Chapter Two

Chuck had come back.

Not only had Chuck come back, but he had come back with an intact and still very much alive Dean. Sam was very grateful for that, because he was about two seconds away from being shot by a British woman who thought he was trying to end the world or something ridiculous like that.

The woman seemed surprised when the only person her angel ward blasted away was Castiel. Chuck glared at her before her gun vanished. She was now tied up in the dungeon.

It wasn't until he and Dean went back upstairs to ask Chuck what had happened that they both realised that he didn't look too healthy.

"You okay?" Sam asked, taking a few hasty steps forwards but stopping short of reaching out to grab an arm.

"Not really. Taking the soul bomb out of Dean took a lot out of me. I need to rest and recharge after what Amara did to me. But there's still one thing I need to do before I bed down for the night."

Chuck trailed off and Sam waited patiently for what exactly it was. Dean was not so patient.

"What? Eat? Because I think we need to do a grocery run."

Chuck shook his head. "No. Lucifer was badly hurt. I can feel him hanging on to life as best he can, but...his Grace was torn. He needs a vessel to hold himself together or he will likely pull apart."

Sam frowned at that. "I am not saying yes to him. I will never say yes to being his vessel again."

Chuck smiled at him. "I am not saying you should. The world needs you as you."

Dean stepped forward then, his posture threatening. "Keep him out of Cass, too."

Holding up a hand, Chuck sighed. "I was going to do for him what I did for Castiel. I have restored his old vessel, Nick. Lucifer was happy with Nick. Or at least content with him. I wouldn't exactly call Lucifer happy."

Sam relaxed at that. Sure, that vessel had a lot of bad memories attached to it, but at least Nick would be an empty vessel now and a permanent one. He would no longer be called out for being Lucifer's true vessel.

By his side, he also felt Dean relax. "What crap deal did Lucifer make with him and when did he die?"

Chuck frowned. "Lucifer promised justice for Nick's wife and child's death. As soon as Lucifer had finished destroying the person who killed them, Nick opted for going to Heaven to be with his family. He didn't hut Nick beside the dreams. And since the dreams were the norm for Nick, Lucifer really didn't have much to do with that anyway. That didn't stop him tweaking things though. Psychological torture."

Chuck frowned. "He really has to learn to stop doing that. He hasn't had the mark for millennia. I just don't think he learnt that he could change. I think it's time that I make up with him. Properly I mean. I'll bring him back here, because it's the safest place for him to pull himself back together. And don't worry, Sam, we can set up another room for him so he doesn't take yours."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yes, that makes me feel better..."

Dan snickered by his side and shook his head. "Well, I'm no fan of having him stay, but if you're here too, I guess it's alright. You can keep him in check."

Chuck nodded and grinned at them. "Yes, of course. It will be a while before he can safely use his Grace. He really was badly hurt in that battle. Mind if he uses the room next to Castiel's? The closer he is to someone with Grace, the better."

Dean frowned at that, but nodded. Sam was relieved that it meant Lucifer wouldn't be anywhere near his room. Plus neither Lucifer nor Castiel slept, which meant they could do things like watch television together.

Sam nodded his head. "We will make up the bed and get it ready. He'll at least be comfortable then."

Chuck nodded back and frowned. "You might want to put a chair in there too. Constant supervision is needed with that one, for the time being anyway. Someone has to stop him using his Grace."

"Yeah, we kind of figured that," Dean stated, before turning to walk to the corridor which held the bedrooms.

Sam blinked at Chuck and had no idea how to keep the conversation going. He awkwardly shifted from foot to foot. "So, how long have we got to get the room ready?" he asked when nothing else came to mind.

Chuck got a far off look in his eyes, before sighing. "Give us at least 5 minutes, 15 at the most. I will probably need to rest in between jumps there and back again." As soon as he finished his sentence, he was gone.

Sam blinked. There were so many people he knew that needed to wear a bell to announce their presence. Shaking his head, he headed off in the direction Dean had gone to help with the room.

It didn't surprise Sam at all that Dean had decided to fix up the room on the side that was furthest away from his own room. Since Dean and Cass had chosen rooms on the same corridor, but far enough apart a television wouldn't wake the other unless it was on very loud, there weren't many rooms left on that corridor. There was just one other room to the end of the corridor.

As it was, there wasn't much left to do in the room by the time he got there. Dean had already stripped the bed of 50+ year old sheets and had made it up with military styled precision, new sheets freshly washed now filling the room with that just done laundry smell.

He hoped Lucifer didn't mind, because Dean had a thing about doing laundry obsessively. At least everyone would know it was clean and fresh. Sam went next door to Castiel's room and grabbed one of his chairs and put it beside the bed.

"Lucifer does not get one of the big beds. Not like the bastard's going to sleep anyway. What's with the chair?"

"Chuck wanted a chair in here for either him or Cass to watch over him. Something about constant supervision so he doesn't use his Grace. I think he really is hurt."

Dean grunted at him as he straightened out the duvet. "Not like he doesn't deserve it or anything. Why? Feeling sympathy for the Devil?"

Sam glared at him. "He did help us in that fight."

"Yeah, and he used one of us as a meat suit and used him to stab a bitch. Cass could have been the one hurt."

Sam sighed and nodded. That was unfortunate, but true. "Okay, I'll give you that. But from what Crowley said, Cass was either well deep under Lucifer's mojo, or he really was consenting. I haven't had time to talk to him about it yet. Too much has been happening, with the sun almost going off and all. Someone should ask him, before pointing fingers."

Dean glared at him. "Just as long as we're clear you're not jumping straight on team Devil, fine."

Rolling his eyes, Sam, moved the chair so it was closer to the bed. "Of course I'm not. That dick has done far too much to hurt us. He tortured me personally in Hell for how long? Trust me, I know what he's capable of when in a shitty mood."

Dean opened his mouth as if to add on to that, but closed it again when Chuck arrived, holding in his arms a very unconscious Lucifer. They watched as the Devil was laid on the bed in the room he had been given. "Wow, is he actually asleep?" Sam asked.

Chuck nodded his head. "I put him under to travel. I also bound his Grace. He's going to be upset when he wakes up, but it will stop him from using it."

"Great, just what we need. Pissed off Satan."

Chuck huffed out what could have been laughter or impatience. "I'm going to commandeer the room next door and lose consciousness myself now. He should stay out until morning. Night, boys."

And with that said Chuck was gone, Lucifer was left lying on top of the covers of the bed and Sam had no idea what it was they had gotten themselves into this time.

On the upper hand, it didn't look like the world was ending. That was a plus.

He'd worry about all the mess in the morning.