Work Text:
“Michael.” Sam stared at the face that was usually his brother’s, now staring back at him with his beloved mate’s expression. “I do not ask this lightly, but I have to ask. What the FUCK.”
Michael grinned at him, the smirk looking so much like Dean that for a second Sam was questioning just who was in control here. That vanished when he started answering. “I don’t understand what you’re questioning. I think it’s quite obvious that I, Michael, am currently possessing your brother.”
“Where do I even start?” Sam asked, throwing up his hands. “You’re an angel. You have to get consent. I know my stubborn-ass brother. There is no way he’s saying yes to you.” The only way Sam could see it ever happening is if Michael hadn’t read the truth of Sam’s heart and soul when he brought him back to life after the time travel, if the Apocalypse had ended as it was supposed to and they failed in stopping it. Even then, Sam could barely imagine that. With the Apocalypse off and them knowing the truth about angels being potentially just as big dicks as demons, but with the cover of righteousness and holiness to excuse their bad actions or cruelty, there was absolutely nothing Sam could imagine that would get Dean to say yes.
“There are a couple ways.” Michael raised a hand, and another person popped into view. Before he could think it over and realize that this was probably a bad idea, he was moving to throw a punch. He owed the Trickster several anyway. The broken hand was worth it, especially as Michael took it and gently stroked Dean’s hand over his broken bones to heal them. “First, I could take him to meet with Gabriel. If, as I suspected, Gabriel was able to step in and protect him from me the way I protect you from Lucifer, I thought that would be something he would be interested in – but Gabriel had been kidnapped by a Prince of Hell. I could use the extra power of my True Vessel instead of the soulless husk I’ve been using for millennia.”
“What happened to its soul?” Sam demanded, head whipping around. Somehow, this was even more shocking than taking over Dean.
Michael shrugged. “When I took this body, the soldier it belongs to was dying. As his only child was, as yet, unborn, I kept the vessel alive when I reaped the soul. With his permission, by the way. Then, any time I needed a vessel, I had that one available and didn’t need to go hunt one down. Unless I was taking on something powerful enough that I needed the boost of a soul in residence, at least.”
“My vessel’s a similar situation,” Gabriel interrupted. “And, by the way, if you’re wondering… I’ve claimed Dean. He’s agreed to it, it’s done.”
“Then why is Michael still in there?” Sam asked. “Isn’t that supposed to be impossible?” That was the whole point of the claim, Sam had understood. Lucifer couldn’t take Sam without Michael’s authorization. Michael shouldn’t be able to take Dean… “Oh. Right. Because you agreed to it?”
“And if I revoke that permission, Michael has to get out immediately,” Gabriel said. “For the rest of this conversation, Michael, aren’t we missing someone?”
“Yes. He’s on his way.”
A couple seconds later, Castiel poofed in. “Hello, Michael, why are you possessing Dean? Hello, Gabriel.” He blinked and tilted his head, eyes narrowing at Gabriel. “Welcome, but what the hell happened to you?”
“Hell. Literally. I can give you the long version later, but first, we need to answer your question for Michael.” Gabriel stuck his thumbs in his pockets and smirked at Sam. “You know, Samsquatch, when an angel claims a human like this, one of the things that happens is we get to read your hearts. Not your thoughts or anything, no more than normal angels, but we know if there’s yearning.”
This probably explained why Michael was so confident in suggesting that suggesting Sam overcome his cultural background to be with Castiel as well as him. What Sam was missing was the relevance here. So Michael probably knew that there was someone else Sam wanted. It didn’t matter, the other person wasn’t an angel, and even without that there was no reason to expect they could ever be together in that way. “Okay, and…?”
“And you must think I’m stupid. Either that or you are, and I know you’re not,” Gabriel said. “As much as I got in your heads to come up with all those fun TV scenarios… especially the one where I set Dean up to be all up in you in a bunch of different ways?” Gabriel crossed his arms and winked. “Even without that, all of Heaven knows how much the two of you want each other. You’re not exactly subtle about it.”
“Michael, can I talk to Dean?” He wanted to hear this from his brother, not from an intermediary. Of course, with how angels could imitate others… how could he be sure he was actually talking to Dean?
“Dude, if you don’t trust Michael, why are you even with him?” Dean said. “So. Stupid angels and their mind tricks, I never wanted you to know about this, but… yeah. They’re not wrong. Michael says you feel the same about me, and he would know, so now we gotta figure out where the hell we go from here. Thing is, I’ve been repressing this so hard for so long, not really sure what’ll happen if we try to do anything about it.” Dean dropped his gaze. “If Michael’s in here, I start to freeze up, he can take charge. Won’t push me past consent, not if I really don’t want to keep going, but he won’t let me cockblock myself. If you want, Michael will approve either Cas or Gabe for you, if either of them’s willing to do it.”
Sam rubbed his head. This was getting a bit more complicated than he’d been prepared for. “Cas? Are you even into Dean like that?”
“Not exactly, but as long as you and Michael don’t object, I don’t either,” Castiel said. “Dean, I mean no offense, but you’re not someone I would normally have any interest in pursuing.”
Dean and Sam exchanged a glance of amusement. At least Castiel was honest about it, unlike several girls throughout their adolescence who used Sam to get with the hotter older brother. “And Gabe? Any interest in Michael?”
“Eh… the four of us archangels kind of had a thing, back before it all went to shit,” Gabriel said. “We were brothers, but you’ve seen how that kind of got muddled. Michael and Lucifer were the closest of the four of us, but we were all involved. When Lucifer got kicked out, it broke something in Michael, he pushed me and Raph away, and Raph decided to push me away instead of letting the two of us get closer. Don’t think you’re forgiven for that one, Michael,” he added with a glare at Dean.
“Huh.” Sam thought it over, but not for long. “Gabe, did you and Dean have a chance…?”
“It’s me, Samsquatch, you think that wasn’t how I delivered my claim?” Gabriel winked again as Dean rolled his eyes. “No worries. This isn’t gonna be our first time together. Appreciate the concern, though!”
“Okay. Then, if Dean and Michael are both on board, you two rock-paper-scissors it out to decide who possesses me and who’s just participating in a physical three-way. We can figure the rest of it out as we go.”