Chapter 14: Simple Man

Warnings: Language

Castiel was stunned into silence. He was certain he was misunderstanding. Surely Satan, the Adversary, was not passing leadership of heaven onto him.

"Stand, Castiel," Lucifer ordered, crossing his arms and staring casually down at his younger brother.

"I don't understand," Cas whispered, staying firmly where he was. He didn't want to obey, though even if he did, he wasn't sure he could.

"I've made a choice, little brother," he explained. "Michael and I will fight, but it will be on my terms. Father will pay, and it will be when I want. And right now, they can wait. Everything can wait. Right now, I want Sam Winchester."

The younger angel simply couldn't understand. "Why?" He asked simply.

"I really don't feel the need to explain," the devil replied. "But his life is short, and I can't be running heaven and still devote the amount of attention that I'd like. You will do it."

It was a stupid thought that entered Castiel's mind at that moment. He was crushed and broken before the devil, yet he was being asked to seize the thing he had sacrificed countless lives to achieve—heaven.

And yet, he didn't want it any more. He thought of how many angels had been lost to the cause. He thought of what he had done when he had claimed the power before, using the souls of purgatory as the disgusting fuel for his cleansing. He didn't deserve leadership of the Host.

Nor did he want it. Sam was fragile and fleeting and small, yes. And so was Dean. Castiel's loyalty to humanity had come through Dean, and it was anchored there like a stone. He was unwilling and unable to imagine how he would govern heaven without Dean's guidance. His arrogance, and bravado, and kindness. It seemed an utterly insurmountable task.

So, he released the stupid thought into the world; "I don't want to," he replied.

The devil grew stiff. "What?"

"I don't want to," Castiel repeated, his tone slightly more forceful. "I don't feel the need to explain, but I will be spending the remainder of Dean's lifetime on Earth."

The devil laughed. It was a soft, friendly sound that should have been more unsettling than it was. "I can't really argue with that," he replied. "If you're serious, then you'll choose a leader. I'm finished with heaven for now."

With that, Lucifer vanished.

…

Sam nearly died of a heart-attack when Lucifer appeared in front of him in the boys' motel room.

"What did you do to Cas, you sonofabitch?" Dean demanded before Sam could react, throwing himself forward and pushing the devil roughly against the wall. He punched the other man in the face, resulting in a light crack from his own hand which he chose to ignore. "Answer me!"

"Dean, release him," Castiel said softly, collapsing onto the bed as soon as he appeared.

The older Winchester was speechless, and stayed perfectly still. Lucifer sighed, rolled his eyes, and simply moved Dean away.

Sam was also silent, unwilling to speak to Lucifer.

"Cas? Cas, what did he do to you?" Dean finally asked, going to his angel's side.

"Quite a bit, though most of it is now irrelevant," Castiel replied. He closed his eyes, his expression fixated as if every breath required his full attention. He took a sharp, wavering inhale before speaking. "Lucifer didn't betray you, Sam."

"What?" The younger hunter whispered.

"Cas," Dean stepped back hesitantly, wondering what was wrong with his angel's head. "Are you trying to tell us that Lucifer kicking your ass and trying to take over heaven wasn't him betraying Sam? Because my little brother can be thick sometimes, but I don't think he actually wanted that."

"Lucifer didn't merely try to take over heaven, Dean." The angel sighed.

Sam's eyes widened and his mouth opened to speak, but it took several moments for his brain to select words for it to use. "You won," he whispered to the archangel.

"I did," he replied with a twitch of a smile. "And so did your pet angel, and so did you boys. There's prizes for everyone."

"I don't—"

"Speaking of, did you choose your replacement, Cas?" Lucifer asked his younger brother with that perpetually casual tone.

He nodded, apparently understanding what the devil was talking about. At least someone in the room did. "Anna. She has chosen loyalty to humanity," Castiel replied.

This response earned a chuckle from Satan. "No accounting for taste."

"Okay, back up." Dean demanded suddenly from his place next to Cas. Apparently it was the limit of his patience. "What the actual Hell are you talking about? And can you please be a little less calm when you say that the fucking devil is in charge of heaven now?"

"I'm not in charge. Your fling, Anna, is." Lucifer retorted.

"What—"

"I wanted to have a bit of a democratic say in who runs heaven for the next century or so," Lucifer informed the brothers. "And more importantly, Sam, I wanted to prove to you that when I say I can put the apocalypse on the back burner, I actually mean it."

That was a little much to process, but Sam's brain put up a valiant effort. "You…single-handedly won the war in heaven…to prove a point?" He tried.

"Yuh huh. Well, more than one, but this is the one you'll care about."

Dean flicked an anxious look to Castiel, who shrugged; they didn't have to worry for the moment.

"I told you, Sam, you're important to me. You were made for me. You pulled me out of heaven twice. I'm not ungrateful, and I recognize a gift when it's given," Lucifer said, taking slow, careful steps forward as if trying not to spook a nervous animal.

"Even if you're not up for the apocalypse, what makes you think any of us will just let you go as Sam for Halloween?" Dean demanded.

"Excuse me?" The archangel asked softly, eyes narrowed at the hunter.

"You aren't getting anywhere near Sam, you piece of shit. Understand? You won't ever take my baby brother."

The archangel looked sad, then. He sighed regretfully. "I'm sorry you still feel that way, Dean, but this is fate. I will take Sam," Lucifer told him. Then he moved further toward the younger Winchester, reaching a hand up and running it through Sam's hair to the back of his head, which he pulled gently but firmly forward.

Then Lucifer proceeded to kiss Sam Winchester.

Sam's heartbeat pounded in his head as that taste returned. He hadn't realized he'd been craving it, but he immediately felt himself melt against the tender movement of the devil's lips. One of his hands went to Lucifer's short, blond hair, while the other pulled his hips closer. His breathing began to roll into deep, loud gasps.

"What the fuck is this?" Dean demanded.

Sam froze. Oh yeah.

"Dean, I—"

"Are you sleeping with the devil?"

"I—"

"Dammit, Sam, are you fucking Lucifer?" He shouted.

The archangel shifted slightly, moving to stand solidly just ahead of Sam, reminding the hunter of the last time the four of them had been in a room together. He hoped this conversation would involve less gunfire, though he doubted it. Maybe Lucifer doubted it too.

"Sam," his brother insisted.

"Not yet, no." Sam said forcefully in reply.

Dean's mouth twitched into something Sam would almost describe as a snarl, and the younger brother realized what he'd just said. He felt his stomach drop to his ankles. Felt some kind of distant, impending panic.

"Interesting choice of words," Lucifer mumbled for only Sam to hear.

"Sam, this is completely off the fucking deep end, do you understand? You can't be butt buddies with the fucking devil. You can't fall in love and have children and get married with Satan, alright? Remember when you said you just wanted to feel normal? This sure as Hell isn't the way to fucking do that." Dean shouted.

"Actually Dean," he said, voice sounding surprisingly calm to his own ears, "I think this is the way to do that."

Lucifer turned his head to look up at Sam, sky-blue eyes staring with an inhuman expression on a human face. If Sam had to guess, he'd say the emotion displayed there was surprise. Perhaps even relief. Sam suddenly ached to wrap his arms around Lucifer somehow, to encircle him and show him that yes, he finally felt it too. They needed to be together. Yet the gesture seemed so intimate and foreign, despite what they and just done, because it wasn't the same. He settled for placing a hand on the devil's shoulder, and squeezing gently there.

"You're serious," Dean asked bluntly, frowning deeply with disbelief.

"Dean, I believe your brother may be right," Castiel said.

Dean groaned. "Not you too, Cas."

"This may be the least destructive path. Some good may even come of it." The angel continued.

"Look," Sam interjected. "I need you to trust me." A quick glance at Lucifer. "Us. Trust us," he amended, word awkward an unfamiliar on his tongue. "I want to keep hunting. I want to keep saving people, and going on the road with you, and staying in crappy motels, and eating in diners, and doing things sane people would never believe. But I also want to be…"

"With Lucifer," Dean supplied reluctantly.

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "With Lucifer."

"What's more important to you, Sam? Him, or your family?" Dean asked. It wasn't an accusation, and it wasn't a demand. It was simply an honest question. A tired, honest, lonely question.

"I don't want to have to make that choice, Dean. You're the one asking me to," the baby brother replied as gently as he could.

"Damnit," he growled softly. "No, I'm not, okay?"

Sam wasn't sure he understood. He didn't want to believe it and be disappointed. "You're not what?" He dared to ask.

"I'm not going to make you choose."

Sam's eyes widened. His mouth opened. His breath stopped. Lucifer stepped out from between the two brothers, and nodded a smile to Dean. Sam moved forward in a hasty stumble and threw his arms around his older brother, panting the words 'thank you' in Dean's ear and breathing in that messy, emotional way that only Sam could do seriously. Dean hugged his baby brother back, slapping a hand on the back of his shoulders.

"But I still hate you," he said to Lucifer over Sam's shoulder, pointing an accusatory finger. He received a broader smile in reply, and Dean couldn't help wondering how monumentally stupid this decision would turn out to be.

…

Just one more to go! Hope you guys who have stuck it out this long have enjoyed it.

Shouldn't be too long with the update, and it should be a very long chapter. There will be smut, so if you aren't into that, consider this your final chapter.