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Unlike most college students, Sam had been looking forward to summer because it meant he was taking a bunch of stupid classes just to take classes. The advantages of having a rich boyfriend whose family didn’t mind acting as a second scholarship for him. His favorite was a parapsychology class where it seemed like only he and Castiel were the only ones who knew that the professor was not, in fact, full of shit picked up from fiction books and TV.
When the quarter ended, the professor asked Sam to stay after class. “What is it, Professor Visyak?” She looked over at Castiel, who had stayed behind as well. Sam followed her gaze. “Whatever it is, you can talk in front of him, chances are he already knows whatever you’re curious about.”
Professor Visyak looked over at Castiel. “Do you know Bobby Singer?”
“I’ve never met the man, but I’ve heard a great deal about him from Sam. Why do you ask?”
“Because if Sam’s told you about Bobby Singer, then when I ask him how the hell John Winchester’s boy didn’t die of laughter from some of the questions your classmates asked, chances are you know what I mean.” She grinned at the look on Sam’s face. “Bobby and I are old friends. I didn’t want to say anything until the quarter was over, but Bobby said to tell you that if you don’t call him he’s gonna drive out here and kick your ass. His feud with your dad was never meant to extend to you boys, and he’d love to hear from you.”
“That explains why the lore you taught us was all good.” Sam returned the smile and turned to Castiel. “Did you know about this?”
“No, I did not. I knew Professor Visyak had good reasons for knowing the real lore on monsters, but I didn’t know she was a friend of Bobby’s.”
Provessor Visyak narrowed her eyes at Castiel, but decided to let it go. “Anyway, can you pass Bobby’s message on to Dean? It applies to him, too.”
“That… might be difficult.” Sam did his best to hide the flinch, but was not completely successful and he knew it. “We, uh… we got into a huge fight when I told him I was taking summer classes instead of trying to reconcile with Dad and he told me to lose his number.”
“Okay, son or not I can’t blame you for cutting ties with John Winchester. The man’s a pigheaded ass. Proud as hell of his sons, but somehow I think you didn’t do well with his need to be in charge and tendency to withhold information.”
“Son, anyway. He was always super proud of Dean. Me, not so much.” Castiel reached out and took Sam’s hand, giving it a squeeze for comfort.
Professor Visyak rolled her eyes. “You know, I can’t say I’m surprised you never knew it, but I worked a couple hunts with John Winchester. He never shut up about how proud he was of his boys – plural. Dean, his quick-thinking tactical genius who had taken on the job of looking after his little brother like a champ, old beyond his years but what hunter’s kid wasn’t?” Sam smirked. That was Dean, all right. “And his Sammy, smartest person he’d ever met despite his youth, compassionate and a brilliant first aid provider and if you want research done forget that he’s twelve and get Sammy on the case.”
Sam’s mouth hung open, and he looked at Castiel, who nodded solemnly. “She’s not lying. I can show you, when we’re done here.”
“You can show him?” Professor Visyak tilted her head, once again scrutinizing Castiel. “I figured you were doing so well in this class because you had Sam helping you, but you’re a hunter too, aren’t you.”
“Not exactly.” Castiel closed his eyes, and the shadows of his wings extended on the wall of the classroom. “I’m an Angel of the Lord. Sam’s aware of this, but no one else.”
“If you’re an angel, then those reasons you mentioned for me knowing monsters…”
“Yes. I am aware. I saw no need to tell anyone, Sam included.” Sam squeezed Castiel’s hand. He trusted Castiel’s judgment on what he needed to know.
“I appreciate that.” Professor Visyak looked over to Sam. “I’m from Purgatory. When I first came to Earth, I was a monster, but I’ve learned to control it, and I’m no danger to anyone. Never thought I’d admit that to a son of John Winchester, but you’ve shown understanding that human and monster are not synonymous with good and bad.”
“And that’s before you knew my boyfriend is an angel.” Sam huffed a soft laugh. “Only people you’re hurting are the ones who pull some completely boneheaded stunt in your class, and they deserve it. Harry and Ed thinking it would be awesome to create an urban legend and have it become real, for instance.”
“Heh. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but you’re welcome to come down and chat any time, even if it’s about a hunt and you’re trying to do research for your dad. It’s been a real pleasure having you this quarter, Sam.”
As promised, Castiel took Sam on a time-travel trip to show him John’s bragging about his sons. After six examples spread over ten years, including the year since Sam left, he was finally convinced. John was indeed proud of him, just as much as he was of Dean. Castiel brought him back to their dorm room, where Sam curled up in bed with Castiel wrapped around him. “I had no idea he thought that much of me. Why would he be such an ass about me going to college if he’s so proud of my brain?”
“I don’t know. You’d have to ask Dean – or John.” Castiel handed Sam his phone. “You should call him.”
Sam took the phone and stared at it. The last time he and John spoke, there was a hell of a fight. Would this go any better? What if John had changed his number since the last time Dean “accidentally” left the post-it with the new number in Sam’s room? He set the phone down. “Can you find him?”
“Yes. He’s in Michigan. Why?”
Sam stared at the phone again. Maybe that would be easier. But… “Can you take me to him?”
“If that’s what you want to do.” Castiel waited for Sam’s nod before flying them to a motel in Saginaw. He led the way to room 24. “If you change your mind, I’ll take you back.”
“No.” Sam stepped up to the door and knocked. He held up his hands and waited for the door to creak open. Dean came into view through the crack, with a gun pointed at him. “Hi, Dean.”
“Sammy? That really you?” Dean opened the door a little wider. “The hell are you doing here instead of in Palo Alto and your safe normal life?”
“One of my classes this summer was taught by Eleanor Visyak. She had some things to say about Dad that made me think I should talk to him, and I figured it was better in person.” Sam let his hands drop. “Can I come inside, or are you gonna leave me and Cas standing out here until someone gets nosy?”
“Let him in,” a gruff voice said from inside. “Ellie Visyak’s teaching at Stanford now?”
“Yep. Hi, Dad.” Sam squared his shoulders and looked his father straight in the eye. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too, son. After your fight with your brother, I was seriously worried.” John closed the gap between them, pulling Sam into a hug. “If I’d known Ellie was at Stanford, things would’ve been a lot different last summer.”
“I’m not likely to take many classes with her, although Cas might… she’s teaching medieval studies, which not really relevant for me.” Although he might take them as electives, if he could. Just to be with Cas.
“Not the point.” John stepped back, but kept a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “If trouble comes looking for you, I know Ellie’s retired but she’s not just gonna let you deal with it alone. Bobby cares too much about you.”
“Yeah. Speaking of which.” Sam turned to face Dean, who was watching them in shock. “Ellie told Bobby about me being in her class, and Bobby said I should call him, and you too.”
“Last time we visited Bobby he chased us away with rock salt in his shotgun,” Dean snapped.
“He chased me away,” John corrected. “You boys want to keep in contact, you should do it. Never hurts to have a contact with Bobby’s knowledge and resources.”
“Then why don’t you make peace with him?” Sam asked. He certainly couldn't argue with John's point about how useful Bobby was, and from what he remembered, the two men had loved each other before their fight.
“Because he doesn’t want to talk to me. It’s different with you boys.” John cleared his throat and let his hand drop as he stepped toward Castiel. “You must be the roommate Dean’s been telling me about. Castiel. Since Sam brought you, I assume you know the history here?”
“Yes. I am Castiel, and I am familiar with the situation.”
“He’s also my boyfriend,” Sam added, putting an arm around Castiel. “If you’re gonna be an ass about it, let’s hear it.” He remembered the lecture from high school and Renee, about not dragging someone into their lives by forming connections that could get someone killed. It didn’t apply, but Dean didn’t know that, so chances were John wouldn’t either.
John scowled, throwing up his hands. “I know I’ve been hard on you boys, but what the hell makes either of you think I’d have a problem with you two being into guys? I spent the year before you walked out not able to get Jim Murphy’s warning that I might walk in on you two fucking each other if I didn’t let you form other relationships out of my head, and I’d made my peace with that. You having a boyfriend is not something I give a flying crap about!”
Sam blinked and looked over at Dean, who shrugged with an embarrassed smile. “I got the same lecture when he walked in on me with a dude I hooked up with.”
“I didn’t think you’d have a problem with him being a guy, I thought you’d have a problem with me having a boyfriend,” Sam clarified. “You kinda reacted badly when I tried having a girlfriend…”
“Oh. Yeah.” John shrugged. “This is different. You never told Renee anything about your family. Cas knows and is your boyfriend anyway, so either he can take care of himself or you’ve got a plan to protect him.” He didn’t wait for clarification before changing the subject. “So what are you doing here? You made it pretty clear to Dean that you weren’t leaving school to come back to the hunt.”
“Professor Visyak said some things that made me feel like I should reach out. I’m not coming back to the hunt, but I’m at a school with a damn good library and thanks to her class I know there are good resources I can use to help you with research if you need it.” He looked at Castiel, who nodded encouragingly. “And, if you get really stuck and need a deus ex machina, Cas knows a teleportation spell that can get us to you quickly. Don’t call unless it’s a real emergency, I’m not coming back to the hunt, but I’d hate for either of you to die when I could’ve done something to stop it.”
Catching up with Dean and John had been great, but emotionally draining, and Sam was exhausted when Castiel finally took him home to their dorm room. He collapsed into bed, and then sleepily muttered, “Should’ve stayed at the motel. Nice big bed we could really stretch out in.”
“It’s only a couple more days until we move into our apartment, and we have a nice big bed there.” Castiel squished into the dorm bed beside Sam, cuddling in close. “I’m going to miss this, just a little bit. I know it will be nice to have more space, but I’m still not over the fact that you prefer squishing into this bed together over having it to yourself.”
Sam turned his head to kiss Castiel. That was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard. Before he could tell him that, he noticed something odd. “Cas? Do you recognize that man?” Best guess, it was an angel. It had happened before. One time, it was Anna dropping in to pass along a message from Zachariah that yes, it was fine for Castiel and Sam to get into a romantic relationship, as long as it was what they both wanted. The other time, it was Balthazar coming by to meet the human “little Cassie” went native for.
“Yes. I do.” Castiel got out of bed, staring at the man who’d just appeared in their room. “Sam, I never expected this to happen, but come meet my father.”
“Your father?” Sam got out of bed, holding out a hand to Castiel’s father. When the man took it, Sam suddenly realized just who Castiel’s father was, and he froze. “God?”
“Call me Chuck. But, yes, that’s who I am.” Chuck looked around Castiel to the bed. “Sorry, was this a bad time? Am I interrupting something?”
Sam stifled the yawn. “No, I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna be able to sleep until I know why God’s showing up in my dorm room anyway, so you might as well stay.”
“Okay, well, first of all I wanted to meet the human my son fell in love with. It’s not like I don’t know you, and believe me those doubts in your heart are completely unfounded, if I didn’t think you were worthy of him I wouldn’t have sent him to you. You deserve this.” Chuck’s gaze swung to Castiel. “You too. There were a lot of reasons I picked you, one of which was that I thought you could use a friend who would appreciate you properly. The other angels… most of them admire you, a lot of them underestimate you, but none of them really understand you.”
“Thank you.” What else did you say when God himself told you he approved of you getting into an unconventional relationship?
“Now, this does mean we need to talk. I know this isn’t a problem just yet, but if you two have kids, they’d be nephilim. Of course, that would require Castiel to take a female host or Gabriel to pop by to make one of you capable of pregnancy despite being male, but those could happen.”
Sam and Castiel looked at each other, each trying to silently encourage the other to explain. Sam was the one to break and speak up. “That, uh… you don’t have to worry about that. We don’t… I mean, you could do something, but I can’t imagine you would unless you were going to approve of us having the kid.”
Chuck rolled his eyes. “For now, you’re not, but one of these days Castiel’s going to get over his fear and you’re going to get over your shame and the two of you are going to go at it like bunnies.”
“What are you afraid of, Cas?” Sam asked, at the exact same time that Castiel asked him, “What are you ashamed of, Sam?”
Castiel recovered first. “It’s not you. I trust you. I know you would never hurt me. It’s just… I remember my brothers and sisters describing sex, back when that was a thing angels did with humans, and it sounded so intense and overwhelming that I feared I would be lost if I tried it. Since the attraction they described seemed incomprehensible, I never expected to have any interest in it, so I didn’t worry about it. Now, I’m still not attracted, but I know you want me.”
“Cas, you don’t have to do anything. Yes, I want you, but I know you’re not interested. Being with you the way we are is more than enough for me, I don’t need you to force anything.”
“I know you’re content, and you would never let me feel like you were missing something. You misunderstand, though. I’m interested, despite the lack of attraction, because I know how useful it can be in bonding between partners. I’m just… scared. Of the act itself. I’m working on it, and Balthazar is being helpful, and knowing that my father seems to approve as long as Gabriel doesn’t pull shenanigans will go a long way toward overcoming the fear.”
Sam swallowed hard. He’d never expected to hear that. An angel… one who was afraid… wanted him? That didn’t make much sense. Then again, this was the shame Chuck had mentioned, wasn’t it. “I’m ashamed because, well, you heard Chuck earlier, I’m still working on convincing myself that I’m worthy of an angel’s love. Going physical with that, having sex with you, that’s a line I was having trouble even dreaming of crossing. And then, wanting someone I thought would never want me back… I felt bad about that.”
“Don’t. You can’t help being attracted any more than I can not being attracted. Your actions are what matter, and I know your actions will remain good.”
“Fair enough, but it’s gonna take some work to make me believe.” Castiel nodded and stepped forward to hug Sam tightly. Sam wrapped his arms around Castiel, holding on to this amazing being who loved him and accepted his love in return. “And of course, there’s the Jimmy issue.”
Chuck cleared his throat. “No there’s not.”
“Chuck, I can’t just…” Sam started.
“There’s not a Jimmy issue because I sent Jimmy home the first time you and Castiel kissed.” Chuck blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t Castiel tell you?”
“No, because I didn’t realize until just now,” Castiel said. “Jimmy preferred to be locked in a dream world where he was back home, so I kept him there and let him be. I never even noticed when he left.” He looked down at himself. “So what’s this vessel? A clone?”
“Yes. It’s special, and it’s all yours. You can’t be exorcised from it. When you visit Heaven, it’ll come with you without any problems. When Sam comes to Heaven and you no longer have any reason to be on Earth – this is assuming no nephilim pop up, of course – you can keep it in storage so that if I have a reason to send you down for something you won’t need to find a vessel.”
“We’re not going to…” Castiel tried to protest.
“Maybe, maybe not, that’s kind of up to you, but some of the others are starting to spend time on Earth. If a nephil happens, and the angel responsible is irresponsible, I’m bringing the kid to the two of you. Who’s better suited to handle a nephil?” Chuck winked at them and then disappeared.
Sam collapsed back in bed, and Castiel cuddled up to him again. “Are you all right?”
“I probably should have asked him to come back in the morning,” Sam admitted. He was too tired to deal with the idea of being a foster parent to a superpowered baby. He was too tired to deal with the idea that Castiel wanted to have sex with him. He was too tired to deal with the idea that God himself thought Sam deserved a literal angel’s love. Those could be a problem for Morning Sam. Right now, he just enjoyed being held as sleep finally claimed him.