Chapter Text
“So get this.” Sam settled into his chair and accepted the beer Dean pushed over to him. “Meg showed up in the throne room to throw a fit at me.”
Dean snorted. “Meg. Thought she was your most loyal, most trusted, and favorite of those sons of bitches you’ve got working for you.” Absolutely correct. As demons went, Meg was reliable, and although she didn’t necessarily agree with Sam’s decisions, she’d thrown everything she had into helping him run Hell the way he wanted to. Sam had no qualms about having her as his chief advisor. “What was so important to her that she’d risk everything by getting on your bad side?”
Sam ducked his head, hiding the slightly embarrassed smile. “Crowley enforced a deal that she thought I should have intervened in. I took a look at the deal, and she’s right, I should have done something. I think Meg enjoyed the chance to tell me off and have me have to admit I’d messed up, and then the chance to get Crowley of all demons in trouble was a nice bonus.” Meg hadn’t risked anything and she’d known that. Other kings of Hell might have been pissed, but Sam wasn’t like that. It was one of the reasons Meg was so loyal to him; he was willing to listen to her.
Dean tilted his head, acknowledging that was fair enough. “That why you wanted to meet? You wanna send the soul up to me?”
“Well, I know you’ll take him,” Sam said. If it were just that, he wouldn’t have bothered asking Dean for a special meeting, he’d have just sent the guy up to the reward he deserved. “His little sister got shot in a bank robbery gone wrong, and the doctors didn’t have much hope that they could save her. He headed for a crossroads and made a deal with Crowley to trade his life for hers.”
“And then let me guess, he didn’t use whatever time he got to go nuts and do whatever the hell he wanted, because he already knew he was headed your way?” Dean said.
“Actually, he did,” Sam said. “It’s just that what he wanted to do was to forget worrying about having money for retirement or any kind of estate to leave to his kids, and he spent every penny he earned above what he needed to feed and clothe himself on helping the poor or disabled or victims of violence or natural disasters.” That was the part that had Sam so impressed with the guy. That had Sam considering something other than just sending him up to Dean like he deserved.
“Wow, Sammy, can’t believe you let him into your realm to begin with. What happened, you forget that Crowley’s a demon and doesn’t care about your rules?”
“Not sure if it was a coincidence or some kind of scheme, but there was an insurrection by Alastair’s people. Not Alastair himself, he’s not my biggest fan but he’s smarter than to try to overthrow me without a much bigger army and solider plan, but it was enough of a distraction that I overlooked the circumstances of Castiel’s contract. When I talked to Crowley about it, he said that he figured I’d intervene but that was no reason not to make the deal and bring him in for the little power we could get from him before I handed him over.”
“Okay, so what’s the deal? I know you didn’t request this meeting just to have the privilege of my charming company,” Dean drawled. “It’s not Sunday.”
Sam huffed a soft laugh. “Well, I found Castiel and talked to him, and told him that deal or not, he belonged in heaven. I was gonna take him to Jessica myself.” Jessica was Sam’s favorite Reaper, one of the few who wasn’t afraid to come into Hell. “He refused to go. He said he made a deal, and Rachel not only recovered from the gunshot but came out of it a better person because of the second chance at life, so he would honor his word.”
Dean stared at Sam, mouth hanging open. Sam couldn’t blame him. He was sure he’d looked exactly the same when Castiel had told him that. “So… what are you gonna do with him?”
“Well, before I left, I made sure Alastair and his people knew that if any demon laid a hand on Castiel, I was calling in a favor from you and seeing if you could find an archangel who could use some practice flexing their demon-smiting muscles.” It wouldn’t be hard. Emma or Krissy would almost certainly jump at the chance, and Ben certainly wouldn’t mind. Lucas hated fighting, but demons might be an exception. “But then what? I don’t want to damn him to a life of boredom, but I can’t just… what?”
Dean’s snickering subsided enough that he could talk. “Dude, how long have I been telling you to find your own Lisa? Get yourself a consort down there? And you keep saying it’s hard, because you’re not gonna shack up with a demon and the human souls that end up down there aren’t people you wanna associate with. Here you are. Perfect candidate falls into your lap, and you’re up here asking me what to do with him?”
“Dean!” Sam fought down the flutters he’d been trying to ignore since he heard Castiel’s story. “I am not gonna force him to…”
“Whoa, Sammy, I didn’t say anything about forcing him into anything,” Dean snapped. “Seduce him. Take him on dates, give him a hellpuppy to raise, win his love. Not just declare that he’s your consort like you’re some medieval king taking what you want because you want it.”
“And if he rejects me?” Sam said.
Dean rolled his eyes. “Then you set up a meeting here, bring him, let me explain to him what a moron he is and tell him that it’s a way to get the reward he deserves in the love of a good person while still honoring his word. Or I rules lawyer him to realize that technically the deal he made was to go to Hell, not to stay there for eternity. And if he still says no, you find him something else, but after giving that a try you’ll know him better and what he’d like and would take.”
Sam considered while he drank his beer. He had to admit, it made sense, and part of him probably had decided to come to Dean because Dean would give him permission to try. It was worth a shot.