Chapter 6: The World: So Young and Naïve
It was a wonder that the vessel that Lucifer had chosen to inhabit had lasted that long. He strode through the household he had destroyed; ignoring the stench of the bodies he discarded as if they were nothing. He finally found his way to the living room where he sat down on the blood stained couch. "This is so trouble-some." He sighed, thinking about all the commotion coming to the town, mostly his brother Michael. Yes, he knew about the arrival of his enemy. He also knew there was going to be one hell of a fight. That meant that he had to get a new vessel. He needed a vessel that was fit for him. He needed Sam Winchester.
The vessel he was in was a temporary thing. The once golden hair that had adorned the teenager's head had dulled to a dusty blonde. The vibrant blue eyes that saw light in the world had long since burned down to scorching amber. Last was his vessel's skin. It was bursting at the seems from the immense power that resided within. With his vessel breaking on him, Lucifer was in need of the younger Winchester. Although, since he was staying away from the school for a while, he was going to leave the dirty work to his children, his demons, Meg and Ruby. So for the time being, he sat and waited for his plan to unfold. "Looks like we're deer hunting for Bambi."
Lucifer grabbed the remote from the coffee table in front of the couch he was sitting at. He nonchalantly rolled his shoulders and leaned over to the rotting corpse of his vessel's parent beside him. "Anything good on TV?" He asked as his lips curled up into a smirk. When the corpse didn't respond he merely shrugged and pushed the power button. "Tough crowd." Lucifer slumped into the couch before sighing loudly and calling out to his children.
"Girls, come to papa." He said with a slight laugh. Soon two teenage girls appeared in the room. Their eyes were a soulless black. The air around them chilled as they approached Lucifer. "Meg. Ruby." Lucifer stood up from the couch, the corpse at his side fell over, flies scattering. "I have a little job for you." Meg and Ruby nodded, knowing what they had to do. They knew the task was simple, but the threat of Castiel was imminent. "Just bring Sam Winchester to me. That is all I ask."
"Sure thing boss." Meg said as her eyes flickered back to their normal human quality. "He is just a boy after all."
"Just a boy." Ruby repeated, running her fingers through her long blonde hair. Her eyes also flickered back to iris and pupil. "We'll have him in no time." She assured Lucifer before the two girls disappeared, showing back up at school like they were never gone in the first place. They walked down the echoing hallway, heels clicking on the floor. Homeroom had let out and students were robotically moving onto their next class. Ruby suddenly stopped, holding back her companion, Meg.
"Hold on." She said, squinting her eyes down the hall. Through the mass of students walking into various classes, she found a short boy with shaggy brown hair. "Got him." She continued walking, Meg followed. Soon they were right behind Sam. Sam stood at his locker, pulling out a book for his next class. He felt a chill run down his spine before he turned to face the two girls.
Giving them a once over, Sam gulped. "C-can I do something for you?" He asked nervously. Meg and Ruby cocked smiles. Ruby turned on her feet, swinging a slim arm around Sam's shoulder. He was much shorter than her and was intimidated by her closeness. Sam gulped again, all his senses going haywire since he hadn't been that close to a girl before.
"You know…" Ruby started, running her fingers through her long blonde hair. "You can do a lot for us, Sam." In the back of Sam's mind he knew that the girls that were hanging on him were bad news. They were with Luc. He knew they were up to something, but at the moment he was paralyzed and thinking with his other brain. He swallowed hard again when Meg ran a long-nailed finger across his collarbone. Ruby then tugged Sam along down the hall, Meg slipping an arm around Sam's hip.
"Uh- I-" Sam stuttered. He didn't know what to say. He just walked down the hall with the girls, leaving his locker wide open and his backpack sliding off his shoulder. "I need to get to class." He finally said, knowing the bell for the next class was going to ring soon. He tried wiggling his way out from the girls' grasps, but failed. Their grip tightened on him. "Ouch- Hey-" Sam stared up at Ruby as she smirked. He gasped when he saw her eyes. They had turned black, as did Meg's. Sam panicked. They led him down the hall and around the corner. The bell rang throughout the halls and Sam really started to struggle with the demons.
"Quit moving, Winchester. Our father just wants to have a chat with you." Meg commanded, striking Sam across the face. When Sam didn't stop, she raised her hand to hit him again. That was when Meg twitched hard and looked behind her. Ruby stared, wide eyed at the person behind Meg. She let go of Sam instantly, shifting her position in case she had to run.
"What is it we have here?" A tall man with brown, curled hair and vibrant green eyes stared down at the three students. Meg and Ruby's eyes flicked back to their original human state. The teacher was Michael, and he was standing before them. The girls could feel his presence and shivered at the holy power. Meg shot Ruby a wary glance before they nodded at each other. Their bodies twitched and black smoke escaped from their mouths. After a few moments of darkness, Meg and Ruby's bodies dropped to the ground in fleshy heaps. Sam stood shakily, not sure what had happened. He stared at the teacher in front of him. There was a weird crackle in the air and Sam felt the hairs on his arms rise.
Sam was about to thank the teacher, but Michael spoke first. "Sam Winchester, was it?" Sam nodded. "You have a brother, right?" Sam nodded again. He wasn't sure as to why the teacher was asking so many questions. Michael continued. "That is quite interesting. You see-" Michael pulled Sam out into the openness of the hallway away from the girl's bodies. "I, too, have brothers." Michael squeezed his hand on the back of Sam's neck. "One in particular who is just dying to get an answer from you. Particularly a Yes."
Sam tensed, stopping in his tracks. He knew there was something off about the teacher. He wasn't just some normal, good-looking teacher out to better the student population. He had an air around him. Sam shook steadily. "L-Lucifer." Sam could just see the older guy in his mind, snarling and all menacingly like. Michael let go of Sam and grinned wickedly at the response Sam was having.
"Exactly! But, Sam, I need you to hold off on that answer for a little longer. You see-" Michael ran his hands through his hair, pulling clumps of hair and flesh from his scalp. "- This body is falling apart and I need my true vessel." Michael raised his hand to his head and a small glow emitted from his palm, healing his wounds. " I need your brother." Sam took a step back away from the powerful archangel. His eyes were wide and he was frightened, but that was when his brother came to the rescue.
"Another feathery ass, Sammy? These things can't stay away from us, can they?" Sam's eyes widened. Dean appeared from around the corner, holding his pocketknife tightly in one hand. "You can walk away now, Fabio." Dean took a step closer. Michael didn't budge. He only stared at Dean in amusement.
"I didn't have to wait long for you, Dean Winchester." Michael left Sam standing there hopeless and walked up to Dean. He brought a hand to Dean's shoulder. The older Winchester soon smacked the archangel's cold hand away. Michael hissed, glaring at his true vessel.
"You're not really my type, teach. You've got the wrong parts." Dean smirked. He nodded at his brother to ensure him he was safe. Dean wasn't going to let anything happen to Sam.
"You know Dean. I can be so much more for you than Castiel." Michael felt a rumble in the air as soon as he said his brother's name. "Castiel, come save your boyfriend from your older brother." Michael whistled in the air. Dean stared, confused, at the angel teacher. The rumble in the air grew and soon a swift breeze of air filled the space around the Winchester's and Michael. Castiel appeared at Sam's side first, grabbing him tightly and then quickly reaching for Dean before Michael could do any damage.
"Michael. Father will not tolerate this behavior." Castiel held onto the two Winchester brothers tightly. "I cannot let you continue this sort of action against the Winchesters." Before Michael could say anything back, a power rose inside of Castiel and the three disappeared, reappearing in the school's courtyard. The Winchester brothers coughed hard, trying to breath normally after being ripped through space and time. Sam held his chest while Dean patted him on the back, grabbing at his own chest for air.
"Cas! I told you to stop doing that." Dean barked. He stood straight, fixing his rustled clothing. He glared at the blue-eyed angel. "Who the hell was that teacher? Another family member?" Dean patted Sam on the back once more and checked to see if he was okay before pursuing an answer from Castiel.
Castiel only nodded. He then turned on his feet, staring back at the school building. "My brother, Michael, he's here to force combat with Lucifer. This school is no longer safe for you and your brother. I must get you two out of here." Castiel quickly turned and grabbed for Dean's arm without a second thought. Dean smacked his hand away.
"No way! No more of your angel mojo." Dean shook his whole body holding his hands up in defense. Chills ran down his spine. "You are not allowed to do that to me or Sam anymore, unless you have our permission. That shit messes our systems up." Dean checked on Sam one more time. His brother was silent. "Sam?" Dean crouched beside his brother, looking at him worriedly. "Hey, Sammy, you're going to be fine."
Sam shook his head. "Dean, they're angels. How are we supposed to-" Sam pointed out a troublesome problem. The Winchester's had never faced something like angels before. Yet, Dean knew they were going to be fine. He stood tall and pulled a knife from his pocket. He quickly took the blade across his palm, slicing it clean. Blood began to pour from the wound.
"Dean!" Castiel gripped Dean's arm and tried pulling him closer to get a better look at the wound. Sam stared, confused at his brothers actions. Dean just pulled away from Cas and pressed his fingers in the pooled blood in his palms. "Dean, what are you-?" Dean kneeled down to the concrete and dragged his bloody fingers across the pavement. Castiel's blue eyes went wide. There was no possible way that Dean could know that symbol.
"Sam, this is how- I don't know how I know- but this will keep them away." Dean finished the symbol. The blood seeped into the pores of the concrete. After adding the final touch to the sigil, Dean pressed his palm hard to the ground. A bright light filled the space around them and Castiel yelped out in pain. When the light died down, the angel was gone. Dean looked around for Castiel, but the sigil had to have worked.
"Dean, how did you do that?" Sam asked, helping his brother up from the concrete and pulling a cloth from his pocket, pressing it on Dean's wounded hand. The blood clotted and eventually the cut stopped bleeding.
"Don't worry about it, Sammy." Dean only remembered the sigil from flashes of images he had seen in his dreams. It was weird, but he felt so comfortable with the whole process like he had done it a million times. The sigil sent angels away. Dean knew it would. He had seen it done. Not in real life. Just in small dreams he had early that morning. Thinking back to the night before, Dean could have sworn that he had more dreams other than the ones he had of angels. His forehead crinkled and his head started to hurt. A sharp pain singed through his head. Dean buckled down to the ground, clenching his teeth.
Images flooded his mind. The images Castiel had once removed came flooding back to him. It was like the angel banishing sigil he marked on the concrete caused the block Castiel made on Dean's mind to vanish along with the angel.
"Dean!" Sam held his brothers shoulders. Dean shuttered, smacking his head to keep the images from going wild. His mind set on one familiar scene. A dark forest, filled with monsters, and a man walking behind him. "Dean, what is going on?" Sam asked off in the distance. Dean kept walking, his feet crunching the leaves and twigs beneath him. He turned his head. It was painful, but he needed to see the man's face. He needed to- "DEAN!" Dean's green eyes shot open and he stared straight forward at his brother, Sam.
"I'm fine." Dean said under his breath. "I'm fine, Sammy."
"No you're not, Dean. We need to call dad." Sam tried pulling his brother up again. Dean refused the help. He stood up on his own, towering over his younger brother. "Dean, please. We can't handle this kind of job. Dad can help." Sam begged. He was scared. Scared for his brother, scared for their lives.
"Sam, all we need to do is go back in that school and show that feathery ass who is boss." Dean pulled Sam forward and walked towards the school. Dean's body felt heavy. His head foggy except for one thing that was clear. That man behind him, in that forest, in his mind- that man looked a whole hell a lot like Cas.
It was only moments later that Sam and Dean were back in class and watching everything around them, making sure they were safe. Sam thought he would see Meg and Ruby sometime later that day, but they never showed up. Dean on the other hand was getting ready to walk into the gym. He still hadn't brought any gym clothes with him to school, but frankly he didn't care. He wouldn't be in that school for long. Also, he thought gym was going to be a little dangerous for him that day. The other students in his class period were mostly football jocks. Large, muscular, mean. Dean had been pinned as one of the weird ones. He had been seen around Castiel a lot and the student body stuck them together and called them a thing. Which led the beefy jocks to dislike Dean. Even if Dean knew it wasn't true, didn't mean they knew it wasn't. It was going to be a bad game of dodge ball, ending with Dean bruised. Dean didn't know if he could make it through the class.
He walked into the gym; the light that had shattered before was still out, darkening a small corner of the large room. He wasn't late this time so the teacher didn't blow a whistle in his ear. Dean lined up with the rest of the class like before. The teacher listed off names. Luc wasn't there, which wasn't a surprise. Though, Castiel wasn't there either. Dean began to worry, thinking that when he shot Castiel away with the sigil that he banished him for good. "Ah crap." Dean groaned.
"I do not think fecal matter is included in this whole ordeal." Came a familiar voice beside Dean. Dean jumped as Castiel stood there, looking winded and troubled. "We need to talk." Castiel grabbed Dean's arm roughly, not meaning to hurt the older Winchester, but clearly peeved about the little maneuver Dean had pulled. Dean glanced over at the teacher who was intently staring at his list of names and not paying attention. He nodded at Castiel and the two snuck out of the gymnasium with ease. Only a few students noticed them and whispered to each other rumors about the two.
Castiel held onto Dean's arm tightly. He wasn't going to let the Winchester get away easily. Though Dean was in no hurry to speed off. He needed to talk to Castiel about what he had been seeing. His brother wouldn't believe him, and his father would probably see him as a monster and hunt him down. He could only talk to the angel. It was a safe way to go about things. Dean felt secure with Castiel around. He couldn't explain the feeling, but if he were to try and explain it, it would be like the feeling he got when he was little and in the arms of his mother.
They made it down the hall before Dean yanked his arm away from Castiel's hard grip. His skin burned from the touch of the angel. Rubbing the area of leather coat, Dean stepped back, glaring at the angel. "Yeah, we need to talk." Dean took a step forward at Castiel. He was slightly taller than the other teenager, but not as angered at the celestial being. Dean was confused and in need of answers. Castiel was down right pissed at being sent off in a blast of angel banishing mojo. "We need to talk right now. I need to know why I keep seeing things that aren't real." Dean grabbed a hold of Castiel's white collared shirt. He rammed Castiel against the lockers. Castiel just kept his cold blue stare on Dean. He didn't say anything. He just kept silent. "Cas, you're pissing me off. What the hell is going on? I want all the answers."
"It is nothing a human can understand." Castiel said coldly. His rudeness was a sign of his anger towards Dean. Castiel knew that he shouldn't be mad at the older Winchester since he was supposed to be protecting him, but he was hurt that Dean would even write the sigil in his presence.
Dean ground his teeth together and raised Castiel a little off the ground and up against the lockers even harder. "Dammit, Cas." Dean raised his fisted hand, ready to hit the angel if need be. When Castiel continued to be silent, Dean hurdled his fist at Castiel. A gust of air flipped his jacket around and no more than a second later Dean and Castiel were outside by the football field right next to the bleachers. Dean's fist collided with the angel's face, though causing no damage. Dean let go of Castiel's shirt and the angel floated down to the grassy field. Dean quickly looked at his surroundings. "Cas, I told you to quit doing that."
"You were causing a scene. Outside, where no one can see, is a lot better for the both of us. Other students may have thought that we were having a couples quarrel." Castiel pulled at his collar, smoothing out the wrinkles that Dean had caused.
"We're not together!" Dean growled. He scuffed his feet in the grass before walking over to the bleachers, taking a seat on the cold metal. "I don't know why people think we are. I just happen to be the only person who talks with you." Dean tapped his fingers on the metal seating. The wind was cold and whipping around them like crazy. He glared at Castiel, who was back to his normal emotionless self. His anger seemed to have melted away with the change in scenery.
"I do not converse with others usually, that is true." Castiel walked over to Dean and took a seat next to him. He sat tall with his hands in his lap. "You may be the only person I talk to, but I cannot give you the answers you seek." Castiel fiddled his fingers around before staring off into the sky. The look on his face was the same as the face he made the first time Dean saw him. His eyes searched the sky as if something would fall from it. Dean grumbled, causing Castiel's eyes to shift over to him. "I am sorry." Castiel said softly.
Dean bit his lip, and tried sizing Castiel up. He puffed his chest out and got his face really close to Castiel, staring him straight in the eyes. "You're going to give me answers." Castiel's brow furrowed as he tried summing up the situation. He had never come across a human like Dean Winchester. He had never come across this kind of behavior. He could only think of one thing to do, the same as Dean. The problem was that at that same moment Dean moved an inch further to intimidate Castiel, but it backfired. They connected in the middle, bumping foreheads, noses, and lips.
Dean green eyes shot wide open. He fell back, off the bleachers and too the dirt ground. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, spitting several times and cringing. "DUDE! What the hell!?" He sat up straight, his freckled face completely red with blush. Castiel was just sitting there, confused at what had just happened. He touched his lips softly with the tips of his fingers and pouted.
"That was an accident." Castiel said, quickly looking back into the sky. He looked like he was in silent prayer. Dean still sat on the ground, utterly shocked at the current situation. He too touched his lips tenderly with his index finger. The blush was still evident on his face.
It was a happy accident.