Chapter 9: With or Without You

Warnings: Language, brief mention of non-con, I guess.

They were all silent for a while, though Dean recovered first. "It's a shitty deal, but if you die, Cas can just bring you ba—what, Cas?" Dean stopped himself short as the angel shook his head.

"If they are truly bonded in that way and we kill Lucifer, the shock from his grace will completely erase Sam's soul from this—or any—plane of existence." He replied apologetically.

If Dean was right about Lucifer's intentions, it was one human or 7 billion at stake. The reasonable thing to do would be to let Sam go, and mourn him after the devil had died. But Dean was a Winchester, and 'reasonable' rarely intermingled with decisions about family.

"Then we'll find a way to separate them first," he said.

Castiel sighed. "Dean, I'm not sure that's possible," he replied.

"Right. You're not sure. So maybe there's a way."

"Yes," Cas conceded. "Perhaps." Everyone in the room could hear how unlikely it was from the tone in the angel's voice, but no one mentioned it.

A tiny yet loud part of Sam didn't want Dean or Cas to find a way. He felt a little wave of nausea at the thought. A nagging, annoying part of his brain pushed forward the memory of Lucifer's words to him almost two years ago; it was like they were two halves made whole. It was like he finally had the piece that had kept him dissatisfied with its absence his whole life. The feeling grew every time Lucifer drew power from him, and though that knowledge should have thrown him into a fit of panic…it just didn't.

He didn't want to be a part of Lucifer. Couldn't stand the thought of being overwhelmed by him. But as he stood there, watching as his friend and his brother argued about how to rip Satan away from him, Sam couldn't help feeling that they were, in fact, supposed to be even closer. Codependent. Entangled.

And there was no way in Hell that Dean, or Castiel, or anyone on the planet would agree with him. If that should have been a hint that he might be making a mistake, Sam didn't care to notice.

"Okay, you know what?" Dean said, breaking Sam's train of thought. "I'm gonna talk to you" he said, pointing to Lucifer "Sam, Cas, out."

"Dean, I don't think—" Castiel began.

"I'm not gonna shoot him again or anything. Just talk," the older Winchester interrupted.

And while Sam didn't believe Dean actually intended to just talk, he also didn't think his brother could do a lot of damage in five minutes. "Fine. Whatever. You," he said to Lucifer "don't kill him. Don't hurt him. Don't even yell at him." The devil nodded with an indulgent smile.

"And Dean," Sam said, turning his gaze to his older brother as he opened the door "just don't do anything stupid."

The door clicked closed, and after a long moment, Sam's footsteps could be heard moving away. A second later, the sound of rushing air announced that Castiel had also left them. Dean stared the devil down for what felt like hours, but was likely no longer than two minutes.

"Well, what did you want to chat about, Dean?" Lucifer finally asked with a disinterested tone. His face was still covered with blood from the bullet wound that had closed itself just minutes ago, and his shirt was even more stained.

"I thought we could start with how you seem to be intent on raping my brother," was Dean's growled reply.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and slid his hands in the back pockets of his faded Levis. "Please, if I ever got naughty with your brother, it would be consensual." The devil said, consciously choosing to take the statement literally.

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

Lucifer shrugged. "Maybe because it would bother you even more if Sammy liked it. Maybe because I think he would make a better pitcher. I'll leave it to your imagination," he answered with a friendly smile.

"My brother is being an idiot right now, but he would never let the devil inside him, in either way. Even if he wanted to, I'd never let him," Dean spat. Even as he said it, however, Dean remembered the words he had heard repeating in his head every day and night since their father had died; eventually he would have to save Sam or kill him. Never had those words applied more directly than they did right now.

"So I want you to tell me, plain and simple, what you plan to do with Sam. Because believe me when I tell you that I would rather kill him with my bare hands than see him used by you," the hunter said.

The devil stepped over to one of the seats at the little table in their motel room. He sat, propping and elbow on the table and resting his chin on his hand. He seemed to be honestly considering what Dean had said.

The older brother found it easy to see how the average person could forget that this entity was actually the devil. He understood how a stranger might find Lucifer so mundane that they would drop their guard.

But Dean never would. Never could. He had been there when humans and demons had been sacrificed to raise death. He remembered watching as pagan gods had been dropped easily, and remembered jumping the bodies of more to escape. He clearly recalled the sound of Cas exploding and the crunch of Bobby's neck when he was killed without a word. And he would never, ever forget when Lucifer had used his baby brother to slowly beat the life out of him, or that Lucifer had enjoyed it.

So while even Sam might argue with him that the devil wasn't pure evil, just as it seemed God wasn't purely good, Dean wouldn't listen. Because the scruffy, blood-covered man in front of him was the angel who had fucked up their entire family, and nothing in the world could ever make him trustworthy.

"Why would you bother asking me that question, Dean? I've used Sam to get to my current state, and I'll keep using him. More importantly, he'll keep asking me to use him. And with me and Sammy joined at the hip, he doesn't need your permission for anything," Lucifer replied, looking genuinely irritated.

"What the Hell do you mean by that?" Dean demanded.

Lucifer leaned forward. "I mean that whenever Sam wants to, he's welcome to take his power back. And knowing your baby brother, he will want to."

"If you're trying to make me trust you, I gotta say this really isn't helping," Dean said, raising his gun and firing into the devil's face again.

Lucifer's head snapped back with the force of the bullet. His chair rocked ever so slightly, and he hissed a long, angry exhale. One eye was closed completely against the new stream of blood, but the other glared fiercely at the hunter. The devil wiped his eye with a shirt sleeve once the wound closed, but otherwise didn't move.

"And what was that about?" Lucifer asked, rage leaking ever so slightly into his usually calm tone.

"Just checking to see how well trained you are," was the reply.

"Better than you, apparently."

"Do you listen to everything Sammy tells you to do?"

"When I want to."

And suddenly the exchange got very old. "What do you want from him, you son of a bitch?" Dean demanded, raising the pistol yet again.

Lucifer looked at the gun like it was the oddest thing he'd ever seen. "I want everything from him, Dean. And you know that he wants everything from me. Or at least, he's starting to. I'm having trouble getting you dumb animals to understand this, but Sam and I belong together. It's destiny. Biology. He's mine."

"I don't give two fucks about your destiny, or whatever the Hell claim you think you have on my brother. I will find a way to rip you two apart. I have every day until then to think about how I'm going to make you pay for the shit you've done to the people I love. And if you know me, you know how motivated I am to do just that," Dean said, standing over the devil and hissing the last of his words.

"I look forward to it, Dean," Lucifer said with a vicious smile that sent a shiver through the hunter. "Until then, you know where to find me; spooning with your brother's soul." And with that familiar sound of whipping air, he disappeared.

More exposition! Damn it! I'm going to move this plot right along, I promise. Next chapter. Pinky swear. Maybe even the beginnings of some smut?

Until then, please review and tell me what you think. Any tips or things you want to see are super appreciated.