Chapter 35

"You look bored," Lucifer observes, a questioning look on his face as he gazed down at the youngest archangel.

"Maybe that's because, gasp, I'm bored," Gabriel deadpans.

"When was the last time you were ever bored before you met the Winchesters?"

Gabriel thinks about this for a moment. "I guess maybe when I decided to watch them build the pyramids? I knew it would make history, but man, was that boring."

"I thought so..." Lucifer mutters, mostly to himself.

Gabriel, who had been lying down on the bed for the last hour or so, props himself up on his elbow and looks at his brother curiously. "What?"

"Nothing," Lucifer replies dismissively.

"What?" Gabriel repeats.

"Just thinkin'."

"About...?"

"Stuff," Lucifer says vaguely.

"Stuff like...?" Gabriel prompts.

"Things."

"And these things are...?" Gabriel says expectantly.

"Thoughts."

"And these thoughts include...?"

"The reason I'm not telling you isn't cuz I think you'll hate me or anything like that," Lucifer tells him. Honestly, he couldn't care less what his little bro, or anyone, for that matter, thinks of him. "I just know you don't want to hear it."

"Well, now I do, so spill."

"Fine. I'm thinking about how bad the Winchesters have screwed us over," Lucifer tells him.

"Like, the two of us?"

"No, the whole supernatural world," Lucifer clarifies.

"How so?" Gabriel asks as if it's not completely obvious.

"Well, look at us angels. Castiel is like their faithful puppy instead of what I'm assuming was a highly respected angel in Heaven, he killed Raphael because they convinced him to rebel, and he both convinced Balthazar to take the first train out and then killed him, too. Then there's poor Samandriel, who's a babysitter now. And, obviously, Sam played with your heart, him and Dean rendered Michael incapable of doing anything by sticking him in the cage with me, and I should either be dead or ruling the world but instead I was stuck in the cage with Michael and a for years, and now we're all stuck in this building that's way too small for all of us and I swear to Dad, humanity must be contagious because I'm starting to feel like one of them."

Out of all the things he wanted to comment on, the last part is what sticks out in Gabriel's mind the most. "You're starting to feel human?"

Lucifer nods, seeming genuinely disturbed. "Yeah. Dude, I have ."

Gabriel just stares at him uncomprehendingly. "And?"

"I'm an angel. I'm not supposed to have feelings!"

"I have feelings," Gabriel reminds him.

"Cuz you spent so much time with humans. So did Castiel. But I didn't! Why does it have to happen to me?"

"What even are these feelings?" Gabriel asks. "Wait, you don't... Do you like Jo?"

"If you ever say that again, I will kill you," Lucifer tells him, his eyes glowing red for effect. "No, but, like, Charlie, for example. I kinda like Charlie. I'm not supposed to like anyone, never mind a human. You have to help me. How do I unlike someone?"

"Trust me, if I knew, if tell ya," Gabriel replies. "Unfortunately, it seems to be a lot harder than you'd think."

"Well, I think it's stupid that human feelings don't come with a receipt," Lucifer pouts.

"So do I, Luci. So do I."

~~

"What time is it?" Jess asks, her words hard to make out through her yawn.

"I don't know, eleven-ish?" Sam guesses as he pulls out his cellphone from his back pocket. "Twelve twenty-two, apparently."

"How are you not tired?" Jess asks, gaping at him.

Sam shrugs. "I don't know. I kinda trained myself not to sleep, I guess. You used to complain about six hours, but I'm lucky to get that."

"I swear, you seem less and less human everyday," she laughs.

"Ironic, cuz I'm one of the most human people here," Sam adds with a glance around the room. His parents went to bed a while ago, Dean and Cas slipped off not-so-discreetly, and Ellen and Bobby must have left at some point, because the only human left besides him is Jo, who's chatting with Michael.

"I know this is a random question, but is your dad here?" she asks suddenly.

"Yeah. Not in the room, but he's somewhere. Why?"

"I'm just wondering, you never had any pictures of him back at college, and you never really talked about him, but the guy here seems to be pretty friendly."

"I guess?" Sam replies uncertainly. John hasn't been rude, but he's been far from friendly with anyone but Mary, Ellen, and Bobby, and he's barely spoken to his kids.

"He's the guy who's always wearing the baseball hat, right?" Jess asks.

That would explain it. "No, that's Bobby," Sam explains. "He's a family friend. Well, more like a second father for years, actually. He's really helped me and Dean."

"Oh. So, who's your dad?" she asks.

"The guy with the dark hair and the short beard," Sam replies. "The older one; that one's Michael."

The archangel glances at them upon hearing his name before returning his gaze to Jo.

"Really? But I never see you two talk."

"My dad and I aren't really close," Sam tells her. "We never had very much in common. Like, when he found out I planned on going to college, we had this huge fight and he basically kicked me out."

"Oh my god," she breathes. "That's — that's horrible."

"Well, I had Dean," he says with a shrug. "Up 'til then, anyway. And when he was hunting with my dad, I had my imaginary friend who turns out wasn't imaginary."

Jess gapes at him. "Sully was real?"

Sam nods. "Yeah. He came to me for help a year or so ago, and I hadn't seen him in years."

"But — You know what? I'm not gonna question it."

"Good idea," Sam agrees.

Jess covers a yawn with her hand, squeaking like a mouse. "I'm exhausted."

"Come on," Sam replies, leading her to his room, though it's more their room now.

He shuts the door behind them softly, careful not to wake anyone. He pulls off his flannel, shirt, and jeans before sliding into bed. After removing her shorts and bra, Jess lies down next to him, resting comfortably under his arm. She rests her head on his muscular chest and wraps an arm around his waist, drifting off into dreamland shortly after. Sam just watches with a loving smile. It's been twelve years, but he finally has the love of his life back.