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The first time Castiel met the brown, tabby cat he had made the mistake (or was it really? Cas didn’t really think so) of putting down a saucer of milk. The tabby had meowed his thanks before polishing off the milk and dancing around Castiel’s ankles.
Castiel had only just moved in, a few days previously. The cat had gotten in through the old cat flap in the back door; Castiel had it on his to-do list to board up. But that first time he saw the cat wasn’t the last and Castiel kept putting off boarding up the cat flap until he realised that he loved the little tabby.
Without fail, the cat would visit at least once a day; and most days, he would visit 2 or 3 times. And Castiel would rush to get a saucer of milk or half a tin of tuna for him every time he saw him. Sometimes the cat would spend hours round with Cas, sitting on his lap or lounging in the sunlight that shone into the living room through the large window.
One night, the tabby followed Castiel up to his bedroom and had settled down on the pillow next to Castiel’s head. Castiel had fallen asleep petting the small animal. At least 3 nights every week, Castiel spent his evenings curled up with the tabby until both of them fell asleep.
It was only until a week after that first ‘sleep-over’ Castiel realised he had kinda adopted this cat without realising it. There was just one problem… the cat didn’t have a name.
Castiel decided on a name quickly and easy, one that seemed to fit the cat perfectly and that very day he went out to get a collar and a name tag and other essential cat items. He was ecstatic to see the tabby sat on the kitchen side upon his return, as if new knew his owner had brought him a gift.
****
“Grub time Sammy,” Dean grumbled, fighting back the sneeze that was trying to escape as he put down the small bowl of cat food. Dean rubbed his nose, but he was quickly losing his battle with his tickly nose.
The brown tabby cat meowed loudly and turned his head up in disgust at the sight of the slimy, packet cat food.
“What?” Dean shrugged at the cat, turning and shielding his mouth and nose with his hand as he couldn’t hold back the sneeze any longer. He grabbed a tissue out of the box that was up on the side and wiped his nose; there were roughly 24 tissue boxes dotted all the way round the house for instances such as this one.
The cat meowed again.
“It’s chicken,” Dean prompted, tapping the small metal bowl with his foot to bring the cats attention back to his meal. The cat just meowed loudly and turned his back to the bowl. “What’s up Sammy? You usually love chicken.”
Sammy, the cat just meowed before pouncing up onto the kitchen side.
“Son of a bitch!” Dean cursed lightly, jumping towards the cat. He grabbed the tabby round the middle and gently lifted him from the side, ignoring the protesting meows. Dean had sneezed twice before he had even put the cat back on its feet, on the floor. “You know the rules Sammy – not on the counters. Now I’m going to have to disinfect the whole side before I can eat anything myself!”
Sammy meowed once more; Dean sneezed in reply.
When Sammy still refused to eat the pouches, he used to gobble down greedily, Dean changed the food. It was a mixture of kibble and fish chunks that the cat seemed to love. Sammy was only fed once a day, getting a few treats from time to time, but Dean had really started to notice the bit of extra weight the tabby was carrying these days. Another thing that Dean had realised, was how much time Sammy was spending out of the house; Sammy had never been a ‘stay-at-home’ cat, but Dean was going a few days at a time without seeing him.
One week, after not seeing his tabby for just over 48 hours, Sammy waltzed into the living room and jumped up onto the couch next to Dean.
Dean sneezed in response and grabbed a Kleenex before turning to the cat that started to curl up in a ball beside him.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Dean chuckled at his kitty joke, not oblivious to the side-eye he was just given by his tabby. “Rude.”
Dean continued to watch TV, happy to pet the tabby as he did. He sneezed every so often, both cat and master used to his allergies by now. After an hour or so, the tabby jumped down from the couch and wondered off. Dean didn’t really think anything of it until he could hear the pestering, continuing meow the kept getting louder and louder from the kitchen.
“Alright Sammy! Alright!” Dean called in response, pausing the TV and getting up from the sofa. He knew exactly what the cat wanted. “I’m coming!”
Sammy danced around Dean’s ankles as his master prepared his meal, and Dean chuckled at his cat’s eager excitement.
Dean didn’t care how allergic he was, he sure as hell loved this cat.
Dean put the bowl of food on the floor and Sammy rushed to it, gobbling it down as if he hadn’t been fed in days. And in reality, that was true with how long Sammy had been gone for. But, Dean noticed that Sammy had put on weight.
“God, you’re getting fat Sammy. Who’s feeding you?”
The cat didn’t even lift his head, but still meowed in response.
A few weeks later, Sammy came sauntering in to the kitchen. It had only been a few hours earlier that Sammy had left the house, but he still seemed happy to see Dean and came over to greet him; purring as he rubbed up against Dean’s leg. Dean sneezed, but reached down to scratch behind the cat’s ear in greeting. The cat continued to purr, meowing once before moving his head at an angle so Dean’s fingers would find that spot.
Dean startled when he felt the thin leather around his pet’s neck.
Not thinking about his allergies, Dean stretched down and picked his cat up. He held the tabby out in front of him so he could get a full look at the new collar that certainly wasn’t there when he had left this morning. The cat didn’t seem bothered, but Dean was.
“Sammy,” He gasped in horror. “What have you done?!”
The cat meowed, his eyes betraying how fed up with this he was. Dean was not letting him go just yet though. He sneezed once before readjusting his hold on the cat. When he had a hand free, Dean grabbed at the shiny, new name tag attached to the glossy, leather collar.
“Lucifer?” Dean hissed. “Sammy – someone’s named you Lucifer?”
Sammy meowed in annoyance and wriggled around until Dean had no option but to let the cat jump down. Sammy ran from the room, tail waving behind him and the tag tingling as he went.
“Sammy!” Dean called, mouth open in shock. Someone had all-but adopted his cat! And they had named him Lucifer!
****
“Lucifer!” Castiel greeted his cat as the tale-tale sound of the cat’s tag rang round the kitchen. Castiel turned as he got a welcome meow, but was surprised to see his cat sat by the backdoor, with something paper hanging from his collar.
“What’s this?” Castiel asked the cat conversationally as he hopped off the bar stool and crouched to the floor. The cat started to lick its paw and didn’t even flinch as Castiel reached to take the folded piece of paper that had been tied expertly to the collar. Castiel frowned as he came to realise that meant this had been put there on purpose.
Castiel unfolded the piece of paper, and realised that this was a note meant for him. He read it once, twice and then looked up at his cat.
“Huh. Listen to this Lucifer;” Castiel started reading the note off to the cat. “My name is Sammy. My owner’s name is Dean. Dean isn’t sure who’s named me Lucifer but he thinks whoever it is should come over so they can chat with him about this whole misunderstanding. Dean and I live at…” Castiel stopped after that and looked up at the cat. “Is this true Lucifer? Your name is really Sammy and Dean, my very hot, sexy, next-door neighbour Dean, is your owner?”
The cat looked up, a spark in his eye. One meow is all he got in response.
****
There was a loud knocking at the front door, followed by the doorbell. Dean was quick to answer the door – and was surprised to see his really hot, good looking, next-door neighbour standing there.
“Cas?”
He sneezed and was even more surprised to see what, or rather who, Castiel was carrying.
“Sammy?!”
Dean looked back up to his neighbour.
“You?”
Castiel smiled sheepishly.
“I’m really, sorry.”
Dean, who didn’t know how to feel about the whole Sammy/Lucifer thing now he knew who was really behind it, looked behind Castiel, up and down their small street.
“Come on in Cas.”
When the two men were sat at the kitchen table with a beer in hand they finally began talking.
“I knew Sammy was getting fat!”
“I sorry,” Cas apologised for the 20th time. “I swear, I didn’t realise!”
“Cas; it’s fine. I mean,” He paused to sneeze again – grabbing a Kleenex from the box sat in the middle of the table. “It means I can finally put him on a strict diet now I know where the extra carbs are coming from.”
Cas laughed and Dean smiled at the wonderful sound. But suddenly he was overcome with the sneezes and he turned to hide his face in the crook of his elbow.
“Bless you,” Castiel smiled, as Dean grabbed 2 more Kleenex’s from the box.
“Thanks,” Dean spoke, sniffing as he wiped his nose.
“You got a cold?” Castiel asked casually. Dean looked up at him, slightly confused. “You haven’t stopped sneezing.”
“Oh, it’s just my allergies,” Dean shrugged, hoping to come off as calm and collected.
“Allergies? I didn’t know you were allergic to anything.”
“Yeah – it’s that son of a bitch over there that sets them off.”
“Luc… I mean, Sammy?” Castiel cried, completely shocked when his neighbour pointed to the brown tabby cat that was led curled up on the small cat-bed in the corner of the kitchen.
“Yep. You wouldn’t believe it would you.”
Sammy looked up then, as if he knew they were talking about him. He meowed at them before jumping up and running out the cat flap in the back door.
“Bitch,” Dean called after him before laughing. Castiel looked on, still slightly in shock.
“How come you own a cat if you’re allergic to them?” Castiel asked, taking a swig of his beer.
“That’s an interesting story,” Dean began. Castiel didn’t say anything, so Dean continued. “Me and Sammy have a love-hate relationship. Always have, always will. The damn cat loves the hell out of me, and most of the time, the feeling’s mutual."
“Oh?” Castiel asked, really interested in this story.
“Yeah,” Dean nodded his head. “Sammy’s been there with me through everything. And I mean everything. And he’s been the only one who’s stood beside me every step of the way. I met Sammy the very first day I became homeless.”
Dean was waiting for the horror he usually got from people when they found out he used to be homeless, and not so long ago. But Castiel just nodded his head, to let Dean know he was still listening, and didn’t take his eyes off of the gorgeous man. Dean continued.
“I woke up after my first night on the street and there was a small, tiny kitten just sat there watching me. He was shaking, where he was so cold. In that moment, I didn’t care about my allergies – there was this helpless creature who could be no older than 8 or 9 weeks. Seemingly abandoned. I had no family; no place to stay, no belongings apart from the clothes on my back and the sleeping bag on top of me, and barely 5 dollars to my name. So, you know what I did?”
“What?” Castiel asked, his voice in almost a whisper. He could feel the emotions in Dean’s voice, and didn’t want to stop the man, who came across as having not had many chances to get this off his chest.
“I picked up the kitten, allergies be damned! I wrapped him up in my jumper and strolled into the nearest supermarket and brought a packet of cat food, some paper plates, and a bottle of water. I was given 2 cents change. When I got back outside I poured water into my cupped hand and watched in fascination as this little kitten licked the water up greedily. I fed him and held him close, ignoring the sneezes, the running nose and itchy eyes.”
Dean paused and took a long swig of his beer.
“Every spare cent I had went towards food for this kitten. After a few days, I realised it was selfish of me to keep this helpless kitten out on the streets with me. I walked over 10 miles, in the cold wind, with the tiny kitten cradled to my chest, under my jumper, just to take him to the nearest animal sanctuary. But when I got there, the place was closed. They weren’t open until morning. I slept on the doorstep that night, I cried myself to sleep because I had become so attached to this little guy in such a short amount of time and I didn’t want to give him up, but knew it was for the best. I woke, just half an hour before the sanctuary was due to open. I found a cardboard box and put the little guy in there; left him just outside the door where he wouldn’t be missed. And I left. Walked away without looking back; I knew if I did I would go running back. I stopped round the corner, sinking to the floor unable to go any further. Everything that had happened to me, leading to that moment finally got to me.”
A single tear escaped down Dean’s face. Castiel reached out and took Dean’s hand in his own, squeezing supportively.
“There I was. On the street. Mother dead. My little brother dead. My own father kicked me out – believing I was the cause of my little brother’s death. My little brother, who was stabbed to death at the park I had taken him to.”
Castiel remembered hearing about that case on the TV. They had found justice for the little boy, Samuel Winchester.
“My little brother, who was my best friend; who never left my side, who followed me everywhere, no matter what,” Dean gulped. “So, when I was sat there, crying into my knees for this kitten – for my brother. For my mother. For everything. And then there was this little, tiny meow. And before my very eyes there was this tiny kitten. The same tiny kitten that I had just left on the doorstep of the animal sanctuary. I got up and I tried to leave again, but the kitten kept following me. And he continued to do so, until I realised something…”
“What did you realise?” Castiel prompted, sensing that his neighbour needed this.
“I realised that this kitten. This kitten was my Sammy. My brother Sammy. He had always preferred dogs, but he still loved cats. And he’d come back to me. He’d come back to me as this tiny helpless kitten – and just like Sam, this little kitten was everything my little brother was. And when I came to that realization, I just couldn’t let him go.”
“I was on the streets for a little over a year. Sammy was with me every step of the way. Even through those 2 weeks where I couldn’t feed him. He didn’t once leave my side, not for a second. And then, I got the help I needed; I started making my way up from the very bottom. And before I knew it, I had a job, a place to call my own. And within a year, I was able to sustain myself and was moved in here. And still, Sammy was with me every step of the way.”
Dean was finished his story, and grabbed more Kleenex to wipe at his eyes. Castiel still held his hand and squeezed again.
“I’m really sorry to hear about your brother Dean. And your mother. But that is one hell of a story, and I think you might be right – I really do think that Sammy the cat may just well be your brother reincarnated.”
“You think so?”
“Absolutely,” Castiel said firmly. “100%.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to unload my life story on you like that,” Dean apologised, taking his hand back from Castiel’s, reluctantly.
“No, no please,” Castiel hurried to reassure. “I don’t mind. I really don’t. I’m just sorry for assuming that he didn’t have a home, and adopting him as my own.”
“Honestly, Sammy knows how to get what he wants. And if he doesn’t want to do anything, he won’t do it. Sammy doesn’t like most people so you should feel privileged,” Dean laughed slightly. Castiel chuckled along with him, but still wasn’t convinced.
“No, seriously – I’ll remove the collar as soon as Sammy makes a reappearance.”
“Maybe just the tag?” Dean suggested questioningly. “I really think Sammy likes you – I mean, the reason he’s never had a collar on for me, is because he just won’t let me. So please. I know we barely know each other and what not – but we’ve basically been co-owning Sammy for just over a month now – right? Why stop?”
“Besides, I doubt Sammy’ll stop pestering you now!”
And the two burst out laughing as they realised how true that was.
“Hey,” Castiel started again after a moment. “Perhaps we could get a drink sometime?”
Neither of them had realised that Sammy had made his way back in until the cat jumped up onto the table. Dean sneezed and quickly apologised.
“What do you think Sammy? Should I take Cas up on his offer for a drink?” Dean asked the cat.
Sammy looked at Dean very seriously and meowed loudly.
“Well then, I guess that’s a yes,” Dean smirked looking back at Castiel. “You’ve got yourself a date Mr Novak.”