Lucifer Deux

Twenty-One

Sam followed Dean down to the kitchen, where they both took a seat at the table. Sam was more than a little on edge. He wondered if he was about to be the subject of more accusations. He honestly wasn't sure he could take much more.

Dean cleared his throat. "Listen, it's come to my attention that I've been a dick lately."

"Am I supposed to disagree?" Sam asked.

"Had that coming, I guess," Dean said. He got up and went to the fridge. He took out two beers, opened them, and brought them over to the table. He put Sam's in front of him before taking a sip of his and sitting back down. "Look, I could've asked you in a better way if you were with Lucifer."

"You never asked me if I was with Lucifer. You accused me of it, quite hatefully, like I'd committed some sin," Sam said in a hard tone.

"I'm pretty sure most would consider dating the Devil a sin," Dean half-joked. One look to his brother made it clear that Sam was not amused. "Sorry. Alright, so let me finally ask. Are you with Lucifer, or do you want to be?"

"I've already told you, no," Sam said.

"What about Gabriel?" Dean asked.

"Gabriel?" Sam asked, taken off guard.

"Are you in love with him?" Dean asked.

Sam was quiet for a few seconds as he contemplated how to answer. "I don't know. There's something there. There has been since I met him."

Dean sighed, clearly unhappy about what he was hearing. He wasn't sure what to say though. He didn't want to push his brother further away by being an ass, but he just didn't like it.

"Say what you want to say, Dean," Sam said shortly.

"He stuck you in a time loop. He put us in TV land. Why would you want anything to do with the dick?" Dean asked.

Sam took a sip of his beer before answering. "I did a lot of thinking about the time loop after TV land. I hated him for killing you the way he did. Up until you actually went to Hell, it was the worst thing I ever experienced. But I went over it in my head when we learned the truth about Gabriel. I thought about every single thing he said to me before finally ending it. He said you were my weakness, and that obsessing over saving you would end me. He was right, and he knew it. He knew we were heading for the apocalypse."

"So why not just say that?" Dean asked.

"Come on, Dean. Angels? The Devil? The Apocalypse? That was a bit much, even for us. We never would've believed him," Sam said.

"He could've looked for another way," Dean said.

"He was trying to save his brother. I get that, so should you," Sam told him. Both of them knew what it was like to put each other before anything else. They'd gone to such desperate lengths to save each other. Why should Gabriel be vilified for doing the same?

Dean could admit that his brother had a point, but that didn't mean he was ready to let Gabriel off the hook after what he'd done to them. However, he wanted to make things better between him and his brother. He couldn't make it worse by attacking someone Sam admitted to having feelings for. "Alright. I don't like him, but I'll let it go. Listen, I just want to say I'm sorry for the things I've said over the last few days."

Sam was tempted to let it go. To tell Dean it was okay and move on. He didn't particularly want to get into it with his brother. But it would only be a temporary fix. Eventually, Dean would find another thing to come at him about. He couldn't keep dealing with that. "Are you? Would you still be sorry if I'd told you I was interested in Lucifer?"