A/N: Well that took a while...

Sam hadn't stopped speeding after they'd gotten away from Zachariah. Dean had tried to talk Sam into letting him drive, suddenly empowered by the positive turn of events. Sam had refused to let him and had sat himself firmly in the driver's seat. Castiel had herded Dean into the Impala's back seat and taken up the spot next to him. Lucifer was beside Sam in the front.

They were over half way back to Bobby's, only a few hours more. No one had spoken much during the trip, tension still high as they fled and Castiel was still carefully hovering over Dean who was trying to pretend that he wasn't hurt. Lucifer had claimed he'd know if any of the angels from Zachariah's garrison were getting close and Sam trusted him.

Sam also felt himself grow somewhat uneasy around Lucifer. The fight with the Rugaru and the battle with Zachariah had both served to remind Sam, quite forcefully, that Lucifer was an angel, no matter how much of his power was reined in, against his will or not. Somehow, Sam had forgotten that rather important fact. It had been swept up and away during all of the normalcy life had been throwing their way since Lucifer has shown up at their door. Lucifer had carved himself out a place in their group and made himself family. Sam trusted him, almost without thinking about it. Castiel seemed to trust him as well, and even Dean was beginning to like him. Sam had no idea when any of that had actually happened.

Only a few months ago priority number one had been killing Lucifer, stopping him from wearing Sam as a meat suit and saving the world. Their sole focus had been killing the very person who was sitting in the Impala's passenger seat, who had saved Sam's life twice now, and had been sleeping in his bed with worrying regularity. They'd all been so busy laughing and working together that Sam had somehow phased out the knowledge that Lucifer was… Lucifer.

Now, Sam was being forcibly reminded that Lucifer was very much not human. He was an angel – something powerful and ancient and so much more than Sam was. It was terrifying. Sam realized, as he drove down the dark highway with nothing but his thoughts, that the faceoff with Zachariah had been the first time Sam had ever seen Lucifer fight. He knew angels were warriors, soldiers of God, but Lucifer had always seemed so above the physical aspect that Sam had never really considered what it meant. Which was just stupid. Lucifer had gone toe-to-toe with a feral vampire and lopped the head off of another. He'd been ready to come to blows with some jerk in a bar over a pool game. Though, Sam had never actually seen Lucifer in a fight.

It was a poor excuse for the sudden fear that was slowly enveloping Sam's feelings towards Lucifer and causing tension to creep into his shoulders every time Lucifer paid attention to him. Two days ago Lucifer had been a trusted friend. Now Sam was feeling jittery and on edge just by sitting next to him. He knew it was unfounded – Lucifer wouldn't have hurt him even before they had grown close. That knowledge did very little to calm him down though. He sighed and tried to think about other things, there was no sense in working himself up over this when there was nothing he could do to change it. This, of course, lead to him contemplating the other beings in the car.

In the backseat Castiel looked distracted and somber. Sam wondered what for before he remembered that they had avoided dealing with the other angels in Zachariah's garrison because Balthazar had lured them all away somehow. While it was good that they had yet to see any other angels, Sam supposed it must be worrying Castiel to not hear anything from Balthazar. That was his family out there, fighting each other. His brother was standing alone against a group of other angels so that they could get away.

In the rearview mirror Sam caught sight of Dean. His brother looked like he was in pain, which considering the cracked ribs and none too smooth road they were on was understandable. When Castiel had been fighting Zachariah the absolute fear in Dean's eyes would have broken Sam's heart if the younger hunter had had the capacity to feel anything beyond the terror of losing their angels to Zachariah. Dean currently had the edge of Castiel's coat in a white-knuckled grip. The whole night had been jarring for everyone in so many ways and getting to Bobby's was only half the battle. There wouldn't be rest for any of them in the near future.

Still, when they pulled into Singer Salvage, with dawn just beginning to light the sky, the relief in the car was nearly a tangible thing. Sam pulled the car up as close to the front door as he could manage, trying to keep the walking distance short for Dean's sake. Castiel helped him into the house while Lucifer and Sam grabbed the bags from the trunk.

Sam wasn't surprised to find Bobby awake and rolling his way into the living room as Dean carefully lowered himself into the armchair.

"What did you idjits do to yourselves now?" he said, stopping in front of where Dean was sitting.

With a groan Dean reclined on the chair. "Well, first we killed a Rugaru up in Baudette and then we got ambushed by angels." Bobby's surprise showed on his face as Dean continued. "Cas got tossed into a tree, Lucifer got thrown across a parking lot, and I got myself Darth Vadered. But the bastard's dead now," Dean finished with a satisfied grin.

"We outran a garrison of angels to get here," Lucifer said. "We don't know how long they will continue to look for us, so we're going to need to increase the warding on the house."

Bobby looked over at Lucifer. "Well, you can't ward against angels without warding against yourselves."

"No," Lucifer admitted. "But, we can add wards to help shield Castiel's Grace and my own while we're here so that they can't find us by tracking it back here and we can make this house extremely hard to find for any angel who doesn't already know where it is. Considering how few visits the Host has paid you, I'm willing to bet none of them know this place exists."

Bobby nodded. "Well, let's keep it that way."

Michael's landing in the Garden was anything but graceful. He landed in the center of it, wings thrashing, causing tendrils of light around him to wave wildly in the wind he was kicking up. He glanced around, looking for Joshua. Michael spotted him not far away and moved quickly to his side.

"Joshua!"

The Gardener sighed, his wings drooping slightly in resignation. "Michael, I've told you already, God has not spoken to me in quite some time and certainly not about anything relevant to Heaven."

Michael moved in front of Joshua and blocked him from moving away. "You're lying to me, Joshua. I've just received notice that Lucifer has been rendered powerless."

Joshua smiled. "You've found Lucifer? How wonderful."

"And he is powerless! His Grace is bound and he is trapped in his temporary vessel," Michael seethed. His lowest pair of wings thrashed angrily behind him and his Grace burned with righteous fury. "Someone has harmed by brother!"

Joshua smiled at him again before placing a hand on one of Michael's thrashing wings to calm them, not being deterred when Michael twitched as if to move away. He looked at the other angel, Grace exuding calm and expression just as soft. "You're worried about Lucifer then?"

The look Michael gave Joshua was incredulous. "He's little more than human, near enough for Zachariah to toss him away like some Cherub fledgling. He's also following around our vessels and the deserter, Castiel. Of course, I am worried!"

Michael froze as he thought over what he'd just said. Joshua's soft, calm smile never wavered as he waited for Michael to finish thinking. He was worried about Lucifer, his brother, not the battle or God's will. For a while now, Michael had only been worried about his younger brother's well-being. It shocked him, nothing had shaken him so much since he'd felt the door to the cage slam closed and cut Lucifer off from the rest of them. He had distanced himself from his brothers and stayed closed off ever since then. Lucifer's disappearance from his awareness was the first time his Grace had burned with purpose like it had when he was first created.

"I doubt your Winchesters are keeping him with them against his will, Michael," Joshua said as he turned to arrange a nearby cluster of swirling energy, trickling Grace into it and helping it sort itself out. "We both know that no one aside from God could have bound Lucifer's Grace. Maybe if you go and find out why he has decided to stay with them you'll understand the situation better."

The idea that Lucifer was following around the Winchesters of his own accord was ridiculous, but Joshua had a point. Only God had the power to lower Lucifer to where he was. Something strange was going on and Michael needed answers. Answers about Earth and humans. He knew just where to go for those answers, too.

"Would you watch those books!" Bobby shouted from the living room. He and Dean had several books open, along with a large check list of all the sigils Lucifer, Castiel, and Sam were putting up around the house. "Don't bleed on them!"

Lucifer was currently moving a bookshelf away from the walls to continue his portion of the warding. There was a shallow, mostly healed cut slowly oozing on Lucifer's forearm as he worked. Most of the sigils needed to be done in fresh blood and Lucifer had claimed he'd regained enough Grace to not bleed out. He'd done an entire wall already and seemed to be holding up well enough.

"I'm not going to bleed on the books, but they need to move."

"You had better put those back when you're done."

"Castiel," Lucifer called. "You come do the living room! I'm not listening to this anymore! I can't focus in here!" He stalked out of the room as Castiel came out of the study.

"What happened?" the angel asked, already walking over to finish the wards Lucifer had started.

Castiel had the sleeves of one of Dean's old flannel shirts rolled up past the elbow to free his forearm for use. The trench coat was thrown on the back of the armchair Dean was sitting in. Castiel was still very attached to it and still wore it almost constantly. Castiel finished moving the bookcase, mindful of Bobby's texts, and turned his attention to the wall. There wasn't a cut on his arm, he'd been healing faster than Lucifer, but the small pocket knife flashed in the light as he slid it through his skin.

Dean watched, slightly uncomfortable, as Castiel moved. Even though the cut was self-inflicted and harmless to the angel Dean still had to stomp down his knee jerk reaction to go and fix it. It was always a strange feeling, remembering that Castiel was an angel and not human. It was something that should have the hunter in Dean itching to kill him, but that feeling had never been there. Every time Dean caught sight of Castiel showing his non-human traits it only caused a wave of calm over Dean. He chalked it up to being reassured that Castiel hadn't become that shell of a man he'd seen in the future. Dean refused to let that happen.

He must have been spacing out with his thoughts because the next thing he knew Castiel was effortlessly sliding him and his chair carefully across the room obviously trying not to injure him further. "Gah! Cas, cut it out!" he cried. "I can move on my own, you know!"

Castiel only shrugged. "You looked like you were thinking about something important. This was easier." Bobby snickered as he gathered up all of the books and papers from the table so Castiel could move it.

Outside Sam was covering the house with the handful of sigils that didn't need to be done in blood. He hardly registered someone storming out of the house, so used to Dean and his temper's comings and goings. He continued on with his work until he felt someone dangerously close behind him. They didn't feel like a threat but Sam couldn't stop himself from whirling around to defend himself when he felt them moving to touch him.

He grabbed the wrist of Lucifer's outstretched hand and froze. "Oh, uhh… hi," he said stupidly.

Lucifer didn't pull away from him as he watched. "You can calm down, Sam. The more we work the harder we are getting to find. It's alright."

Sam let go of Lucifer's wrist and scratched the back of his neck. He'd overreacted and made himself look like a fool. Then again, Lucifer shouldn't be sneaking up behind him. "I thought you were putting up wards in the living room with Dean and Bobby?"

Lucifer made a face before stepping around Sam and observing his work. "Bobby kept yelling at me about his books and how I was moving things and messing up his organization. Castiel is handling that now. I'll help you out here."

Sam didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Lucifer to go back inside and finish helping the others or if he wanted the angel to stay out here with him. He had yet to shake the uneasy feeling he got when thinking of Lucifer, but he missed the angel's easy company and the closeness that had settled between them. He couldn't help but feel guilty for being frightened by Lucifer. He hadn't ever hurt Sam and had done nothing but protect him and his family recently.

The hunter watched Lucifer trace over his work. There was an angry red line running down the length of his arm, surrounded by smeared blood. Lucifer had said he was strong enough to do the blood sigils alongside Castiel. Sam knew, though, that Lucifer should already be healed over if that were the case. He'd spent enough time around Castiel to be able to accurately estimate how long certain wounds should take to heal over.

"Sam?" Lucifer was looking at him now. He'd been caught staring. He pulled his eyes away from the healing wound and focused on Lucifer's face. "I'm fine. It's only a small cut."

He took a step closer to Sam but halted when Sam, without thinking, retreated. The hurt look on his face pulled at Sam's heart and made him feel lower than dirt. He didn't mean to be so standoffish, really. It was hurting Lucifer and it would only serve to get him into trouble on their next hunt if he didn't get over himself soon.

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. Of course you're okay." He picked up his supplies and continued working on his section of sigils. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Lucifer watching him and knew that the other's silence would not last long. He just hoped he was ready for that talk when it happened.

No one questioned when Michael made his way into the reconditioning cell. The progress with Annael had been slow and difficult. She had always been strong-willed and stubborn. When she had been serving within the ranks, just under Zachariah, those had been good qualities. It had made her a great leader and warrior. Now, though, it made her a dangerous captive and a nearly impossible prisoner.

As Michael stood before her – wings bound, body in restraints – he understood what her garrison had seen in her as their leader. Her Grace, worn and controlled as it was by the cell, still burned brightly. She was a wild flame and an angel worthy of note, even though she had fallen. And that, her fall, was exactly why Michael was there.

"Annael," he greeted. "I come with news."

He heard her scoff, uninterested in what she thought he had to say. She'd always been bold and had never held much respect for rank. She'd been a wild fledgling, always getting into everything, regardless of rules and regulations. "Trust me, you'll want to hear this."

She shot him a withering look. It was clear he was not going to get a proper response out of her until he had her interest. "Zachariah is dead, Lucifer killed him." Michael wasn't sure how far the rumors of Lucifer's disappearance had spread, but the way Annael stilled told him she knew enough.

"Lucifer is currently with the Winchesters and Castiel," Michael continued, pleased when Annael looked up at the mention of her broodmate's name. "I do not understand why he is staying with them. Seeing as you were human for a few years, I was hoping you'd be able to tell me where the appeal in hanging around humans lies."

Annael's expression was carefully blank. "Why should I tell you anything?"

Michael had known he'd have to bargain for her information. "I'll release you. No more cell, no more reconditioning. You'll be free to go… if you answer all of my questions."

The distrust shining in Annael's eyes did not come as a surprise. Michael waited for her response, sure that she's need more than a promise for freedom. "What then? Am I cut off from the Host, like Castiel is now? Stranded on Earth and slowly falling? Or will you put me back at my place, leading what's left of my garrison after you sent them into the pit? What will you do with me once I'm free of this place, Michael?"

The archangel considered. He could offer her Zachariah's rank, leave her in charge of the entire choir and its garrisons. Somehow, he felt that wouldn't be enough to appease Annael. He didn't trust her, and he wasn't sure how well received she'd be by the garrison, but he needed answers quickly. He could worry about damage control once he understood what was happening with Lucifer. "I would restore your rank. It would be as if you had never fallen. I would forgive the whole incident."

Annael shook her head. "I want my rank within the Host restored and freedom. I want to come and go as I please."

"You will get your rank restored and fall in line, Annael! Be thankful I'm willing to give you back your garrison," Michael hissed. He couldn't afford to have Annael running free. She knew too much as it was, and would know even more after his questioning.

"You mean what's left of them!" she cried, enraged. She thrashed against her bindings, trying to get closer to Michael. "I know what's happened to them! You sent them into the pit to save your Righteous Man because you wanted your apocalypse to start! You as good as killed them. Then there was Uriel's betrayal! I know you knew about his change in allegiance but did nothing! You've let my garrison, my broodmates, die off and be subjected to Zachariah's idiotic and uncaring orders. I owe you nothing, Michael!"

Her wings quivered in the silence after her tirade. Her Grace was still burning bright with rage and it was unlike anything Michael had ever seen. He watched her, his aura calm, until she stopped pulling at the restraints. She glared up at him, anger still burning in her eyes. "You are the one who needs me. Give me what I want or find another fallen angel to answer your questions. Maybe Castiel will be willing to talk to you, he was always more of a peacemaker."

Michael stared at her. She'd gotten even bolder in her time away. Even if he continued to insist she fall in line the chances of her doing so were slim at best. He didn't have time to deal with troublesome seraphs, he had a brother to find and restore and a prophecy to fulfill. In order to do so, though, he needed Annael's insight.

"Fine. You may have freedom, so long as your garrison maintains their duties," he allowed. He hoped the need to keep her garrison in line would keep her busy enough to keep her out of too much trouble. "Now, I expect answers to my questions."

He freed Annael form her holdings and watched as she stretched her wings, rubbing away the stiffness in them. After a few moments she looked up at him expectantly, ready to uphold her end of their deal. "Why is Lucifer following around the Winchesters and Castiel?"

"I'd imagine so that he could keep an eye on the vessels."

Michael glowered at her. "He told Zachariah that he would not allow them to be used as vessels. He is simply spending his time with them, hunting with them – protecting them even. Why?"

Annael's shock was understandable. She remembered what Lucifer had been like both before and after the Fall. She had fought against those of their brothers who had believed Lucifer's way was right. She knew just how much Lucifer had hated humanity. Her silence stretched on and Michael began to believe she might not have answers for him like he had thought.

Then, comprehension lit up her expression. "He's protecting them?" Michael nodded. Annael smiled at him, her eyes turning soft. "He feels for them, Michael. They make him feel."

"What are you talking about?" he pressed. Lucifer was an angel, they didn't feel emotions, not really.

Annael sighed, as if Michael should already know and he was being obtuse on purpose. "I fell because I began to feel. That's why all angels fall, right? Because they gain emotions. Lucifer was the first, he learned jealousy, hate and anger. I remember how it tore at him, and now I know how those emotions feel. They aren't pleasant and they hurt like a wound right in your Grace. They are also all Lucifer has known for ages. Now he has the Winchesters and Castiel. He's following them around and they're taking him with them, treating him like one of their own."

She paused, casting a look at Michael, as if trying to see if he knew where she was going with this. When she realized he didn't she rolled her eyes and continued. "They're making him happy, Michael. They, for whatever reason, bring him joy. Happiness is an infinitely better feeling than anger. He protects them because that is how he can protect his happiness. I don't expect you to really understand. You might go through the motions of having feelings, but you don't actually feel them. They're muted and dampened by the love you feel for God. Even I didn't truly understand until I fell. I had an idea, I knew they were there, but it's so much more when you're human. They're powerful things, emotions. They can change people," she fixed him with a pointed stare, "or angels."

After a few more questions about how emotions influenced things Michael dismissed Annael and sent her back to her garrison. They'd begun to get out of order even in Zachariah's short absence and needed to be brought in line. A lot of them had begun asking questions, poking around in affairs that did not concern them. Though, that wasn't something new for Heaven's youngest garrison. He hoped her broodmates and the rest of the angels that had been under Zachariah would be enough to keep her busy while Michael gathered more information.

He reflected on what she'd told him. He had never thought much of emotions and, after listening and seeing what they caused, he could say he never wished to experience the human equivalent of them. His own shallow interpretations, as Annael called them, were more than enough to deal with. She had a point though. It made sense for Lucifer to want to protect those who were bringing him happiness and staving off the painful emotions such as hate and anger. It bothered Michael in a way he couldn't explain that it was humans and a fallen soldier that did this for him rather than Michael, who had once been his closest brother, but he couldn't let himself be distracted by that.

Michael was gliding along the outskirts of Heaven as he pondered his next move. While he might not understand the emotions, he understood Lucifer's motivations. He was with the Winchesters to keep pain away. They soothed him, even if Michael didn't understand how. That was the next thing he needed to find out, how could a human make an angel feel happy and safe? Specifically, he needed to learn about the Winchesters on a more personal level, there was clearly more to their vessels than he had originally thought.

Michael had entertained the idea of speaking with Dean for a moment. Who better to learn about a Winchester from, than a Winchester? The idea fell through when he remembered how abrasive and crass Dean was, especially to angels who weren't Castiel. He wondered if perhaps he wasn't also with the Winchesters because they were a source of happiness. It was unlikely that talking with Dean would provide Michael with anything other than an intense desire to harm something – most likely Dean. Speaking with Sam was out of the question, they had no connection between them and it was likely that Lucifer would feel he was encroaching in his territory if he approached his brother's vessel. Castiel was not yet fully human, or likely to talk. Michael turned his thoughts to those who knew the Winchesters and were in Heaven.

There was the option of their mother, but she hadn't known them since they were young. Their father's soul had gone missing after he had forced his way from Hell, presumably wandering the Earth for the moment so there was no way to find him for questioning. Michael was frustrated with their small family tree and thought harder. There had to be one soul within Heaven that Michael could speak to about Sam and Dean.

It turned out that Lucifer's silence lasted until they had finished an entire side of Bobby's house. For the archangel, it was really quite impressive. He might have held his tongue longer if Sam hadn't flinched away from what was a simple invasion of personal space (par for the course between them) like he'd been electrocuted. Lucifer had looked at him, his face a mixture of shock and hurt before the expression faded into determination.

"Sam, what has gotten into you?" Lucifer asked as he moved closer to the hunter. Sam swallowed, uneasy with the intensity of Lucifer's stare focused on him. "You've been acting strangely since the hunt, did something happen that I missed? I don't remember you getting hurt too badly."

Sam sighed and leaned into the wall behind him, putting his brush down and careful to avoid smudging the wards he'd just painted. Running a hand through his hair he avoided looking at Lucifer's face. "Sorry, I didn't get hurt and I don't mean to be weird, it's just been a bit crazy." He had no idea how to explain himself to Lucifer. He couldn't just tell him that he'd forgotten Lucifer was an archangel and that the sudden reminder had been extremely jarring.

It didn't look like Lucifer was buying his lame excuse either. His tone was flat as he said, "Your life is nothing but crazy, Sam. Tell me what's really wrong, I want to help." He moved closer to Sam, trapping him against the wall. Sam didn't know whether to be relieved or concerned when the lack of space between them didn't make Sam feel like he was in danger. He saw Lucifer's fingers twitch like he wanted to reach out, "Sam, look at me," he sighed. "Please."

Sam listened, taking his eyes away from the ground and meeting Lucifer's penetrating, blue gaze. He looked concerned and Sam flinched slightly when he felt a new wave of guilt wash over at him for causing that. He was being stupid. Lucifer was their friend and had been living with them and fighting beside them for months now. Sam told himself that Lucifer didn't want to hurt him, hadn't even wanted to harm him before his sudden fall to humanity. Sam told himself that he was safe and had nothing to fear from Lucifer.

With another sigh he answered Lucifer. "I just… forgot you weren't human, I guess. And then, watching you fight off Zachariah and all that…" he looked off to the side as he continued. "It was a bit much. I got suddenly reminded that you were an angel and, I don't know, freaked out a little I guess."

Lucifer's eyes widened as he listened to Sam. He stepped away and Sam was surprised with himself for missing the closeness of his body so much that he automatically swayed forward a little. "You're afraid of me? Because I'm not human?" He could tell Lucifer was trying to keep the emotion from his voice, but the pain was there in his eyes and it cut at Sam. "I would never hurt you, Sam. You do know that, right?"

Sam let his head fall back, bumping it lightly against the wall of the house. "Yes, I mean – no, I… I don't know. I don't know what's going on with me really." He looked back at Lucifer, desperate to make some kind of point. "I'm not frightened of you, really. I know that you wouldn't hurt me, not intentionally. I just… I was used to you being human and I'm used to being around humans. I'm so used to being wary of supernatural everything that I just… need to get used to you not being powerless anymore. I kind of found out the hard way that it makes me really uncomfortable. I'm sorry I made you worry. I am trying to make myself get over it, I know it's irrational."

Something flickered in Lucifer's expression, but it was gone before Sam could identify what it was. He nodded at Sam, "I can… try not to use my abilities? If you think that will help."

Sam could feel his eyes widen in surprise at the offer. He stared at Lucifer as he stood there watching him in that not quite human way. Sam didn't like the look on Lucifer's face that came with that offer, and it wasn't really what he wanted anyway. "No," he said. "I wouldn't ask you to do that. You're just getting your abilities back, they are a part of you that you were missing, and I don't want you to not be yourself. I like you." He tried to smile a little as he picked up his brush to get back to the warding.

Lucifer watched Sam a little warily and went back to helping with the wards, making sure to keep no less than a foot of space between them. He was suspiciously quiet for the rest of their painting and it worried Sam immensely. He felt terrible about his inability to just get over the fact that Lucifer was an angel but it was more difficult than he had imagined. No matter what he told himself he felt anxious around Lucifer now. Especially since he knew that there would just be more powers to gain, Lucifer was an archangel, he had once been powerful enough to defy Heaven and change humanity forever. Sam found himself kind of terrified by that idea in general, he found that he couldn't help but worry that getting his powers back would change Lucifer - change his friend. He didn't like the idea that he might lose the Lucifer he could laugh with and be met, once again, with the Lucifer they were trying to kill.

He paused and looked over at Lucifer. The two of them had fallen into synch with each other surprisingly easily. They had been in each other's space in no time without even thinking about it. Though, Lucifer hadn't been spending as much time with Sam since he'd gotten more of his powers back and stopped needing to really sleep. Sam's bed was empty more nights than not nowadays, and Sam found that he missed the company. He'd liked waking up with Lucifer curled up to him.

He jumped when there was a loud clatter of a paintbrush being tossed into an empty bucket, "Sam, that ward is the last one for out here." Lucifer pointed to where Sam was painting. "I'm going to check the rest of the house." With that Lucifer disappeared quickly around the corner of the house.

Sam flinched at the awkwardness that had grown between them. That was the most Lucifer had even acknowledged him since their earlier conversation. Sam frowned after him but turned back to the last ward, it had to be done so they could be safe from the rest of the angels.

Maybe that was what was throwing him off, they were running from angels… with angels. Castiel was falling and losing his powers so it sort of made sense. Lucifer, on the other hand, was getting his angelic powers back. That's when Sam realized he wasn't just afraid of Lucifer. He was afraid of losing him. Losing him to heaven or hell or the other angels. Losing him because he would change and not be the man he'd gotten used to anymore. Sam didn't want to lose anyone else that he loved. He sighed and finished up the last ward before heading inside, trying to ignore the gnawing hole in his chest that seemed to be there to stay.

Lucifer checked the wards from the outside to make sure they were all done right. He had complete confidence in Sam's ability to draw all of the warding sigils perfectly but he needed something to distract him and this should be done anyway.

Sam was afraid of him.

Paint had dripped a little while one of the sigils on the East side of the house had dried and it messed up the meaning of the ward, Lucifer reached out to fix it as he tried not to worry.

Sam was afraid of him, because he was an angel instead of a human and it was more noticeable now.

The wards on the north side of the house were all perfect. What was he supposed to do about Sam? The West side of the house was also perfect. Lucifer flew up to the roof for a moment to think. How was he supposed to make Sam his mate if Sam was afraid of him? He had thought that they were doing well, they were close, Sam was always sweet and did his best to keep him included in everything.

Maybe the roof should also be warded. Lucifer leaned over the South side of the house and saw Sam walking to the front door to head inside, so he flew down to grab the paint and add some warding to the roof. There was no way he was taking any chances with his future mate and the only brother he could even think to call family. His thoughts kept bouncing between the task at hand and Sam.

When Lucifer was done painting all of the wards he could think of on the roof he sat down with his wings splayed out and listened to the noises of the house. It sounded as if being up and driving all night was finally hitting both of the Winchester boys. He could hear Dean complaining while Castiel tried to get him to settle into one of the beds. He could hear Bobby still grumbling downstairs about keeping his things in order, his voice following the slight sound of his wheelchair. He could also hear the shower running, that must be Sam.

Lucifer sighed and lay back on the roof stretching his wings out to either side, glad that they weren't manifested enough that he could get paint on them. He let the sun soak into him as he tried to figure out what to do about Sam. The house was warded heavily enough that he could relax slightly. Enjoying the feeling of the sun on his skin he let himself focus on his and Sam's situation.

Sam was his, his true vessel and the first person that Lucifer had managed to care about. He had every intention of keeping Sam in his life forever, of making him his mate. So, how did he get around the fact that Sam seemed to suddenly be wary of him? He had thought that perhaps Sam simply preferred humans, that maybe trying to act more human would help, but Sam had told him not to hold back. Sam had even implied that he liked him just the way that he was, even though it was making him uncomfortable. This was too confusing for him. He found that he wasn't sure he had any idea how to handle what he was feeling at all.

He couldn't stop using his angelic abilities, that would probably make Sam get that strangely uncomfortable smile on his face again. He had not enjoyed that look at all. He just needed to find a way for Sam to see his abilities as comforting instead of terrifying. He was only using them to protect Sam, he just needed Sam to realize that and stop being afraid. Perhaps he should indulge in his protective instincts with is future mate more often. Show him just how little of a threat he was.

He found himself thinking if, even with the flinching, he might be able to get away with napping with Sam this afternoon. The fight with Zachariah had left him exhausted. He stayed on the rooftop until he heard Sam get into bed and settle himself. With a flap of his wings he nestled himself against Sam's back, one arm curled over his hip. Sam gasped and tensed as soon as Lucifer appeared, but before long the stiffness bled out of him and pressed back into Lucifer, an obvious welcoming gesture. Perhaps things were not as far lost as he might have thought them.