Chapter 102

Dean breathes a sigh of relief. That was close. Lucifer and Sam seemed oblivious to his eavesdropping, but he didn't even think to watch out for the mutt. Thankfully, the hunk of metal seemed to take the hint when Dean silently shushed it, because no one comes looking for him.

He has to admit, that wasn't quite what he was expecting. Lucifer almost seemed nice to Sam. Maybe "nice" is the wrong term. He seemed vulnerable. He dropped that smart ass facade that he always wears, and was willing to have an actual conversation with him, without his usual flippant remarks.

Hearing this side of Lucifer was almost disconcerting. He seemed so real, so honest, but he wasn't. Lucifer doesn't know how to be honest. He has made that abundantly clear over the last eight years. Sam should know better than to trust him. He wasn't trustworthy fighting Amara, when they needed his cooperation most. He's not going to change after just sitting around in a library all day, and Dean is going to make sure Sam knows that before it gets somebody killed.

~~

Sam sends Lucifer a brief prayer, silently telling him that it's time to come to his room. After being ditched the previous night, he's not sure what to expect, but the invitation is always open.

A minute or so later, there's a knock on the door. Usually, Lucifer just teleports into the room, but Sam doesn't question it, instead just saying, "Come in."

To his surprise, it's Dean who opens the door. Sam sits up immediately, trying to ignore his confusion and put on a friendly demeanor, despite them having started a yelling match just a few hours earlier.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asks.

"I'm just here to talk," Dean says, noticing the wary tone to his brother's voice.

"I thought you weren't going to talk to me until I broke things off with Lucifer." He says it more accusingly than he meant to, but he can't help it.

Dean sighs. "Can I?" He gestures to Sam's bed, asking for permission to sit, which Sam gives him. He closes the door behind him for privacy and takes a seat. "How long have you two been together?"

"Some time after Jess." He's not entirely sure when it became more than a physical thing, so that's as specific as he's going to get.

"Well, I sorta assumed that much. And it's all just going fine? You haven't had any fights at all? Nothing bad at all?"

Sam nods. "Yeah, pretty much." It's not true, of course. The two fought more often than not at first, but their arguments became less and less frequent as time went by, until now, it's nothing more than the occasional snide comment.

"That doesn't sound like Lucifer," Dean says, venturing into his anti-Lucifer stance.

"You don't know Lucifer."

Dean nods slowly, just buying time as he thinks of a new approach. Finally, he asks, "Okay, well, tell me about him. What're these mysterious redeeming qualities that I haven't seen before?"

"It's not 'redeeming qualities,'" Sam says. "It's..." He gestured vaguely with his hands, trying to find the right words before finally settling on, "He's just a different person than you think he is."  He doesn't look at Dean, almost like he doesn't want to admit that he just said that, like he's scared of what Dean will do.

"How so?"

"He just is."

Dean narrow his eyes. His answer was too vague, too open for interpretation. It's like Sam knows what he's trying to do, and he's trying to keep anything that Dean could use to talk him out of Lucifer away from the conversation.

"Well, I think it's only fair that I get to know something about him," Dean insists. "I mean, if you think he's going to be my future brother-in-law."

That has the exact effect Dean was hoping it would. Sam freezes, his face slightly paler than usual. Dean tries to hide his smug smirk. If there's one thing he picked up from eavesdropping on his conversation with Lucifer earlier, it's that despite fighting Dean so hard to let it happen, neither of them think their relationship is going to last long. After making such a big deal out of it today, he knows Sam won't want to admit it to him, but it would be just as bad to lie about it with confidence.

Finally, Sam says, "You don't need to know him."

"And if I want to?" Dean asks.

"Then you're lying." Sam finally meets his gaze. "I know you don't care, Dean. I know you don't like him. I'm not sure what this game you're playing is, but can you stop? When Lucifer and I break up — we break up — I'll tell you. You can throw a party, buy out an entire bakery worth of pie, the whole nine yards. But until then, our relationship is none of your business. Now, please, just leave."

"But —"

"But nothing," Sam interrupts. "I'm sorry, Dean, but I can't deal with this right now. I'm doing better now than I have been in a long time, and I can't let you ruin that for me."

"You're doing better with Satan than you were with Gabriel?" Dean says incredulously. "Or Jess?"

Sam flinches at the sound of her name, almost imperceptibly, but Dean notices anyway.

"Or maybe not," he says. "You still miss her, don't you? Lucifer's just a rebound, Sam. I know it may feel like there's something more, but he's just a rebound."

"That's not it," Sam says through clenched teeth. He just had to make this about her, didn't he?

"It is," Dean insists. "Your face says it all. You're still upset that Chuck took her away —"

"Chuck didn't ','" Sam snaps. "Chuck her. So yeah, I'm still a bit upset about that, but I'm just as upset that he killed Kali, and I'd be just as upset if he killed you or Meg or anyone else here, because they didn't deserve to die. That doesn't mean I'm still hung up on her. It just means I have a soul."

"Chuck killed her?"

Sam laughs dryly. "Yes, Dean. Chuck killed her. And the fact that you didn't know that really proves my point, because you know who does know that? Lucifer. I meant it when I said he was there for me more than you were. Again, not holding it against you, but he —"

Lucifer pops into the room, probably in the mindset of "better late than never," but his expression darkens when he sees Dean there.

"Nope, not dealing with that today." He disappears as quickly as he appeared, leaving the two brothers alone again.

Dean stares at the spot he had stood in. "What was that about?"

Sam sighs, exasperated. "Nothing. Look, I'm glad we've had this talk and all, but I'm tired. If there's anything else you want to talk about, go ahead. If not, I'll see you tomorrow, and maybe you'll decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. If you do, you know where to find me."

Dean just looks at him for a few moments, then nods. "Alright." He stands up and reaches the door, where he pauses. "Sam, I know you think he's a good guy, but just think about what he's done. He killed Ellen and Jo, he possessed you and Cas, and he trapped you in hell for what could have forever. People may change, but no one changes that much."

Sam watches him leave in silence. The only thing worse than what Dean said is knowing that there's no way to know if he really is wrong.