Fic: Run With The Devil (5/?)
(this chapter:)
Rating: PG.
Fandoms: Supernatural.
Pairing(s): Pre-Dean/Castiel. Eventual Sam/Lucifer.
Word Count: 1061.
Warnings: Language.
~
Chapter Five
About forty minutes out, Sam turned around to check on Nick. The boy was slumped, still sniffling, but his expression was a hopeless, concentrated blank. He nudged his brother and with a look, Dean was pulling into the next gas station.
As soon as Dean stepped out of the car, Castiel was following him. The younger Winchester sat a moment, mulling over his options before he looked back to Nick again, “Hey, you, uh, wanna stretch your legs?”
Nick shrugged.
Sam shook his head and got out anyway, walking over to the other boy’s door and pulling it open, “Come on, let’s go get some chips or something.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Doesn’t matter,” the Winchester replied and offered out a hand.
Nick eyed it skeptically and slid out of the car, carefully avoiding Sam’s touch.
Sam pulled his arm back to his side, fingers twitching into a fist. No big deal. The kid was traumatized. Sam wasn’t going to stop trying when he knew he’d just been a part of taking everything away from him. No, he hadn’t killed Nick’s parents, but that didn’t exactly help anything. He could be a friend to the guy, even if he was Lucifer.
He nodded his head towards the convenience store and headed in, aware that Nick was following him. That was a good sign, at least.
They wandered through the couple of aisles and to the sodas in the back. Although he refused drinks, too, when asked, Sam could see Nick eyeing a Dr. Pepper and picked one up for him, as well as an iced tea for himself and a Coke for Dean--it wasn’t his brother’s favorite, but Dean wasn’t exactly picky.
Nick didn’t protest and Sam smiled a little to himself. He liked people, which he considered Nick and Castiel, even if they weren’t, and he liked to help where he could. Even if that just meant buying Nick a drink.
He took a handful of crumpled dollars and change from his pocket and paid, handing Nick the Dr. Pepper as they walked out the doors.
“I lost my mom when I was just a baby, and then my dad about two years ago. Dean’s the only family I have.”
“Sorry,” Nick mumbled, fingers gripped tight around the bottle of soda.
“I’m fine now, but…I just want you to know that this whole thing sucks. My parents…they were killed by demons, too.” He tried to look at the boy without being seen doing so, just little glances as he allowed his hair to fall into his face a bit, waiting for any signs of reaction.
The teenager seems a little surprised, but he mostly stays quiet, taking shallow breaths that Sam is all too familiar with. Sixteen-year-olds shouldn’t be this accustomed to grief, but Sam was glad he could be there for him.
Nick finally twisted at the cap, the sizzling, frothing noise of the carbonation breaking the silence between them. “Thanks.”
~
Castiel stood stock still next to Dean as the hunter fed in his card and pulled out the gas pump.
The Winchester set the thing to fill and after a glance towards his brother and the devil boy, turned his attention harshly on Cas. “Show me.”
Castiel looked baffled, but Dean was pretty sure it was for show at this particular juncture.
Instead of explaining himself, the hunter pulled back the angel’s coat, where it had been closed in much further than usual. He could see the glow already. With a quick survey of their location to make sure no one was staring at them, he nimbly undid the bottom buttons of Castiel’s shirt and tugged up the corner of it. There was still light slowly, steadily pouring out of him.
“This is bad, Cas.” He fixed the angel with a stare.
“I’ll be fine.”
“So you say.”
Castiel didn’t reply.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No.”
But the answer was too quick and Dean’s curiosity piqued. “There is, isn’t there?” He smirked a little, allowed himself to, “What? Is it embarrassing?”
“It doesn’t matter,” the angel told him briskly, stepping out of Dean’s reach--which had generally become his preferred location.
“Cas…”
The pump clicked and Dean turned away, putting it back and fixing on the gas cap. Castiel was already moving to get into the backseat again and Dean shook his head. “You’re riding shotgun up front with me this time.”
The angel’s eyes flared, obviously hoping that little bit of distance would give him reprieve from Dean’s questions and worries. He stalked silently to the passenger side door and got in, Dean slipping into the driver’s seat next to him with a smug smile.
“‘Sides, I think Sam’ll make better company for teen trauma back there.”
Castiel huffed, “He makes me uncomfortable.”
“Nick?” Dean shrugged. “I don’t know him, but he seems like a nice kid.” He squinted into the windshield before reverting his gaze to Castiel’s. “Hey, you gotta cut him some slack though. Losing your parents so sudden, that’s rough.”
“He’s Lucifer.”
As the word left the angel’s mouth, the two teenagers piled back into the car, Sam taking his new placement without any qualms.
Dean watched in the rearview mirror as Nick aimed the slightest of smiles towards his brother as Sam was distracted. As long as the kid didn’t remember who he was, it might be kind of nice to see Sammy hang out with someone his own age. Nick, for now, seemed pretty fucking harmless.
He started the car and headed out onto the road again, Sam making a noise only a moment later and handing him up a Coke.
Dean loved driving, but right now he was eager to get a little further along and stop at a hotel somewhere. He needed to check on Cas and it would give them ample opportunity to figure out what exactly was going on and who exactly Nick might be. There was a definite possibility it could get into that wishy-washy feelings crap, but he was sure Sam was equipped to handle it.
He just really didn’t want to think about any of that in more detail until they got there.
For now, he’d blast some AC/DC and speed along the highway at a rate well past legal limits until they were farther into Missouri.