Work Text:
He woke up in a bright room. Everything was white, what little there was in the room, and there was one overhead light. It hurt his eyes.
He sat up and immediately regretted it. His head hurt, his whole body hurt, everything hurt. At least from here, he could see most of his body. Too much of it. He didn’t have clothes on. Why didn’t he have clothes on? His body was also a bright, multicolored canvas of bruises and cuts. That would explain why his whole body hurt, at least.
From there, getting to his feet was the logical next step, but after that, he had no idea what to do. The only thing of note in the room was the door, which was bound to be locked. Right? That’s how this worked?
With nothing better to do, he tried it anyway. The knob turned. He glared at the door as it swung open and let him out into a hallway. It was also a nice empty white, with doors at regular intervals as far as he could see in either direction, and no turns. Time to start walking, he supposed.
With no way to track time, he didn’t know how long he’d been walking before a door swung open in front of him. He ran for it, crashing into the woman who had just come out.
“Dean! Oh, thank you.” The woman reached for her necklace with one hand, and used her other hand to grab his arm. “Come on, we’ve gotta get out of here before Cas’s warding on me fails and they realize I’m here.”
Everything shifted quickly. Instead of the bright, blinding whiteness, it was dark in the new place, with lots of wood and books and tables to look at. The relief was overwhelming. “Where are we?”
“You don’t…” The woman stared at him, reaching up to stroke his face. “Oh, Dean, what did those bastards do to you?”
“I… I don’t know. What bastards?”
“The bastards who kidnapped you and took you to Heaven’s holding cells?” She folded her arms. “If you ever needed proof that yes, I really do love you, there you go. I went to Heaven to look for you.”
“Huh…? Going to Heaven is a bad thing?”
“Uh, yeah, when you’re a demon it is.” She rolled her eyes. “Speaking of, you should pray to Cas, let him know you’re safe.”
“Um… no offense, but if you’re a demon, then am I?” She’d said she loved him, but…
“Yes, Dean. You’re safe. Now call Cas so he can figure out what the hell happened to you.”
“Okay, uh…” Dean sat on a table and put his hands together. “Cas, whoever you are, I’m with a demon who says I’m safe.”
Two other men appeared almost instantly. One of them, a freaking giant, came over and wrapped his arms around him. “I am so glad you’re safe. We were worried!”
“Ooookay. Cas?” he guessed.
Wrongly. “Yes?” The other man came over to him, eyes narrowed to scrutinize him. “They were not kind. Here.” He reached forward and pressed two fingers to Dean’s head.
Almost immediately, his body stopped hurting. His headache, on the other hand, got a lot worse. “Not sure whether to say thanks or fuck you.”
“Well, fucking him would be a pretty good way of saying thanks,” the demon said. “Cas, what’s wrong with him?”
“His mind was erased. I’ve undone it, but it will take him some time to process that. In the meantime, Dean, I apologize for the headache. I can’t do anything about it either, it would just come right back as your memories continue to sort themselves out.”
“Ugh. Why.” Dean shook his head quickly and groaned. “God, this is worse than a hangover.”
Sam patted his head. “In that case, you need a greasy pork sandwich. Back in a bit.”
Dean got off the table and into a chair so he could put his head down on the table. He closed his eyes and pretended not to exist for as long as he could. That ended when something that smelled delicious slid in front of him. “What’s this?”
“Bacon cheeseburger, extra bacon, egg on top, just how you like it except that I cooked it instead of you.” Sam sat on the table beside him. “Eat. It’ll help you forget your headache for a bit.”
Dean picked up the cheeseburger, smiling at it. He took a bite. “Oh man. Why don’t we let you cook more often? This is great!”
“Because when I cook, I don’t cook cheeseburgers, I make ‘weird vegetable muck that the meat is embarrassed to be seen with’,” Sam said. “You get cranky, which makes me cranky, which means these two get cranky, and you decided a long time ago that it was just for the best if I don’t cook for anyone but myself. Except for special occasions like this.”
“Oh.” Dean took another bite of cheeseburger. “Yeah, I remember that now. You know what would probably help my memories come back even faster?”
“Pie.” “Beer.” “Sex.”
“I was gonna say pie, but Meg, you might be onto something there.” Dean took another bite. “Cas, don’t you know that beer destroys memories?”
“Normally, yes, but the way you drink, I’m not certain your brain works without mild intoxication anymore,” Castiel said. Sam turned away, shoulders shaking, and Meg didn’t even bother trying to hide her laughter. “Do you remember what happened yet?”
“Yeah, it’s mostly come back. Details are a little fuzzy.” Dean finished his cheeseburger. “Went out to get some coffee at that new shop that opened. Thought it tasted a little off, they told me it was just because they brewed it with tonic water instead of tap water. Place got a little glowy, the people got a lot glowy, and then I woke up in that room with no idea who I was or what the hell was going on.” He looked over at Meg. “Heaven? Seriously?”
“Seriously," Meg said. "Cas thinks it was a trap for Sam, he’s the coffee addict around here, but when you came in they decided to take the opportunity. The faction of Heaven that really hates you guys.”
“And you went there. To get me.” A demon in Heaven. That must've taken some work.
“I keep telling you, I love you, Dean. Dunno why it’s so hard to believe, you have no problem with me loving Cas or Sam.”
“Yeah, but… those two deserve all the love they can get. If a demon’s gonna love, makes sense that you’d love them. Me, I’m a lot harder to love.”
“Bull,” Sam said. “If you weren’t lovable, why the hell would Cas and I love you?”
“Because you two never really had much choice. The way Dad brought us up… and then Cas raising me from Hell, kinda formed a profound bond, once we got a lot of crap unlearned it was bound to happen. Meg’s got a choice. Apparently not much sense, but she’s got a choice.”
“Nope. Not much sense. Choice maybe, but I choose this.” Meg wrapped an arm around Dean. "Wanna go try my idea while Sam finds you some pie?"
"Hell yeah." Dean let Meg lead him off, goofy grin on his face.