(I wrote way, way, way too much. It took me a while. Anyway, the idea behind the AU was that it was sort of meant to be an AU where Cas was a superhero, and Sam was a mostly ordinary citizen. Then, I decided to reflect canon, like a lot. so Angels are like symbiotes, instead of angels, and possess people and are similar to canon, except they’re alien, but like I don’t know. and Hunting is public knowledge, but hunters are consider heroes, and usually have powers, and in this AU angels are one of those methods of which people have powers. Also, Brady is fucked up and creepy in this. Well, I tried my best. I hope it’s at least even somewhat enjoyable. I think will do something shorter tomorrow.)
Sam was doing his daily morning jog, when he passed by the billboard, he passes them every day, but this one in particular, usually reserved for something about heroes, stopped him still. There, today, on the billboards, was an advertisement for HEAVEN in custom font, smooth, thick, black letters over their many-eyed logo, and beside ‘HEAVEN,’ was a new photogenic man, bright green eyes, freckles, plush lips in a smirk, male model features, and uncharacteristically, in a dark and elegant suit. That was.. Dean. And he was the new Michael Sword.
Sam left the family business, and Dean went straight to the top of it, obviously. Sam remembers their draconian childhood, no, training. They were treated more soldier than child by John, no matter how much he loved them. The family business was hunting the monsters that came out at night, and hid in the daylight, that all of humanity knew and feared, ‘heroing,’ as the public like to call it, although Sam and Dean and John were the furthest from typical hunters, furthest from what the people might imagine as ‘heroes’, and despite being probably some of the best, they kept themselves obscure. Most people who hunted had powers, or had unearthly patrons providing them the power and know-how. But the Winchesters didn’t have any of that. They had vengeance, and if you’re a Winchester, you don’t need much more. John was primarily after the thing that killed the mother that Sam couldn’t even remember, but they hunted anything as long as it wasn’t human, and caught their attention in a bad way. Sam couldn’t stand it, the traveling, and the not fitting-in, and feeling like he didn’t even fit into his family’s black and white morality shaped world. So, he left for Stanford, after an argument with John, and he left, tears in his eyes as he told Dean, “Goodbye, I hope… I can see you again, Dean. But without all this..” But Dean couldn’t even look Sam in the eye, or maybe he did, and Sam didn’t see. Sam doesn’t like thinking about it.
HEAVEN was one of the biggest agencies of Heroes, they supported heroes until they eventually fully recruited them, and offered them an Angel, a symbiotic life-form, which would give them powers strong enough to take care of anything they might encounter. HEAVEN had great publicity, when you said anything about, ‘hunting monsters.’ They’d think about the glamorous and powerful HEAVEN, and all the great things HEAVEN has done, and all the lives it’s saved and improved. They’d think about their beautiful, saviors, ‘Trickster,’ ’King’s Knight,’ and, ‘Recovery,’ and more, and the most legendary of them all, ‘Michael Sword.’ The other Angels didn’t even compare to Michael, experiencing symbiosis with Michael and becoming the, ‘Michael Sword’ was a great honor, only capable for the most righteous of men.
Sam had heard that the former Michael Sword retired but, he never would have imagined that.. Dean. But it’s perfect for Dean. Dean always thought of himself as a hero, and Sam always thought Dean was one at heart, and so Sam’s glad Dean’s had the chance to follow his dreams, and feels a welling of pride for him.
It’s sad that Dean didn’t call Sam to tell him, but Sam understood. Sam was scared to call too.
But there was something off about the photo of Dean, and Sam’s hoped it was just photoshop.
He wasn’t expecting the billboard, and memories, nor the vision of following a man at night, in a dimly lit parking lot, and reaching out to grab the man, and electrocuting him, burning flesh with a single touch of his hand and chars the man to the bone, and ozone overwhelms his nose– that sent him crumpling back against some public fence, his head feeling like it encountered a freight train, and with squinting eyes, he checked his hands for the sparks he swore he could still feel tingling in his fingers.
God, these weren’t nightmares anymore. And he was beginning to suspect they never were, with the way they were matching death’s in distant ‘local’ news papers, and something dark and guilty settled in his stomach reading each one.
He took out his burner phone, and dialed HEAVEN’s emergency line. Please, be Dean, please, don’t be Dean, please, be Dean, please, don’t be–”State the emergency for HEAVEN?” A rough, raspy voice asks, far too tired and jaded, and really, more attractive and different than Sam’s limited preparation set him up for. It’s not Dean, that’s for sure.
Sam kept his voice level, years of making calls, real and fake are excellent practice, but he can’t help some of the frightened exhaustion leaking in. “I think a murder is going to happen at-at,” Sam just describes the parking lot, details, and his own conclusions that speak of past experience of identifying locations with limited information, “So, I think it might be somewhere there,” The man scoffs doubtfully on the other end, Sam ignores it, “The man has powers. Electrical. He could burn a man with just a touch. It’s going to happen–” It looked mid-day, and considering its location, “In about 4-6 hours, and I think it can be prevented. Look, I know this is–”
“Unconventional,” the voice on the other end, finished for him, and Sam can’t find it in him to be annoyed at the sound of the phone-line voice completing his sentence. “Consider HEAVEN on it. Can I ask your name, and how you know this? It’s–”
“Unconventional,” Sam echoed, “Yeah, I know. It’s not easy for me either. Just, consider me an anonymous tipster.” The voice on the other end breathes, and Sam, trepidation building in the back of his mind, Sam pleads, “Please,” before hanging up, his hands definitely not shaking as he slid his phone back into his pocket.
This doesn’t have to be his life. It doesn’t. It doesn’t. Sam got out, somebody else can deal with it.
Sam finished his jog, and then, went home to have an aspirin or two and wait.
Sam should try to sleep off the pain in his head, but he can’t, not until.. On the news, he sees an agent of HEAVEN, ‘Thursday,’ Thursday apparently took down the powered man with electrokinesis as he was attempting to murder a man. Sam sighs and his tension deflates. The man on HEAVEN’s emergency line took him seriously. Nobody died, not this time.
It became a part of Sam’s routine, receiving a horrible vision, sometimes too late, sometimes, just in time, and calling HEAVEN’s Emergency line, and it’s always the same man. The same man who asked him questions every time, at first, questions about his identity and suspicions about Sam’s knowledge, but Sam doesn’t let it get to him.. Sam is suspicious, untrustworthy, possibly even a dangerous person.. And the man still believed him anyway, consistently. Sam can’t make sense of why, but he’s thankful.. But soon the man, changed his questions, asking about Sam’s days, and how he felt, and asking whether Sam was taking care of himself. It was nice, like a blanket you didn’t know you needed to deal with the constant chill.
And he would tell Sam when Thursday got to the scene. Thursday is the hero that always goes out to the scenes Sam describes to Cas.
And Sam’s learned some things about the man too, like, his name is Castiel, and the way his harsh voice softens with kindness and concern is beautiful. Castiel doesn’t like talking about his job much, but he admits to Sam, that he thinks most of his coworkers can be thoughtless, unquestioning machines, that the employees of HEAVEN don’t actually agree with the values that are core to the agency.
Sam felt honored to be trusted with the knowledge. Castiel seemed so uncertain of himself, sharing it. It was a spur of the moment reply, but Sam would have said it every time, “Castiel, I promise I won’t tell anybody. You can tell me anything, call me anytime. You’re my friend.” Castiel doesn’t ever really gasp, but he holds his breath, and that’s what he did then. Castiel ended the call that time.
—-
Castiel disliked this part of HEAVEN, waiting at a desk, waiting for a call, a prayer, an order. He disliked the way Zachariah runs this branch of HEAVEN. Castiel disliked a lot of HEAVEN, not that he’d ever say any of it loud. Castiel knew the consequences.
Castiel was apart of the recent mission inducting a Dean Winchester into experiencing symbiosis with Michael, fulfilling his destiny in becoming the ‘Michael Sword’… It was unpleasant, among other things. It had jaded Castiel.
On one of the days that blend into millennia, one of the HEAVEN’s Emergency phone lines ringing. Castiel’s, to be exact. “State the emergency for HEAVEN?” He asked tiredly.
A voice answered, even and composed, “I think a murder is going to happen at-at,” and the man continues with thought and consideration, painting a scene as if it’s happened inside his head, but there’s unsurety towards things like location, “So, I think it might be somewhere there.“ Castiel scoffs, this is the most suspicious call he has ever recieved besides that one time ‘a pizza-man’ was on the other end, and besides that, is this the sort of emergency HEAVEN is required for? “The man has powers. Electrical. He could burn a man with just a touch. It’s going to happen–” The man on the other takes a breather, and Cas found himself unexpectedly drawn to the steadfast cool in his voice, “In about 4-6 hours, and I think it can be prevented. Look, I know this is–”
“Unconventional,” Castiel says, sarcasm in his voice recognizable only to a limited few. Castiel wants to do it, to Castiel, that’s the more unconventional thing. “Consider HEAVEN on it.”
But Castiel is still curious, even against his symbiote’s inner nature, “Can I ask your name, and how you know this? It’s–”
“Unconventional,” The man replied drily, just as Cas had done. “Yeah, I know. It’s not easy for me either. Just, consider me an anonymous tipster.” Cas lets out a frustrated breath.
“Please.” Hung-up. Hung up the phone and Cas on that desperate note, hears that thing that had been threading all through the man’s voice the entire time, distress. Cas guiltily found himself admiring the man, and the voice, more than ever.
Castiel goes out immediately to investigate, and found it happening exactly as the voice recounted. Castiel stops the man, Scott Carey, and takes him to the HEAVEN’s interrogation facilities. Castiel is displayed on the news, as Thursday, the hero identity HEAVEN chose for him, taking down the man.
The anonymous tipster called frequently, with more yet-to-be’s and existing crime scenes. Castiel shouldn’t have been so curious. And Cas goes out as Thursday and Cas always find something, whether it’s in progress or all that’s left. It drives so many questions into Cas’ head. Who is he? Where does he get his information from? Castiel should have reported him a long time ago, to Zachariah. But for as long as Castiel had two thoughts, this would stay with Castiel and that voice.
Castiel’s interest in the man developed into other areas, so he asked different questions. Worse, it grew into concern. These ‘visions’ as the voice called them, seem to take a toll on the young-sounding man. This led the calls into conversations.
Which is unfortunate. Because Castiel hated that voice. It’s calm, conjures the kind of person you could share secrets, and stresses, and intimacies with, reassuring and gentle, and the way his voice raises with his hopes, it’s too nice to hear.
Castiel admitted things to that damned voice, things he would never say to anybody else. The genuine, honest way the man spoke, lured him like a siren to bad decisions. Well, not a literal siren.
Somebody, a coworker was talking while he was on the phone, “Wow, Castiel, not scowling when he’s on the phone? Wonder who he’s talking to.”
Castiel doesn’t take his hands off his phone, or move it from it’s position, but he glares at Hester before he returns to his call. “So, your name is Castiel,” There’s a hint of awe in the way he says the name, “It’s pretty. So, I-I mean, so, you’re one of the Angels?.. I would love to ask you about–I mean, it’s just I’m worried about my brother, if it’s something bad, I’m sure I’d have a vision about it.” That remained cryptic, no matter what blunt way Castiel asked.
But in return, Castiel learned the man’s first name. Sam. Simple. Not uncomfortable. Castiel liked it too.
One day, Sam called him twice in a row. Once to share a vision, and then, the second time. It’s not clear at first. But Sam is shaken, alone, and all he is requesting is Cas’ voice. And Cas was happy to talk ‘til his throat is sore for this cause.
Cas thinks he embarrassed himself when he starts accidentally flirting with Sam. Castiel has no idea how such a relationship would even be feasible, or happen. But Sam laughs, and he feels a little less bad about it.
Eventually, Sam has to go to sleep, and Castiel offers to keep the phone on and listen, but Sam denies the help. Castiel would have like to listen to his breathing as Sam slept. It’s very disappointing. It’s a reminder that he shouldn’t feel this much, or that way. It’s also a reminder, that he doesn’t care about should or shouldn’t right now.
—
Sam was having a really nice day, the kind he came to Stanford for, but then came along a vision of some poor girl coming across her fiance’s bloody remains, more scattered gore, than any recognizable human shape, and the frantic panic attack she went into until she blacked out. It was horrible to experience, and he knew it must have been even worse for her… Or was going to be. He can’t quite always discern the time the visions take place at, but he thinks a lot of them can be prevented from coming to pass. And all he was doing is making a phone call. He’s not doing enough.
Sam opened his phone again, went to the number and hovered, he and Castiel didn’t even use HEAVEN’s emergency line anymore, he was so weak, eventually gave in and tentatively pressed the ‘Call’ button..
“Sam? Are you okay? We’re already looking for the girl… Did you have another vision?” Sam feels bad about making Castiel worry for him, feels bad for wanting to hear Castiel’s voice. “Sam, please, talk to me,” Castiel said, his voice commanding, and it’d be scary, really, if Sam couldn’t hear the concern under it. Sam has to answer, “I’m okay, Cas. I didn’t have another vision.. I just wanted to hear your voice…” Sam trailed off, he didn’t want to explain more, all the weighty things in his head and heart, he can’t just keep dumping it on people like he always does.
It’s a miracle, because Castiel paused, as if analyzing what Sam just said, and then he goes back to talking as if Sam said nothing at all, didn’t request Sam to talk, just shared inanities, updates on heroes, complained about watching netflix alone, before apologizing for even saying that. Sam laughed at that. Castiel on the other end, bashfully chuckled, and talked some more, in that enthrallingly raspy voice, until Sam admitted he was nodding off, which was quite an achievement because he was having insomnia and nightmares together like a combo meal. Castiel offered to stay on the line while Sam slept, but Sam declined, not wanting to waste even more of Castiel’s time. Sam wasn’t going to pretend that Castiel sounded disappointed when he hung up. Sam feels better, just having Castiel as his friend through the phone. Wanting more than what he already had was what his greedy twelve-year old self would be doing.
Which leads him to now.
—
Sam is making toast.
And, then, he’s burning hot, and his barking laughter is long and malicious. Jess is crying and confused, her blonde hair is splayed all over her face, and she’s trembling against the dorm wall, pinned with an easy extension of force, and easier to raise her to the ceiling but.. First, he wants to see her beg. And she does, “Wh-what’s happen-Oh my god, Brady! Please-please, let me go! I don’t understand–Can’t you –Help me! Don’t do this, please. I-I-I– I can’t– Oh God. Pleapleasepleasepleasepleas–!” He’s pretty sure his eyes are more than black now, and the snarl he’s making isn’t even humanly possible, and his barking more intermittent howling, but it’s satisfying getting to reveal the monster he really is. Her expression of fear is porn-perfect. Jesus fuck. He’ll want to remember this for years, especially her face as it burns. How did little Sammy never fuck her, he wonders. He raises her body to the roof, and watches the plumes of fire surround her, flame flaying her ski—
Sam frantically unplugs the now smoking toaster, and there’s smoke and tears pricking at his eyes.
Sam sounds distantly calm as he recites the horrific details and facts of the vision, describes the demon, leaves out its resemblance to other things in Sam’s history, and Jess’ location within the vision, which was just her apartment. Sam had been over a few times. Castiel assures him, Thursday will be on the scene. Sam hangs up.
It’s sudden, Sam remembers the digital wall clock hanging in her room. That’s-That’s thirty minutes from now. He’s not sure Thursday can make it in time. He feels foolish for not mentioning it. Sam’s going to have go himself.
Sam was a fool to think he could escape the family business forever.
Sam still has the exorcisms memorized, and he blesses the water, easily into holy water. He remembers Dean calling him ‘a natural, his genius little brother,’ full of pride and cheer. While John looked on, not really seeing them and seeing his two sons too clearly, all manner of miserable emotions on his face, and none of them pride.
Sam takes a marker, too, but he’s not sure if he’s going to have enough time to draw a Devil’s Trap.
Sam isn’t aware when it happened, but he’s standing in front of Jessica’s door. He knocks. No time to waste. Jessica answers the door, and he wishes he could smile because she’s not dead yet. He peeks around her, Thursday doesn’t seem to be anywhere near. That’s okay, Sam’s prepared to do it himself.
Jessica invites him in, and Sam smiles at that, like Dean had taught him to. Dean is better at smiling when he doesn’t mean it, but Sam has dimples.
“It’s good to see you, Sam, are you okay? I know you haven’t been sleeping well.”
Sam cuts straight to the point, he’s not going to lie to Jessica. “There’s a demon on the way here, I think it’s possessed Brady.” Sam doesn’t want to think about how long Brady’s been possessed. Did he even remember to mention Brady to Castiel? Sam’s not sure.
Jessica’s expression falters and there is fear in her eyes, but she’s still cool-headed. “So, I suppose you called HEAVEN?” Sam nods. “Are they going to get here on time?” Sam speaks to that one, “No, but, we can prepare for the demon. Get your carpet, we’ll need it to cover up the Devil’s Trap.” Jessica doesn’t ask him any questions just does as he says.
Sam draws the Devil’s Trap, in red marker, the kind that’s permanent-permanent. As his hand draws, not shaking, hasn’t shook in a long time, he’s singing the exorcisms in his head like a song, a habit. Sam smiles up at Jessica as she hands him the shag carpet, which he places on the Devil’s Trap and smoothes out the wrinkles of the carpet, anything to make it look like it wasn’t a hasty attempt to hide a Devil’s Trap..
There’s a knock at the door. Sam knows who it is. Sam opens the door, sees the face of his friend, and watches a demon walk in. His eyes are black as soon as he realizes. “Oh, Sammy.” Sam operates on rehearsed instinct, splatters the holy water at Brady, not Brady, the demon, hears the sizzle, and Sam says the exorcism perfectly-it goes perfectl– A blow to the back of his head, and he’s tumbling, and Jess’ eyes aren’t green, but black.
And Jess speaks, “Oh, Sammy, you’re probably wondering now why the vision lied. Well, they’re demonic in origin. Congratulations. Yellow Eyes altered this one specifically, just for you. Oh, Yellow Eyes? He’s the demon who killed your mother. John Winchester’s white whale. You wonder why you’ve always felt different? Demon blood in those veins. Yellow Eyes gave that to you too. Wonder why Daddy didn’t love you? He knew. Big brother hasn’t been calling? He’s learned the truth about his little monster brother. This is your destiny, darling. And you’ve got to a lot to learn. Consider this the first day of the rest of your life.”
Sam wants to ask questions. Sam wants to get up. Sam wants a lot of things.
Sam remembers things too. Sam remembers demons lie, and sometimes, they don’t. Sam remembers a rough estimation of his internal clock too. Sam remembers hope too.
The windows, glass and electronics, it all shatters, the room is dark.
The light, too, is spectacular and out of nowhere. Holy and alien, at once.
The demons curse, as they are burned out, by something more than they are.
Two hands grip him by both shoulders, and he finds himself lifted easily like he wasn’t a six foot plus man, and leaning into a handsome man. Thursday.
It’s really cliche, but Sam wants to kiss the lips of his rescuer.
Thursday speaks and it’s Castiel’s voice. “Are you okay? You weren’t described by–”
Thursday, or Castiel, looks at him, listens to him.
“Wait, you’re Sam? You’re Sam, with the grating voice.” Sam would be offended, if it weren’t filled with so much fondness.
Sam smiles, and it’s not even a portion of the excitement and adrenaline he feels. “And you’re Thursday, and.. And Castiel. I should have seen this coming.” Sam, honestly, wants to kiss him more now.
Castiel doesn’t smile, but Sam can see it anyway, “You should have, considering how many times you foresee things.”
Sam doesn’t want to say what the demon told him, he doesn’t even know if it’s true.
Castiel’s oceany eyes focus on Sam, and then, his face turns unpleasant. Sam really doesn’t want any more bad news. It’s not exactly been a good day.
“Are you Dean Winchester’s brother?”
Sam sees no point in lying, what if.. “Yeah-Did something happen to Dean? Is he okay? What’s happened?”
Castiel looks ashamed, “Something.. Much worse than I had realized. I hope you can forgive me, one day. And HEAVEN has something similar in mind for you.”
There are too many possibilities to even contemplate, yet Sam’s mind is already running through all of them.
“We have to go, Sam.”
“What?”
It’s full of exasperation when he says it, but it’s also desperate, “Just trust me. I have a lot to lose by helping you.”
Sam does trust him, trust that voice he’s heard over the phone, trust in the voice, that has trusted him again and again. Even if Castiel has something that needs to be forgiven, they can still go save Dean, and Sam will forgive him anything then.
Castiel touches Sam, with a few fingers to the forehead, and then. They’re gone, vanished.
Oh, anon that was brilliant! Castiel and Sam slowly falling in love, Castiel risking everything to save Sam. I could read more and more of this story. Thank you so much for righting this.
This is a random, completed chapter from my still untitled book. I have almost 40,000 written so far. That’s all the context you get folks. Please please leave feedback if you are so inclined!
Word Count:1024
Warnings: I don’t think any – let me know if I’m mistaken
**
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Dean clenched his teeth, breathing
heavily.
“I…I didn’t think….” Sam stammered.
“No. No, you didn’t think Sam. You didn’t care about anybody
but yourself.” Dean pushed past him, sending Sam stumbling into the kitchen
table. Sam grabbed his side, wincing in pain. That was gonna leave a bruise,
Sam thought. Dean stormed out the front door, slamming the screen behind him.
Sam waited, wondering if he should follow him. His fingers
played with the hem of his shirt. He nervously shifted from one foot to the
other, finally making his decision. He turned and went back to his bedroom,
alone.
Dean walked past a junker near the door, reaching in and
grabbing one of his several stashed bottles of whiskey. He unscrewed the cap
and quickly drank down a few large swallows. He wandered around outside for
nearly thirty minutes, drinking and pacing. He paced all over the yard – back
and forth, trying to get his anger under control. After calming himself, he
realized he overreacted.
He couldn’t stay mad at Sam for long, though and came back
inside to apologize for his outburst. They needed to work things out. They were
going to have to figure out how to manage this new…ability. He knew Sam was
still sensitive, and Dean was willing to step up for this.
Sam wasn’t in the kitchen, so Dean figured he just went back
to his bedroom. He knew Sam was probably still upset and angry, too. They
hadn’t fought like that since before Sam was kidnapped. Dean took his time down
the hallway, practicing his apology in his head, wondering if Sam could hear
him.
“Worth a try,” Dean said out loud. “Dude. Sam. I’m sorry. We’ll
figure it out, ok?” this he said in his head, just in case Sam could hear him
now, he made all his thoughts apologetic and comforting.
“Sammy?” Dean knocked on Sam’s door, which opened when Dean
pushed gently. The room was empty.
So, @beingcouy and I wrote a silly, fluffy little script format story to go with this picture and the other merfolk pics of Team Free Will. It’s below the cut if you want to read it.
The story features liberal use of text emoji faces, tiny hearts, and the ships Destiel and Mooseley.
dicksp8jr It’s easy to keep a secret when they sew your mouth shut. (Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen ep 1313, ignore this photo). Cheers, #spnfamily. Hope you enjoyed the surprise. #supernatural @thecw #ouch
AU where John Winchester loved his boys just a little bit less and put them up for adoption and they were raised in a healthy, functional home.
They’re good boys. Mischievous, too smart for their own good, scrappy, practically attached at the hip, but good boys. Dean had a hard time adjusting at first, nonverbal and nightmare-ridden from post-traumatic stress, prone to panic attacks when alone, but their adopted parents found the best child psychiatrist they could afford and in time he began to heal, began to break out of his shell. Even when he wasn’t talking his empathy was remarkable, and as he’s grown a whip-smart analytical intellect developed to supplement it.
Dean remembers their birth parents like looming figures seen through smoke, but Sam, Sam grew up in this life, and their adoptive family is the only one he’s ever known. He has a rebellious streak a mile wide and it frustrates no one in the world more than it does Dean (still prone to hovering over or trailing behind him with a dreamlike missive ringing in his ears like the last audible echoes of a scream – Look out for Sammy), but he’s smart and strong and driven, independent and devoted all at once. He has these fits at times, though, and Dr Margaret (now the family psychiatrist) calls them rage attacks but they feel like blisters of thick oil growing and bursting inside him from gut to teeth. Over time he learns to swallow them down til he can go somewhere quiet, like the creek where the brothers chased frogs barefoot and shot BBs at old cans, to give in to the festering dark where he can’t hurt anyone else. Everyone knows sweet, sweet Sammy is the one with the temper. It gets chalked up to adolescence but he knows damned well it’s always been this way and probably always will.
They love to spar. Dean’s fondness of sports shooting tapers off in favour of wrestling and team sports (he loves the rush and competition but not so much the hurting-people part), while Sam is kind of scary good at Krav Maga once he finds a trainer for it (the discipline does him good).
At eighteen Dean is buried in scholarship offers – engineering, business, sports, he has heart and brains and beauty enough that the sky’s the limit – but passes up the Big Important Offers for the chance to stay in town close to home. Maybe he’ll do MIT later on but he just wants to stretch out his time close to family as long as he can. That’s where he’s happy. That’s where he’s safe.
(And, Sam suspects, it might also have something to do with wanting to stay near that one friend he’s been so close to since junior high. He’s been placing bets with himself on when his brother will nut up and ask the guy out for years.)
He takes a summer job as a volunteer firefighter. He has a panic attack the first time he has to go in. Even though Dean’s too old to see Dr Margaret as a patient she helps him through it, helps him overcome, but he decides discretion is the better part of valour. The family supports him in quitting as much as they did when he took the job: “You already saved me from the fire,” Sam tells him, “you don’t have to prove anything.”
Two years later Sam cashes in on his bet. Mom and Dad are a little shocked but Eric’s been like a third son for so long that when he comes over for dinner with Dean and they’re lacing fingers together instead of trading playful punches it’s just another layer of family, just another kind of love.
One year later Sam nearly hyperventilates over his acceptance letter from Stanford. It’s a full ride though their parents would have put up all they could afford and help shoulder his loans even if it wasn’t. Dean’s heart breaks a little, but Sam’s joy is like wildfire and they promise to visit each other even though Palo Alto is so far away. They make good on it, trading off driving (Dean) or flying (Sam) on breaks, keeping tabs in email and, later on, Skype. Sam brings a girl home with him for Dean’s graduation. They all love Jess, of course, instantly, and she’s instrumental in talking Dean into going after his MSE after all. Dean starts placing bets with himself on how long it’ll take til she’s wearing a ring.
They were good boys, and they become good men. Stalwart, too clever for their own good, not so attached at the hip anymore but still close, still mischievous, but good men. Dean soaks up love and radiates it back into everything he does and everyone he knows. Sam harnesses the dark inside him and turns it into a driving passion to do good and right wrongs, and doggedly ignores the nightmares that seem to come out of nowhere – Jess is there to soothe him when he wakes. Neither of them are marksmen, neither have Latin chants memorised; they don’t fear the night or the fire, nor go looking for trouble in them.
So when Azazel comes for Sam six months after his twenty-third birthday none of them are prepared to put up a fight.