.
Michael reached to pick up the puppy, but before he could, she had changed tactics. She took a few steps away and then leapt onto Sam's knees. From there she stretched upwards, putting her paws on Sam's shoulders and licked his face. She whined as she licked at Sam's face. This was her human and he was hurting.
The archangel reached for the hellhound again. Rather than pulling her away from Sam, he found himself petting her. Somehow, this thing was both the smallest of her litter and clearly the wisest. Michael couldhear her desire to help from the raw power of celestial intent coming from the puppy's mind.
Michael touched his younger brother and without meaning to he was swept away inside the memory. Sam was small, maybe 6 or 7 human years, while Dean was 11, maybe twelve. They had no business being this responsible. No business being alone without a parent around, no business in missing childhood. Yet, there they were, convincing an older woman that the small creature in her hands needed a nice and safe home.
Michael watched as both brother's walked back to their temporary home, Dean clutching Sammy's hand like a lifeline, hoping the boy wouldn't recall this his entire life. But knowing deep inside his young mind that this would create a wound on his siblings heart. Why couldn't things be easier? Why did their mom have to die and leave them? Why had their father gone crazy with obsession? Why couldn't they have a nice home, like Bobby's? Dean bet that if they asked Bobby, the man would agree in a heartbeat to a dog. No questions asked. Just so the old bearded man could see their smiling faces. Dean bet Sam missed Bobby's hugs too. The older man was always kind to them, but according to their father, Bobby was 'cuddling and pampering' them too much.
Sam suddenly opened his eyes, the puppy staring at him. "Sam?"
"They are monsters-" Sam mumbled, sadly.
"Hey little brother, listen to me, you are safe. Come back to the present, will you?" Michael called, caressing the boy's face and healing his bleeding nose, cleaning his face in the process.
Sam blinked, finally focusing his attention on Michael's face. "Where's Dee?"
Somehow he was still locked in the memory. Michael felt his insides turn. If he was ever allowed the courtesy of standing in the same space as John Winchester inhabited, he sure as hell was going to shred his useless ass to pieces. How dare he break his boys like this?
Sigyn went to the door, shaking her head when Michael made eyes to join her. "I'll get Dean," she mouthed, exiting the room as quietly as possible.
"Tell me about the nosebleeds." Loki used the telepathy inherent to all angels that his family shared to ask Michael for the information. "Have there been headaches too?"
Michael glanced at his dad. " He had a migraine and nosebleed last night. I tried to make them go away, but they came back this morning."
The archangel turned pagan turned wizard looked to the fledgling and hellhound puppies in his arms. They had calmed considerably since Michael's first outburst and the following upset. The wind had not been unlike accidental magic and they were all used to the fledglings using their powers, not always intentionally. Lucifer appeared mostly asleep, though he whined softly, but Loki didn't think the storm had been caused by this small fledgling.
"Raphael was fussy this morning, Lucifer wandered off, and Dean missed breakfast after drinking all of Balthazar's Firewhisky this week."
"And Sam had a bloody nose with his frequent migraines. Do you know why?"
"Well. Sigyn and I got our wings back, yes? Sam and Dean had only begun growing into their wings, don't you suppose that maybe growing isn't the easiest thing in the world?"
Michael didn't have the opportunity of responding because the door opened. Dean burst into the room, followed by Sigyn. The hunter looked like he had been about to say something, but he paused when he saw the puppies. "Why are there hellhounds here?" Dean blinked, considering the fact that he could actually see them. Not just a fuzzy outline or nothing at all. "Why the hell can I see them?"
Sam turned towards his brother's voice, his eyes glazed and extending his arms, Dean refocused and knelt without a second thought, embracing him. His fingers running through Sam's locks as he pulled him into his arms to rock him gently. "What's wrong, Sammy? What happened?"
Sam inhaled his brother's scent and clutched his shirt in his hands, finding solace in his brother's arms.
The puppy sitting safety inside Sam's legs laid her head on his thigh, getting comfy. Her human was going to be fine, he just needed things that were familiar to him. She would provide that whenever she could.
"Baby brother?"
"Please Dean, let me keep him."
"The hellhound? But, isn't he, like, dangerous?" Dean asked sitting in front on his brother and eyeing the smallest creature in the crock of his knee.
At the pleading, watery gaze his b he relented. "Well, I guess, if Loki and Sigyn aren't opposed to it, neither am I. And I think it's a she, Sammy. Were you that out of it you didn't notice it was a girl?" Dean teased him, picking up the puppy and rubbing her belly.
Sam snorted, the noise startling both his brother and the puppy. "Hey, there, I guess you're mine to keep now. Hmm, what should I call you?"
"She's cute, Sammy, and look, her fur is a pretty dark red color."
"Juliet," Sam declared. Her fur wasn't quite the same color as the hair of the nice shelter lady, but that didn't matter. She'd made an impact. And it was a nice name.
Down in limbo, wailing echoed through the vast space. The cry of loneliness and hurt was not dampened by the endless sea still present along the base of an old ash tree.
The cries had once rattled against the metal bars of a Cage that should have never existed. But as long as her master had been there, her own imprisonment had been more bearable because at least she could try to break through his isolation. Yet he was gone now, and her voice only served to rustle the leaves of a tree that did not belong in this realm.
A tremor was felt in the depths of hell, the howl of a creature long forgotten breaking free from her shackles. The pain from her master coursed through her body and she bounded forward for the first time in many eons. Ramsey was the hellbent hound of Celestial intent that had been created to serve only one purpose. All those eons of torture and suffering for her and her master had done nothing to break her will.
She was created to protect, and love and cherish and protect her master and now she was going to do just that. First she would leave hell, then she would find her charge.