Fic: The Boy From District Three
Title: The Boy From District Three Part 4
Rating: NC-17
Author: bellacatbee
Artist: inalasahl
Beta: casness
Genre: (Gen, het, slash, femmeslash) Slash
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Adam/Michael, Dean/Castiel, Jeffrey/Jeffrey's Demon, Sam, John, Kate, Meg, Alistair, Lucifer, Crowley, Gabriel, Kali
Warnings: Character Death, Violence, Implied Non-Con, Attempted Rape
Word Count: 25535
Notes: This is a Hunger Games inspired fic, but please don't feel you need to have read the Hunger Games to understand it. I've simply taken inspiration, not the story.
Summary: Every four years, the Capitol demands a Tribute from each District to fight in the Games: a televised pageant of bloodshed that is the Demons' favourite form of entertainment. Every child, male or female, aged fourteen to eighteen has the possibility of their name being drawn and being forced to compete in a fight to the death. The last time it was Adam’s brother, Dean, who was their Tribute, but he came back; he was a winner. Adam only has one reaping left before he’ll be too old. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel to choose from their family again, but the Demons would be.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
As they drove back to the Capitol it was almost surreal. His mom had patched up Kali’s other bruises and marks and she’d checked the wound on her stomach. It was just an angry red mark now and Kali would always have a scar but Adam had done well. He’d saved her life and Adam couldn’t be prouder of that. His dad kept ruffling his hair and telling Adam how proud he was that Adam was his son and how when he got home there was going to be a party and everyone would be invited. Sam kept staring at him, as if he couldn’t believe Adam was real and Adam stared back until he couldn’t stand it any longer and stuck his tongue out. Then they laughed and things were normal between them.
Dean kept checking on him, turning his head every so often to look away from the road and look at Adam. It was only Castiel who kept his distance. Unusually he’d declined Dean’s offer to sit up front with him although he had looked torn as he’d done it and Adam knew it caused Castiel some pain to be away from Dean. He’d chosen to sit with Michael instead and their dark heads were bowed together, the two of them in a deep whispered conversation that Adam caught the merest snippets of. He gathered they were talking about love.
It felt unreal when they drove through the gates of the Capitol and people lined the streets cheering. Real people. Not demons. Adam could see it when he peered through the open window. No black, soulless eyes. Just people, ones he remembered from his district and people he’d never seen before. They were cheering so loud that he had to cover his ears.
“Kali, your parents are waiting for you!” Dean shouted over the din, grinning. “I met those brothers of yours, Michael, a right handful, but your sister is pretty easy on the eyes!” Without a look, Castiel raised his hand and smacked Dean across the back of his head before he returned to his conversation with Michael. Michael’s face paled and he swallowed.
“Thanks,” he muttered and Kali raised her hand, pressing it over her heart in the rebellion’s symbol.
“I hope they will be proud of my choices,” she said.
“I think they’re just pleased you’re alive,” Kate said, stroking her hand through Kali’s beautiful black hair and the girl nodded. Adam guessed she was still having a hard time letting go of her ideology.
They drove up to the Tributes apartments and Adam remembered how frightened he’d been coming here the first time. Now he was grateful to be back, grateful that he’d be sleeping in a warm, soft bed finally and he hardly looked back as he ran up the steps to his rooms. He glanced back once, to look for Michael but the other boy had already gone, directed off by Sam to the reunion with his family. Adam felt strange at that. Michael should see his parents and his siblings, of course he should, but Adam had just assumed when he looked behind him Michael would still be there the way he’d always been in the games.
His mom was calling him, patting the sofa and wanting to cuddle him though so Adam put those thoughts behind him. He settled into her arms and answered all her questions, lolled into relaxation by the steady beat of her heart.
**
Adam was surprised to come downstairs from his nap to find Castiel sitting alone in the living-room. Adam knew his father was plotting strategy against any demons that he considered still a threat and his mother was visiting the rebels who’d been hurt in the fighting to take the Capitol. He’d assumed that Castiel and Dean would have their own rooms somewhere to amuse themselves in. Still, it wasn’t unpleasant to see his brother-in-law. Far from it in fact.
“Hi, Cas,” He called. “Where’s Dean?”
Castiel turned, his face expressionless. “Contrary to what you believe Adam, your brother and I are able to be apart for some moments of time.” He paused then, his cheeks flushing slightly. “He’s in the shower.”
“Right,” Adam said, settling himself down on the sofa next to Castiel. “And why haven’t you joined him?”
Castiel fidgeted and Adam watched with some amusement. He wondered how Castiel was adapting to the idea of a world where he didn’t need to be constantly vigilant against the threat of something taking Dean away again. Adam wondered if he’d even realised that was the case yet.
“Adam, I have spoken to Michael,” Castiel began and Adam’s head shot up.
“What did he say?” he asked. He hadn’t spoken to Michael since their rescue. Everything had just been overwhelming since then and Michael had his own family who’d needed the reassurance that he was alive and back with them again.
“That he loves you and he will understand if your feelings have changed,” Castiel said quietly, intelligent blue eyes scanning Adam’s face for a hint of understanding. “He wondered if it was the games that made you act that way. He says his feelings were never faked but he thanks you for healing him and caring for him and he sets you free of any promises you made to him while there.”
Adam felt tears prickling in his eyes. “Why would he say that? I told him that I love him and I meant it! Castiel, nothing I did or said was a lie!”
“Maybe he feels that way because you have not spoken to him since we found you,” Castiel said, sitting very still and upright. “Do you remember when Dean came home to us? He would not let me kiss him at first. He had done all of that to come home to me but he would not let me hold him. He thought he was dirty and he thought I had been coerced into confessing my feelings for him. I have never done anything but adore your brother, Adam and he couldn’t see that. Maybe your Michael is the same.”
Adam sat still, tears flowing down his face, turning over and over in his mind everything he’d done since he returned, every time he had left Michael behind in the joy at being with his family again. Michael was being foolish, jealous even but at the same time Adam couldn’t fault him for that. What they’d had together had been forged in the middle of a battle and now that they were at peace maybe Michael couldn’t see that Adam was still the same boy he had been all time they had known each other, the same one who had fallen in love with him. They might have found each other in an artificial world but nothing they had had together had ever been artificial for Adam.
He stood up, wiping at his eyes, not caring that he was still in his pyjamas. “I need to find him. Castiel, thank you. You should…go and be with Dean,” he said, laying his hand on his brother-in-law’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze before he was out, running down the corridor, trying to find Michael’s apartments.
Castiel sat very still on the sofa for a moment, a blush on his cheeks.
“Oi!” Dean shouted from the shower, the door half open now and the sound of running water audible. “You heard what he said, come and join me!”
Castiel bolted up off the sofa and into the shower, not even undressing before Dean pulled him under the steaming cloud of hot water and enveloped him in a kiss.
**
Adam leaned against the door to Michael’s apartment, trying to get his breath back before he knocked. However, before he even had time to raise his hand the door open and Adam stumbled back in surprise.
“Um, I’m looking for Michael,” he said, glancing up and down the boy who had answered the door. He was short, with messy dark honey coloured hair and there was a sticking plaster across his crooked, obviously broken nose. Gabriel, Adam realised with breathless excitement. He remembered how Michael had described his little brother’s nose being broken by the soldiers. This had to be Gabriel. “I’m Adam,” he said, holding out his hand. “You’re Gabriel, right? Michael told me about you.”
Gabriel ignored his hand and shouted over his shoulder, “Oi! Michael! That boy you want to kiss is here!”
Adam stared at his shoes in shock, his whole face going red. Michael came to the door and elbowed Gabriel out the way, shooing him off to go and play with his brothers and sisters while the adults talked. Adam didn’t feel like an adult. He felt like a teenage boy who’d be thrust into a frightening world he didn’t understand but then Michael reached out to take his hand and everything felt a little simpler.
“Should we walk?” Michael suggested. “My siblings are nice, once you get to know them, but they are a handful.”
“Yes, let’s go for a walk,” Adam agreed hurriedly and Michael stepped out in to the corridor, shutting the door behind him.
“Have you seen Kali?” Adam asked him, feeling a little light headed as they walked together, hand in hand. Michael shook his head.
“No, she’s been with her family. Like you. Like me,” he said and Adam noticed that Michael couldn’t quite meet his eye when he spoke. He squeezed his hand tightly, knowing that it wasn’t just enough that he had come to visit. He owed Michael the reassurance he should always have given him.
“Castiel said that you’d spoke to him, that you told him I was free of my obligations to you,” Adam said and he felt Michael wince. He turned to face him, stopping them both. “I came here to tell you that I love you,” he said fiercely, taking Michael’s face between his hands and forcing the older boy to look at him. “I love you and you’re never getting rid of me.”
Michael gasped and Adam wondered why he couldn’t believe it was true after everything they’d been through together. How could he not know that Adam loved him?
“But Meg, the things I did, my leg…” Michael said and Adam wondered if this had been what kept Dean from Castiel, if he’d felt tainted because of the things he’d done to survive. He hadn’t had a wound the way Michael did but if Michael thought that would make Adam feel differently about him then he was wrong.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, standing on tip toes to kiss Michael softly. “None of it matters. You stayed alive and you found me. We found each other. That’s all that matters.”
“I love you,” Michael said, arms wrapping round Adam and then a second later he had Adam pushed against the wall, capturing his mouth and the two of them kissed recklessly, hands running over each other’s bodies, Adam trying to tug Michael’s t-shirt over his head and he didn’t even care if they were somewhere anyone could walk past and find them. He had Michael and that was all he wanted.
Then Michael was pulling away from him and Adam whimpered, his eyes still closed and he reached out after him but realized his fingers were grasping on open air and he opened his eyes, looking into the face of his handler. The demon had Michael by the shoulder, forcing him down on to his knees and Adam could see the tears of pain in Michael’s eyes because of the injury he sustained to his leg during the games.
“What are you doing?” he squeaked. They were supposed to be safe here. Dean had told him the demons left alive had just been low-rung demons, ones who’d been there because it was a job, not because they, especially, enjoyed training teenagers to fight to the death with each other.
“Adam, run!” Michael groaned but Adam stood his ground. He wouldn’t leave Michael. He’d never left him in the arena and he wouldn’t leave him now.
“You killed Jeffrey,” the demon snarled. “He was my star, he was going to win and a little nothing like you killed him. I’m going to make you suffer, I’m going to teach you what real pain is. I’m going to kill this boy and make you watch, the way you made me watch.”
“You will never make it out of here alive,” Adam said, trying to reason with him but the demon just laughed.
“Do you think I care?” he asked, fingers digging into Michael’s shoulder and Michael whimpered. Adam didn’t know what to do. He’d never thought the demon might actually care about Jeffrey. He’d never imagined that Jeffrey’s maniacal love could actually be mirrored in the demon.
“I didn’t want to kill him,” he said. “I tried to stop him. I tried. He was going to kill Michael and me though and I had to do.”
“You should have died!” the demon hissed. Adam shook his head.
“No, he should never have been in the games. You should have protected him. You knew what he was going into and you let him go. There was always a chance he’d die and you didn’t mind that because you thought he’d win. This is what you have to live with now, the fact that you supported the games and you lost someone in them. Now you know how everyone in the districts feels!”
The demon growled. “Shut up!” He shook Michael and Adam swallowed hard. It was Michael’s life he was bargaining with and he knew he shouldn’t be but Adam had never been skilled at hand-to-hand combat, the best he knew how to do was keep the demon talking until help showed up. It had served him well in the arena and he just prayed it would be enough now.
“Listen to me, I won’t be quiet,” he said. “If you want to kill someone then it should be me; I was the one who killed Jeffrey.” He offered his throat up to the demon. “Go on, I’ll give you a fair shot.”
“Adam, don’t,” Michael groaned.
“If he kills you then I don’t want to live, so he might as well kill me too,” Adam said. He stared down the demon, waiting for him to strike. The demon seemed to consider it and he let Michael go, shoving him down on to the floor.
“Very well,” He agreed. “I’ll kill you both.”
Adam drew a deep breath, eyes darting to Michael and he focused on him because he wanted to remember every details of Michael and what he was about to do next was suicide but Adam lunged at the demon, knocking them both down onto the floor and he wrestled for the upper-hand, pinning the demons arms above its head.
“Help!” he shouted. “Someone! Help us!”
The demon freed its hand with ease and slapped Adam across the face, sending him tumbling backwards. Michael leapt on the creature, slamming its head repeatedly into the floor, trying to break its skull but the demon’s black eyes refocused and he smacked Michael away from him as well. Michael landed awkwardly beside Adam and Adam rolled so he was protecting Michael with his body. The demon would have to tear though him first. There was still a chance someone else would reach them, someone who could save Michael even if Adam was as good as dead.
The blow he was expecting didn’t come and Adam looked up, not sure what to expect but needing to see why the demon was drawing out his execution.
The demon was staring down at his chest, at the spear point poking through it and Adam was reminded of Virgil and the way Michael had killed him with the arrow. The spear was wrenched free and without its support the demon crumbled to the ground, the blackness finally fading from its eyes, leaving nothing behind.
“Honestly,” Kali said, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. “I can’t leave you two alone for a second, can I?”
Adam laughed, breathless and he leapt onto his feet. His ribs ached and he knew he should be resting but he threw his arms around Kali. She patted him awkwardly on the back. “There, now my debt is repaid. I saved your life,” she said and Adam rolled his eyes.
“Kali, we’re friends,” he said, hugging her tightly once again and then he pulling away. Kali’s cheeks were flushed and she looked away from him.
“A little help?” Michael muttered. He had pushed himself up on to his elbows. “I don’t think my leg will support me.” Adam knelt at his side and Kali reached out a hand and together they pulled him on to his feet and supported him, helping Michael limp back to his rooms.
**
With Kali’s help, Adam was able to get Michael back to his rooms. His brothers and sister crowded around, causing more fuss then helping till Michael shooed them away. Adam put him to bed, worried about the strain to Michael’s leg but Michael insisted that he just needed to rest. Kali left them soon after, muttering something about bedrooms and wrong. Adam knew she was giving them privacy in her own gruff way. He even heard her shepherding Michael’s family away, promising to show them around the ruins of the Capitol as their own armed guard.
“Are you really certain that I shouldn’t send someone to fetch my mom?” he asked, sweeping Michael’s dark hair away from his forehead. “She’ll help you feel better.”
Michael grabbed his wrist, drawing Adam’s hand to his lips and kissed his fingertips “I feel better having you here. You’re the only medic I want.”
Adam blushed and Michael took the advantage, dragging him into the bed with him. “What about your parents?” Adam squeaked and Michael’s face darkened again.
“My parents are dead, Adam. My mother died giving birth to Gabriel and my father was a rebel. The Capitol executed him in our town square.” He wasn’t looking at Adam any more but backwards, into the past, remembering what had happened. Adam touched his shoulder gently, waking him from his memories.
“Do you mean you volunteered, knowing you were all your family had?” he asked, unable to believe Michael could have been so fool-hardy. He was the oldest, his brothers and sister would have been relying on him to protect them. Even as Adam wanted to chastise him, he couldn’t. He knew Dean would have done the same for him and Sam, that he had tried to when it came to Adam but his age and his status as a tribute had already ruled him out. If his father and mother had been dead and Dean was all he had, then Adam doubted Dean would have acted any differently.
“I was supposed to protect them. That means protecting them from everything. I was never planning to lose, Adam,” Michael said steadily and Adam felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. Everyone had had a good reason for winning. All of them had had a reason to come home. He was grateful that he and Michael had been able to make it back. He was grateful Michael’s family wasn’t left without him. He didn’t think it was possible for a family to survive all of that pain.
“So that’s why you didn’t like me making the symbol,” Adam said, resting his hand over his heart and he saw Michael wince even as he did it. Then Michael’s hand covered his and he breathed out slowly.
“Yes, it reminded me of my father. I thought you’d be killed just like him. Instead, you helped to make his dream come true.” He pulled Adam into his lap, stroking up and down his back, smiling at him. “I am glad I volunteered, Adam. I’m glad that I met you.”
“I’m glad that I met you too, I think I would have died without you,” Adam whispered, sliding his legs to either side of Michael’s hips, trying to keep himself from settling too heavily on Michael considering his wound.
“You would have survived,” Michael murmured, bringing their mouths together to kiss Adam eagerly. He pulled back from the kiss to tug Adam’s shirt up over his head. His eyes raked over Adam’s body and Adam blushed, turning his head away. He didn’t see how Michael could like the way he looked. He was thin, wiry and without the sort of broad muscles or tanned skin that Michael had. Michael was the handsome one out of the two of them. Adam would always be in his shadow.
He ran his hands under Michael’s shirt, pulled it off as well. He considered asking Michael if he really wanted this but after everything they’d been through he wouldn’t doubt Michael now. He could feel Michael between his thighs, pressing up hard against him and Adam broke their kiss, pressing his head to Michael’s chest, hearing the beat of his heart. He splayed his fingers over the spot, stroking the warmth of his skin. He wanted nothing more than to capture the feeling of Michael like this - alive and full of vigour and all his own.
“You are so beautiful,” Michael whispered, his fingers carding through Adam’s hair, tipping his head up so he could kiss him again. Adam struggled out of his trousers, knowing that there would be time for him to lay curled up in Michael’s arms later, that he would have years now to listen to Michael’s heartbeat but that he could not refuse Michael the chance to have him completely. Adam knew how important it must be to Michael that Adam would still touch him, that he would still want him. Castiel had told him as much, had told him how hard it would be. Michael already doubted himself because of the things he’d done. Adam wanted him to know that he would love him despite his wounds, despite everything. He could say the words till he was blue in his face but he knew that Michael would never believe him as he would if Adam showed him the truth in his words.
He tugged upon Michael’s trousers, drawing out his cock. His fingers trembled a little. He’d only ever touched himself before and Michael was thicker, his girth more substantial then Adam’s long, thin cock. He slid forward, letting their cocks slide together. Michael groaned, pulling him back to kiss him again.
“Do you know what you’re doing, Adam?” he asked and Adam had to smile.
“I know what I’m doing.” He’d grown up with Dean and Castiel. He’d had more than an eyeful on some occasions and Dean, before he went away, had never been shy about discussing his sex life. Adam had more than an idea of what he was planning. He might have only touched himself but that didn’t mean that he was an innocent.
Adam trusted that Michael’s room was much like his own. He leaned away, fumbling with the bedside table and right in the same draw were lotions and little bottles of oil. Adam didn’t want to think about why they’d been put there, what they’d be used for when the Demons were in charge but he picked up the nearest bottle and opened it, pouring the oil into his hand. “I want you inside me, Michael. Do you want that?” he asked.
He’d always imagined he’d bottom but if Michael thought differently than Adam would do what he wanted. He’d have to be careful with him, so much more gentle then he was being now because right now Adam could set the pace and keep his weight off Michael’s bad leg but that might not be the case if Michael didn’t want it this way. Michael’s hips jerked up and Michael groaned, head falling back against the bed frame.
“I want it, Adam. I really want it,” he moaned, hands going to Adam’s hips, sliding down to his ass and he pulled Adam’s cheeks apart, rubbing a finger along Adam’s puckered hole.
“Good,” Adam whispered, grabbing hold of Michael’s hand and pouring a good deal of the oil onto his fingers and then letting Michael continue to touch him. He wrapped his own oiled fingers around Michael’s cock, stroking up and down, coating him all over, knowing that Michael needed to be slicked up if he would fit inside him. He gasped, eyes closing as Michael pushed a finger inside him and he squirmed for a moment. It wasn’t the first time he’d had something inside him. He’d used his own fingers, used anything long and slender that he could get his hands on but it had been a long time and Michael was touching him now, Michael who he loved. It made everything so much more real than it had ever felt when it was just Adam alone, pleasuring himself and trying not to be overheard. Now he didn’t care if people heard him. He wanted someone to know, everyone to know how much he loved Michael.
Michael pressed another finger up into him and Adam squirmed. It hurt, just a little, but his cock bounced eagerly against his stomach with every twist of Michael’s hand and Adam knew if there was pain then he’d endure it because the pleasure was worth more to him than anything else. He bent his head, nuzzling his cheek against Michael’s and begged him in a soft voice for more.
Michael drew his fingers out and a second later he was moving him, positioning Adam over his cock and Adam realised what he wanted, guiding Michael’s cock to press against his hole and he sank back, letting the other boy slide inside him slowly. He tipped his head back, the stretch almost too much but he kept going till Michael was fully inside him.
He’d asked Castiel once why he did it, why he liked it and Castiel had told him that it was the closeness he relished more than anything. Adam could see that reasoning now. He looped his arms around Michael’s neck and clung to him while Michael circled his hips, sliding a little into Adam and then pulling a little out.
“I love you,” he whispered, rubbing at the base of Adam’s spine and Adam began to relax, to open to him. He rose up onto his knees and then back down and that was enough to make Adam realise that Castiel had been candid in his explanation. Michael’s cock brushed something inside him, some bundle of nerves that made Adam close his eyes and whine softly in the back of his throat. He came apart in Michael’s arms, spurting over his stomach and across Michael. He felt Michael stiffen and for a moment he thought he’d done something wrong but then Michael’s hips canted upwards and Adam felt a wetness spreading inside of him.
Adam worried he should be ashamed that he had come so quickly, that their first time together had not been slow but hurried and over too quickly but there would be time for more later. They were young and they were alive and they would spend the rest of their lives together. After everything they had done, how long they had been waiting for this, Adam didn’t care that it had been over after only a few minutes. It had been the greatest few minutes of his life so far and he was eager to attempt them again soon.
Carefully, slowly, he let Michael’s spent cock slip from inside him and he rolled away and on to his side. A second later Michael’s arms were around him and Michael’s head was pillowed against his shoulder. Adam sighed contentedly, reaching a sticky hand up to pat Michael’s cheek.
“I love you too,” he said sleepily and felt Michael’s smile against his skin.
**
“Every demon is dangerous,” John thundered, slamming his hand on to the table. “We should make an example of all of them.”
A rebellion was one thing, Adam was finding out, but trying to rebuild civilization afterwards was something else. Dean and his father found themselves cast as leaders in a power share and while they were attempting democracy it was a difficult concept to grasp. Everyone was used to orders, to life and death by very simple rules. Sam had to keep stopping them, reminding them that everyone had to have a voice in their new society. The three survivors of the games and the revolutions leaders spoke on behalf of all the people now. Breaking down the barriers between the districts was hard enough. Even with Kali as his friend, Adam still found himself distrustful of anyone from what had previously been District Two.
John had called the meeting after discovering the demon attack on Michael and his son. Everyone who could, had crowded into what was once the auditorium that tributes had driven through on chariots on display for the demons who would possibly be their sponsors. Adam sat up on the dais that had once been the place of the game-makers, surrounded by his family, seated between Michael and Kali. The debate about what should be done with the remaining demons raged around him and Adam held on to Michael’s hand but said nothing.
“What do you mean make an example of them?” Kate asked. She was so very calm. Adam wondered how she managed but his mother was their chief medical expert now, she was used to a crisis. He still couldn’t believe that while he’d been trapped in the arena, his family had orchestrated a rebellion. Even his quiet, loving mother had done her part. She was one of its heroes. She had saved lives. Adam was in awe of her.
“Dean and I have talked,” John said but Dean cut across him.
“We should make them feel what we felt. We should hold a game with their children, make them fight.”
Adam gasped. Dean’s magnified voice echoed around the room and there were cries of shock, cheers of agreement.
“That’s barbaric,” Kate said, shaking her head.
“We take a vote,” Dean said. “Sam says we need to vote so we vote. I vote that we do it.”
“And I vote against it,” Kate said, meeting Dean’s eye and he glanced away.
“I vote for yes,” Kali said. Adam would never have imagined she would vote differently.
“I vote for yes,” John said and Sam followed him, almost apologetically abstaining from the vote.
“I vote against it,” Adam glanced at Michael next to him and he squeezed his hand tightly. He never wanted anyone else to go through what the two of them had been though, what their family had been through. Even if they were talking about the demons he’d come to realize that demons could feel something, even if it was a twisted form of love.
“I am also against it,” Michael said. “We’re better than them, aren’t we?”
“So we’ve got a draw then?” Adam asked. “Three for and three against and one abstaining. We should move on to the next business”
“Not yet,” Dean sounded triumphant. “Cas hasn’t voted yet.”
Adam felt his heart plummet. Castiel would almost certainly vote with Dean. There would be other games, more children would die, the whole cycle would start again and they’d prove they were no better than the demons who had forced them into the arena together.
All eyes in the auditorium turned to Castiel, waiting for his deciding vote. He stared straight ahead, his mouth pinched tight and small, staring so intently it looked as if he was trying to see into the future. Then, slowly, he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Dean,” he whispered. “I have to vote no. I can’t do it.”
Dean’s face fell and Adam wondered if he’d really thought about what he was asking. Castiel had been so damaged by what had happened. He’d watched first Dean and then Adam go through the games and it had broken him. Adam didn’t even understand all the ways that it had hurt him. Nobody ever said Castiel was mad, not in front of Dean at least, but Dean had to see it. He had to see the pressure he was putting on Castiel.
Castiel stood up suddenly, his chair falling over behind him, the sound of it echoing round the room.
“You are better than this,” He said to Dean and then he was gone, door slamming behind him and the hall erupted with noise. People were calling for another vote, others were shouting for new business. Adam thought he heard people whispering about how Castiel shouldn’t even have had a vote. Dean bolted from his chair and followed Castiel and Adam sank down into his chair. It was all supposed to be over now. The fighting was supposed to have stopped but everything just seemed to have been made worse.
“That is enough.” Kali clapped her hands together and the room fell quiet. “The vote has been taken. There will be no games. The demons will keep their children. We must move on to the next business.”
Adam was grateful that Kali accepted decisions without question. Even if they weren’t ones she liked she was devoted now to the ideal of the democracy and to supporting it. Adam was thankful that she could take control because he needed to slip away and make certain that Castiel and Dean weren’t falling apart. This should have made them stronger. Michael squeezed his hand tightly then let him go and Adam got up, following Castiel and Dean out into the hall. As he closed the door behind him, he heard his father’s voice calling out the next order of business.
His footsteps echoed down the corridor as Adam ran, glancing into the doors of open rooms till finally he caught sight of them. They were standing, arms wrapped around each other, foreheads pressed together and Adam stopped, hovering in the doorway to the little room they were in, listening.
“I love you,” Dean said, his eyes tight shut and Adam saw Castiel smile. “I love you and I don’t want to do anything to hurt you. I…I’m as bad as they are, Cas. They trained me to be like them.”
“You are not,” Castiel said firmly. “You are not like them. Don’t you dare say that, Dean. You are a good person.”
“Only because of you, Cas. You kept me sane,” Dean murmured.
Their mouths met, the kiss soft and slow. Adam moved away from the door, his heart hammering in his chest but his fears had been laid to rest. They would be fine. They had been tested and their love had not been found wanting. Adam smiled as he walked away, hoping that he and Michael would prove to be that strong. He thought they would. He was almost certain they would. Thinking of Michael made him want to see him even more and Adam ran back to the auditorium, pushing the door open slowly just to stand there and gaze at Michael.
The other boy caught his eye and smiled at him. Adam’s heart fluttered and he knew that whatever tests might come he and Michael would be strong enough to withstand them. They had already been through the closest thing to Hell and they had found each other there. Everything now could only be easier. It had to be. They deserved that much at least.
Epilogue: Five Years Later
It wasn’t often they all got together. It was hard for them all to make the effort but they made the effort for this. The transport network had been one of the first things repaired and Adam went west with Michael to see his home. It had been strange at first, trying to fit into Michael’s life with his brothers and sisters. It was like suddenly adopting grown children. Lucifer and Raphael hated him, Anna was sweet but reserved.
Gabriel played pranks on him and Adam believed for the longest time that Gabriel hated him too until Michael explained it was his way of showing how much he liked him. Even so, it took Adam months before he stopped wanting to run away, to board a train and run home. Slowly things got better, slowly they accepted him but Adam was still glad as they grew up, found their own lives and moved on. It was only Gabriel who still lived with them now and Adam was certain he was always going to be under their feet in some form or another. They’d packed up Gabriel, put him on the train with them and started travelling early in the morning because even with the fixed transport system it still took the best part of a day to reach their destination.
His mom had stayed in the Capitol. They talked every day and Adam wrote her letters. His mom had set up her own hospital. There were a lot of casualties at first and it was more of a field-hospital than anything else but slowly people had stayed, she’d trained them and they’d built something that would last, that would help people. Adam was proud of her but he missed her. The fact that this journey meant a chance to see her again was an extra bonus for Adam.
His father had chased down the last of the Demons. He was a hero, a bounty-hunter and Adam was proud of him too. He got occasional letters and about once a year his dad rolled up to visit but this was the only time he saw his father regularly. They all kept this date.
Sam and Kali had stayed in the Capitol to create democracy. Sam, to his complete surprise and Adam’s, if he was being honest with himself, ended up being voted in as their first president. He asked Kali to be his advisor, to help him because while Sam was a man of peace, Kali was a woman of war. She’d ended up the head of the armed forces. She’d even trained most of those who’d volunteered for their makeshift army. They were both busy, involved people but they always made time. They had to. It was a promise.
Dean and Castiel had gone back to their home, to their little house on the edge of town but they weren’t alone. The rebellion hadn’t been bloodless. There had been pockets of demons who’d held out, who’d gone after innocent people who’d never left their homesteads. In the months following the rebellion there were massacres across the country. In one of those massacres the only survivor was a two month old baby girl. She’d been brought to the Capitol. Adam could still remember how his mother had held her, how the little girl had been crying until Castiel took her in his arms. She had big green eyes, little tufts of dark hair and when Castiel hummed to her she’d stopped sobbing. They’d taken her home with them when they left. They called her ‘Mary’. Her original name was lost.
It was her birthday they all gathered for. They managed it every year, no matter what they were doing. They gathered for her birthday and the national holiday celebrating the end of the Capitol and the end of the demons rule.
The train rolled into the station and Adam looked out through the widow to see Dean on the station platform, Marry seated on his shoulders. He waved and she waved back. Michael peered out of the window beside him, smiling. “We should have one,” he said, his fingers brushing the back of Adam’s hand.
There was a crash further down the carriage as Gabriel pulled his suitcase from the rack and down on top of himself. Adam winced. “We’ve already got one.”
Michael got to his feet gingerly and he moved slowly down the carriage to help Gabriel. Adam watched them, still wishing he had done more to help. He was certain it was his hesitation in the arena that had left Michael with lasting problems. He still walked with a slight limp and if the weather was bad, his leg ached. He always told Adam it was nothing but Adam still wished he had done more. The carriage door opened and a second later Adam had a lap full of squirming five year old. Mary’s smile was so bright, her laugh infectious and he held her close, wondering if Michael was right and they should have one of their own. There were so many children who were left orphaned by the rebellion. He and Michael could make one of them so happy.
“Hi, little bro.” Dean ruffled his hair and Adam looked up into his face. Dean looked contented finally, the haunted look gone from his eyes.
“Hi, Dean. Where’s Cas?”
“At home, fixing lunch,” Dean said, sweeping Mary up into her arms and tickling her stomach. “He’s been baking since this morning, kicked me out of the house to come and pick you up. Do you remember when he used to be nice? Yeah, I don’t.”
They managed to get the bags off the train without Gabriel breaking anything. Michael gave Mary a hug and Dean dropped some hints about how they’d all like to come and visit Michael and Adam for an extended holiday and how Mary would like to be a flower girl if the possibility ever came up. They rode back to the house in the car that Dean had spent the last five years restoring from scrap. It was a beautiful thing now, purring as they drove down the street. There were ribbons, flowers and banners hanging over the streets, celebrating the holiday; and Adam snuggled tightly against Michael.
Parents would be telling their children the story of the final Games tonight. They’d gather round and tell the story of Adam and Michael and how they’d fallen in love, they’d tell the story about Dean and how his concern for his family had been stronger than the demons. They’d tell the story about how they, themselves, had been so brave. It was still humbling to Adam to think that he had played a part in this history.
They drew up outside the house. Sam was already there, feet up on the picnic table in the front yard, Kali at his side, going through papers and Gabriel barrelled out of the car before it had even come completely to a stop, eager to get their attention all to himself. Adam rolled his eyes. At first Gabriel’s little crush had been endearing and Adam was certain it would fade with time but if anything it had grown stronger. Gabriel couldn’t seem to decide if he like Kali more or Sam and these family get-togethers allowed him to bask in the reflected glory of the both of them.
Castiel came to the door of the house, his and Dean’s second adopted child, Sammy, resting on his hip. “Adam? Your mother called. She should be here in an hour. She met up with your father and they’re going to drive down,” He said, moving to kiss Dean as his husband ducked past him and into their house.
“Come on! Come on!” Mary squeaked, grabbing Adam’s hand and pulling him after her. “I want to show you my drawings.”
Adam glanced at the little house, at the sun shining on it, at his family laughing and at Michael who was looking at him with a fond gaze. When they got home they would talk about marriage and children and when they would talk about it, Adam would say yes. He wanted this little slice of Heaven for his own.
They deserved it.
Rating: NC-17
Author: bellacatbee
Artist: inalasahl
Beta: casness
Genre: (Gen, het, slash, femmeslash) Slash
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Adam/Michael, Dean/Castiel, Jeffrey/Jeffrey's Demon, Sam, John, Kate, Meg, Alistair, Lucifer, Crowley, Gabriel, Kali
Warnings: Character Death, Violence, Implied Non-Con, Attempted Rape
Word Count: 25535
Notes: This is a Hunger Games inspired fic, but please don't feel you need to have read the Hunger Games to understand it. I've simply taken inspiration, not the story.
Summary: Every four years, the Capitol demands a Tribute from each District to fight in the Games: a televised pageant of bloodshed that is the Demons' favourite form of entertainment. Every child, male or female, aged fourteen to eighteen has the possibility of their name being drawn and being forced to compete in a fight to the death. The last time it was Adam’s brother, Dean, who was their Tribute, but he came back; he was a winner. Adam only has one reaping left before he’ll be too old. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel to choose from their family again, but the Demons would be.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
As they drove back to the Capitol it was almost surreal. His mom had patched up Kali’s other bruises and marks and she’d checked the wound on her stomach. It was just an angry red mark now and Kali would always have a scar but Adam had done well. He’d saved her life and Adam couldn’t be prouder of that. His dad kept ruffling his hair and telling Adam how proud he was that Adam was his son and how when he got home there was going to be a party and everyone would be invited. Sam kept staring at him, as if he couldn’t believe Adam was real and Adam stared back until he couldn’t stand it any longer and stuck his tongue out. Then they laughed and things were normal between them.
Dean kept checking on him, turning his head every so often to look away from the road and look at Adam. It was only Castiel who kept his distance. Unusually he’d declined Dean’s offer to sit up front with him although he had looked torn as he’d done it and Adam knew it caused Castiel some pain to be away from Dean. He’d chosen to sit with Michael instead and their dark heads were bowed together, the two of them in a deep whispered conversation that Adam caught the merest snippets of. He gathered they were talking about love.
It felt unreal when they drove through the gates of the Capitol and people lined the streets cheering. Real people. Not demons. Adam could see it when he peered through the open window. No black, soulless eyes. Just people, ones he remembered from his district and people he’d never seen before. They were cheering so loud that he had to cover his ears.
“Kali, your parents are waiting for you!” Dean shouted over the din, grinning. “I met those brothers of yours, Michael, a right handful, but your sister is pretty easy on the eyes!” Without a look, Castiel raised his hand and smacked Dean across the back of his head before he returned to his conversation with Michael. Michael’s face paled and he swallowed.
“Thanks,” he muttered and Kali raised her hand, pressing it over her heart in the rebellion’s symbol.
“I hope they will be proud of my choices,” she said.
“I think they’re just pleased you’re alive,” Kate said, stroking her hand through Kali’s beautiful black hair and the girl nodded. Adam guessed she was still having a hard time letting go of her ideology.
They drove up to the Tributes apartments and Adam remembered how frightened he’d been coming here the first time. Now he was grateful to be back, grateful that he’d be sleeping in a warm, soft bed finally and he hardly looked back as he ran up the steps to his rooms. He glanced back once, to look for Michael but the other boy had already gone, directed off by Sam to the reunion with his family. Adam felt strange at that. Michael should see his parents and his siblings, of course he should, but Adam had just assumed when he looked behind him Michael would still be there the way he’d always been in the games.
His mom was calling him, patting the sofa and wanting to cuddle him though so Adam put those thoughts behind him. He settled into her arms and answered all her questions, lolled into relaxation by the steady beat of her heart.
**
Adam was surprised to come downstairs from his nap to find Castiel sitting alone in the living-room. Adam knew his father was plotting strategy against any demons that he considered still a threat and his mother was visiting the rebels who’d been hurt in the fighting to take the Capitol. He’d assumed that Castiel and Dean would have their own rooms somewhere to amuse themselves in. Still, it wasn’t unpleasant to see his brother-in-law. Far from it in fact.
“Hi, Cas,” He called. “Where’s Dean?”
Castiel turned, his face expressionless. “Contrary to what you believe Adam, your brother and I are able to be apart for some moments of time.” He paused then, his cheeks flushing slightly. “He’s in the shower.”
“Right,” Adam said, settling himself down on the sofa next to Castiel. “And why haven’t you joined him?”
Castiel fidgeted and Adam watched with some amusement. He wondered how Castiel was adapting to the idea of a world where he didn’t need to be constantly vigilant against the threat of something taking Dean away again. Adam wondered if he’d even realised that was the case yet.
“Adam, I have spoken to Michael,” Castiel began and Adam’s head shot up.
“What did he say?” he asked. He hadn’t spoken to Michael since their rescue. Everything had just been overwhelming since then and Michael had his own family who’d needed the reassurance that he was alive and back with them again.
“That he loves you and he will understand if your feelings have changed,” Castiel said quietly, intelligent blue eyes scanning Adam’s face for a hint of understanding. “He wondered if it was the games that made you act that way. He says his feelings were never faked but he thanks you for healing him and caring for him and he sets you free of any promises you made to him while there.”
Adam felt tears prickling in his eyes. “Why would he say that? I told him that I love him and I meant it! Castiel, nothing I did or said was a lie!”
“Maybe he feels that way because you have not spoken to him since we found you,” Castiel said, sitting very still and upright. “Do you remember when Dean came home to us? He would not let me kiss him at first. He had done all of that to come home to me but he would not let me hold him. He thought he was dirty and he thought I had been coerced into confessing my feelings for him. I have never done anything but adore your brother, Adam and he couldn’t see that. Maybe your Michael is the same.”
Adam sat still, tears flowing down his face, turning over and over in his mind everything he’d done since he returned, every time he had left Michael behind in the joy at being with his family again. Michael was being foolish, jealous even but at the same time Adam couldn’t fault him for that. What they’d had together had been forged in the middle of a battle and now that they were at peace maybe Michael couldn’t see that Adam was still the same boy he had been all time they had known each other, the same one who had fallen in love with him. They might have found each other in an artificial world but nothing they had had together had ever been artificial for Adam.
He stood up, wiping at his eyes, not caring that he was still in his pyjamas. “I need to find him. Castiel, thank you. You should…go and be with Dean,” he said, laying his hand on his brother-in-law’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze before he was out, running down the corridor, trying to find Michael’s apartments.
Castiel sat very still on the sofa for a moment, a blush on his cheeks.
“Oi!” Dean shouted from the shower, the door half open now and the sound of running water audible. “You heard what he said, come and join me!”
Castiel bolted up off the sofa and into the shower, not even undressing before Dean pulled him under the steaming cloud of hot water and enveloped him in a kiss.
**
Adam leaned against the door to Michael’s apartment, trying to get his breath back before he knocked. However, before he even had time to raise his hand the door open and Adam stumbled back in surprise.
“Um, I’m looking for Michael,” he said, glancing up and down the boy who had answered the door. He was short, with messy dark honey coloured hair and there was a sticking plaster across his crooked, obviously broken nose. Gabriel, Adam realised with breathless excitement. He remembered how Michael had described his little brother’s nose being broken by the soldiers. This had to be Gabriel. “I’m Adam,” he said, holding out his hand. “You’re Gabriel, right? Michael told me about you.”
Gabriel ignored his hand and shouted over his shoulder, “Oi! Michael! That boy you want to kiss is here!”
Adam stared at his shoes in shock, his whole face going red. Michael came to the door and elbowed Gabriel out the way, shooing him off to go and play with his brothers and sisters while the adults talked. Adam didn’t feel like an adult. He felt like a teenage boy who’d be thrust into a frightening world he didn’t understand but then Michael reached out to take his hand and everything felt a little simpler.
“Should we walk?” Michael suggested. “My siblings are nice, once you get to know them, but they are a handful.”
“Yes, let’s go for a walk,” Adam agreed hurriedly and Michael stepped out in to the corridor, shutting the door behind him.
“Have you seen Kali?” Adam asked him, feeling a little light headed as they walked together, hand in hand. Michael shook his head.
“No, she’s been with her family. Like you. Like me,” he said and Adam noticed that Michael couldn’t quite meet his eye when he spoke. He squeezed his hand tightly, knowing that it wasn’t just enough that he had come to visit. He owed Michael the reassurance he should always have given him.
“Castiel said that you’d spoke to him, that you told him I was free of my obligations to you,” Adam said and he felt Michael wince. He turned to face him, stopping them both. “I came here to tell you that I love you,” he said fiercely, taking Michael’s face between his hands and forcing the older boy to look at him. “I love you and you’re never getting rid of me.”
Michael gasped and Adam wondered why he couldn’t believe it was true after everything they’d been through together. How could he not know that Adam loved him?
“But Meg, the things I did, my leg…” Michael said and Adam wondered if this had been what kept Dean from Castiel, if he’d felt tainted because of the things he’d done to survive. He hadn’t had a wound the way Michael did but if Michael thought that would make Adam feel differently about him then he was wrong.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, standing on tip toes to kiss Michael softly. “None of it matters. You stayed alive and you found me. We found each other. That’s all that matters.”
“I love you,” Michael said, arms wrapping round Adam and then a second later he had Adam pushed against the wall, capturing his mouth and the two of them kissed recklessly, hands running over each other’s bodies, Adam trying to tug Michael’s t-shirt over his head and he didn’t even care if they were somewhere anyone could walk past and find them. He had Michael and that was all he wanted.
Then Michael was pulling away from him and Adam whimpered, his eyes still closed and he reached out after him but realized his fingers were grasping on open air and he opened his eyes, looking into the face of his handler. The demon had Michael by the shoulder, forcing him down on to his knees and Adam could see the tears of pain in Michael’s eyes because of the injury he sustained to his leg during the games.
“What are you doing?” he squeaked. They were supposed to be safe here. Dean had told him the demons left alive had just been low-rung demons, ones who’d been there because it was a job, not because they, especially, enjoyed training teenagers to fight to the death with each other.
“Adam, run!” Michael groaned but Adam stood his ground. He wouldn’t leave Michael. He’d never left him in the arena and he wouldn’t leave him now.
“You killed Jeffrey,” the demon snarled. “He was my star, he was going to win and a little nothing like you killed him. I’m going to make you suffer, I’m going to teach you what real pain is. I’m going to kill this boy and make you watch, the way you made me watch.”
“You will never make it out of here alive,” Adam said, trying to reason with him but the demon just laughed.
“Do you think I care?” he asked, fingers digging into Michael’s shoulder and Michael whimpered. Adam didn’t know what to do. He’d never thought the demon might actually care about Jeffrey. He’d never imagined that Jeffrey’s maniacal love could actually be mirrored in the demon.
“I didn’t want to kill him,” he said. “I tried to stop him. I tried. He was going to kill Michael and me though and I had to do.”
“You should have died!” the demon hissed. Adam shook his head.
“No, he should never have been in the games. You should have protected him. You knew what he was going into and you let him go. There was always a chance he’d die and you didn’t mind that because you thought he’d win. This is what you have to live with now, the fact that you supported the games and you lost someone in them. Now you know how everyone in the districts feels!”
The demon growled. “Shut up!” He shook Michael and Adam swallowed hard. It was Michael’s life he was bargaining with and he knew he shouldn’t be but Adam had never been skilled at hand-to-hand combat, the best he knew how to do was keep the demon talking until help showed up. It had served him well in the arena and he just prayed it would be enough now.
“Listen to me, I won’t be quiet,” he said. “If you want to kill someone then it should be me; I was the one who killed Jeffrey.” He offered his throat up to the demon. “Go on, I’ll give you a fair shot.”
“Adam, don’t,” Michael groaned.
“If he kills you then I don’t want to live, so he might as well kill me too,” Adam said. He stared down the demon, waiting for him to strike. The demon seemed to consider it and he let Michael go, shoving him down on to the floor.
“Very well,” He agreed. “I’ll kill you both.”
Adam drew a deep breath, eyes darting to Michael and he focused on him because he wanted to remember every details of Michael and what he was about to do next was suicide but Adam lunged at the demon, knocking them both down onto the floor and he wrestled for the upper-hand, pinning the demons arms above its head.
“Help!” he shouted. “Someone! Help us!”
The demon freed its hand with ease and slapped Adam across the face, sending him tumbling backwards. Michael leapt on the creature, slamming its head repeatedly into the floor, trying to break its skull but the demon’s black eyes refocused and he smacked Michael away from him as well. Michael landed awkwardly beside Adam and Adam rolled so he was protecting Michael with his body. The demon would have to tear though him first. There was still a chance someone else would reach them, someone who could save Michael even if Adam was as good as dead.
The blow he was expecting didn’t come and Adam looked up, not sure what to expect but needing to see why the demon was drawing out his execution.
The demon was staring down at his chest, at the spear point poking through it and Adam was reminded of Virgil and the way Michael had killed him with the arrow. The spear was wrenched free and without its support the demon crumbled to the ground, the blackness finally fading from its eyes, leaving nothing behind.
“Honestly,” Kali said, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. “I can’t leave you two alone for a second, can I?”
Adam laughed, breathless and he leapt onto his feet. His ribs ached and he knew he should be resting but he threw his arms around Kali. She patted him awkwardly on the back. “There, now my debt is repaid. I saved your life,” she said and Adam rolled his eyes.
“Kali, we’re friends,” he said, hugging her tightly once again and then he pulling away. Kali’s cheeks were flushed and she looked away from him.
“A little help?” Michael muttered. He had pushed himself up on to his elbows. “I don’t think my leg will support me.” Adam knelt at his side and Kali reached out a hand and together they pulled him on to his feet and supported him, helping Michael limp back to his rooms.
**
With Kali’s help, Adam was able to get Michael back to his rooms. His brothers and sister crowded around, causing more fuss then helping till Michael shooed them away. Adam put him to bed, worried about the strain to Michael’s leg but Michael insisted that he just needed to rest. Kali left them soon after, muttering something about bedrooms and wrong. Adam knew she was giving them privacy in her own gruff way. He even heard her shepherding Michael’s family away, promising to show them around the ruins of the Capitol as their own armed guard.
“Are you really certain that I shouldn’t send someone to fetch my mom?” he asked, sweeping Michael’s dark hair away from his forehead. “She’ll help you feel better.”
Michael grabbed his wrist, drawing Adam’s hand to his lips and kissed his fingertips “I feel better having you here. You’re the only medic I want.”
Adam blushed and Michael took the advantage, dragging him into the bed with him. “What about your parents?” Adam squeaked and Michael’s face darkened again.
“My parents are dead, Adam. My mother died giving birth to Gabriel and my father was a rebel. The Capitol executed him in our town square.” He wasn’t looking at Adam any more but backwards, into the past, remembering what had happened. Adam touched his shoulder gently, waking him from his memories.
“Do you mean you volunteered, knowing you were all your family had?” he asked, unable to believe Michael could have been so fool-hardy. He was the oldest, his brothers and sister would have been relying on him to protect them. Even as Adam wanted to chastise him, he couldn’t. He knew Dean would have done the same for him and Sam, that he had tried to when it came to Adam but his age and his status as a tribute had already ruled him out. If his father and mother had been dead and Dean was all he had, then Adam doubted Dean would have acted any differently.
“I was supposed to protect them. That means protecting them from everything. I was never planning to lose, Adam,” Michael said steadily and Adam felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. Everyone had had a good reason for winning. All of them had had a reason to come home. He was grateful that he and Michael had been able to make it back. He was grateful Michael’s family wasn’t left without him. He didn’t think it was possible for a family to survive all of that pain.
“So that’s why you didn’t like me making the symbol,” Adam said, resting his hand over his heart and he saw Michael wince even as he did it. Then Michael’s hand covered his and he breathed out slowly.
“Yes, it reminded me of my father. I thought you’d be killed just like him. Instead, you helped to make his dream come true.” He pulled Adam into his lap, stroking up and down his back, smiling at him. “I am glad I volunteered, Adam. I’m glad that I met you.”
“I’m glad that I met you too, I think I would have died without you,” Adam whispered, sliding his legs to either side of Michael’s hips, trying to keep himself from settling too heavily on Michael considering his wound.
“You would have survived,” Michael murmured, bringing their mouths together to kiss Adam eagerly. He pulled back from the kiss to tug Adam’s shirt up over his head. His eyes raked over Adam’s body and Adam blushed, turning his head away. He didn’t see how Michael could like the way he looked. He was thin, wiry and without the sort of broad muscles or tanned skin that Michael had. Michael was the handsome one out of the two of them. Adam would always be in his shadow.
He ran his hands under Michael’s shirt, pulled it off as well. He considered asking Michael if he really wanted this but after everything they’d been through he wouldn’t doubt Michael now. He could feel Michael between his thighs, pressing up hard against him and Adam broke their kiss, pressing his head to Michael’s chest, hearing the beat of his heart. He splayed his fingers over the spot, stroking the warmth of his skin. He wanted nothing more than to capture the feeling of Michael like this - alive and full of vigour and all his own.
“You are so beautiful,” Michael whispered, his fingers carding through Adam’s hair, tipping his head up so he could kiss him again. Adam struggled out of his trousers, knowing that there would be time for him to lay curled up in Michael’s arms later, that he would have years now to listen to Michael’s heartbeat but that he could not refuse Michael the chance to have him completely. Adam knew how important it must be to Michael that Adam would still touch him, that he would still want him. Castiel had told him as much, had told him how hard it would be. Michael already doubted himself because of the things he’d done. Adam wanted him to know that he would love him despite his wounds, despite everything. He could say the words till he was blue in his face but he knew that Michael would never believe him as he would if Adam showed him the truth in his words.
He tugged upon Michael’s trousers, drawing out his cock. His fingers trembled a little. He’d only ever touched himself before and Michael was thicker, his girth more substantial then Adam’s long, thin cock. He slid forward, letting their cocks slide together. Michael groaned, pulling him back to kiss him again.
“Do you know what you’re doing, Adam?” he asked and Adam had to smile.
“I know what I’m doing.” He’d grown up with Dean and Castiel. He’d had more than an eyeful on some occasions and Dean, before he went away, had never been shy about discussing his sex life. Adam had more than an idea of what he was planning. He might have only touched himself but that didn’t mean that he was an innocent.
Adam trusted that Michael’s room was much like his own. He leaned away, fumbling with the bedside table and right in the same draw were lotions and little bottles of oil. Adam didn’t want to think about why they’d been put there, what they’d be used for when the Demons were in charge but he picked up the nearest bottle and opened it, pouring the oil into his hand. “I want you inside me, Michael. Do you want that?” he asked.
He’d always imagined he’d bottom but if Michael thought differently than Adam would do what he wanted. He’d have to be careful with him, so much more gentle then he was being now because right now Adam could set the pace and keep his weight off Michael’s bad leg but that might not be the case if Michael didn’t want it this way. Michael’s hips jerked up and Michael groaned, head falling back against the bed frame.
“I want it, Adam. I really want it,” he moaned, hands going to Adam’s hips, sliding down to his ass and he pulled Adam’s cheeks apart, rubbing a finger along Adam’s puckered hole.
“Good,” Adam whispered, grabbing hold of Michael’s hand and pouring a good deal of the oil onto his fingers and then letting Michael continue to touch him. He wrapped his own oiled fingers around Michael’s cock, stroking up and down, coating him all over, knowing that Michael needed to be slicked up if he would fit inside him. He gasped, eyes closing as Michael pushed a finger inside him and he squirmed for a moment. It wasn’t the first time he’d had something inside him. He’d used his own fingers, used anything long and slender that he could get his hands on but it had been a long time and Michael was touching him now, Michael who he loved. It made everything so much more real than it had ever felt when it was just Adam alone, pleasuring himself and trying not to be overheard. Now he didn’t care if people heard him. He wanted someone to know, everyone to know how much he loved Michael.
Michael pressed another finger up into him and Adam squirmed. It hurt, just a little, but his cock bounced eagerly against his stomach with every twist of Michael’s hand and Adam knew if there was pain then he’d endure it because the pleasure was worth more to him than anything else. He bent his head, nuzzling his cheek against Michael’s and begged him in a soft voice for more.
Michael drew his fingers out and a second later he was moving him, positioning Adam over his cock and Adam realised what he wanted, guiding Michael’s cock to press against his hole and he sank back, letting the other boy slide inside him slowly. He tipped his head back, the stretch almost too much but he kept going till Michael was fully inside him.
He’d asked Castiel once why he did it, why he liked it and Castiel had told him that it was the closeness he relished more than anything. Adam could see that reasoning now. He looped his arms around Michael’s neck and clung to him while Michael circled his hips, sliding a little into Adam and then pulling a little out.
“I love you,” he whispered, rubbing at the base of Adam’s spine and Adam began to relax, to open to him. He rose up onto his knees and then back down and that was enough to make Adam realise that Castiel had been candid in his explanation. Michael’s cock brushed something inside him, some bundle of nerves that made Adam close his eyes and whine softly in the back of his throat. He came apart in Michael’s arms, spurting over his stomach and across Michael. He felt Michael stiffen and for a moment he thought he’d done something wrong but then Michael’s hips canted upwards and Adam felt a wetness spreading inside of him.
Adam worried he should be ashamed that he had come so quickly, that their first time together had not been slow but hurried and over too quickly but there would be time for more later. They were young and they were alive and they would spend the rest of their lives together. After everything they had done, how long they had been waiting for this, Adam didn’t care that it had been over after only a few minutes. It had been the greatest few minutes of his life so far and he was eager to attempt them again soon.
Carefully, slowly, he let Michael’s spent cock slip from inside him and he rolled away and on to his side. A second later Michael’s arms were around him and Michael’s head was pillowed against his shoulder. Adam sighed contentedly, reaching a sticky hand up to pat Michael’s cheek.
“I love you too,” he said sleepily and felt Michael’s smile against his skin.
**
“Every demon is dangerous,” John thundered, slamming his hand on to the table. “We should make an example of all of them.”
A rebellion was one thing, Adam was finding out, but trying to rebuild civilization afterwards was something else. Dean and his father found themselves cast as leaders in a power share and while they were attempting democracy it was a difficult concept to grasp. Everyone was used to orders, to life and death by very simple rules. Sam had to keep stopping them, reminding them that everyone had to have a voice in their new society. The three survivors of the games and the revolutions leaders spoke on behalf of all the people now. Breaking down the barriers between the districts was hard enough. Even with Kali as his friend, Adam still found himself distrustful of anyone from what had previously been District Two.
John had called the meeting after discovering the demon attack on Michael and his son. Everyone who could, had crowded into what was once the auditorium that tributes had driven through on chariots on display for the demons who would possibly be their sponsors. Adam sat up on the dais that had once been the place of the game-makers, surrounded by his family, seated between Michael and Kali. The debate about what should be done with the remaining demons raged around him and Adam held on to Michael’s hand but said nothing.
“What do you mean make an example of them?” Kate asked. She was so very calm. Adam wondered how she managed but his mother was their chief medical expert now, she was used to a crisis. He still couldn’t believe that while he’d been trapped in the arena, his family had orchestrated a rebellion. Even his quiet, loving mother had done her part. She was one of its heroes. She had saved lives. Adam was in awe of her.
“Dean and I have talked,” John said but Dean cut across him.
“We should make them feel what we felt. We should hold a game with their children, make them fight.”
Adam gasped. Dean’s magnified voice echoed around the room and there were cries of shock, cheers of agreement.
“That’s barbaric,” Kate said, shaking her head.
“We take a vote,” Dean said. “Sam says we need to vote so we vote. I vote that we do it.”
“And I vote against it,” Kate said, meeting Dean’s eye and he glanced away.
“I vote for yes,” Kali said. Adam would never have imagined she would vote differently.
“I vote for yes,” John said and Sam followed him, almost apologetically abstaining from the vote.
“I vote against it,” Adam glanced at Michael next to him and he squeezed his hand tightly. He never wanted anyone else to go through what the two of them had been though, what their family had been through. Even if they were talking about the demons he’d come to realize that demons could feel something, even if it was a twisted form of love.
“I am also against it,” Michael said. “We’re better than them, aren’t we?”
“So we’ve got a draw then?” Adam asked. “Three for and three against and one abstaining. We should move on to the next business”
“Not yet,” Dean sounded triumphant. “Cas hasn’t voted yet.”
Adam felt his heart plummet. Castiel would almost certainly vote with Dean. There would be other games, more children would die, the whole cycle would start again and they’d prove they were no better than the demons who had forced them into the arena together.
All eyes in the auditorium turned to Castiel, waiting for his deciding vote. He stared straight ahead, his mouth pinched tight and small, staring so intently it looked as if he was trying to see into the future. Then, slowly, he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Dean,” he whispered. “I have to vote no. I can’t do it.”
Dean’s face fell and Adam wondered if he’d really thought about what he was asking. Castiel had been so damaged by what had happened. He’d watched first Dean and then Adam go through the games and it had broken him. Adam didn’t even understand all the ways that it had hurt him. Nobody ever said Castiel was mad, not in front of Dean at least, but Dean had to see it. He had to see the pressure he was putting on Castiel.
Castiel stood up suddenly, his chair falling over behind him, the sound of it echoing round the room.
“You are better than this,” He said to Dean and then he was gone, door slamming behind him and the hall erupted with noise. People were calling for another vote, others were shouting for new business. Adam thought he heard people whispering about how Castiel shouldn’t even have had a vote. Dean bolted from his chair and followed Castiel and Adam sank down into his chair. It was all supposed to be over now. The fighting was supposed to have stopped but everything just seemed to have been made worse.
“That is enough.” Kali clapped her hands together and the room fell quiet. “The vote has been taken. There will be no games. The demons will keep their children. We must move on to the next business.”
Adam was grateful that Kali accepted decisions without question. Even if they weren’t ones she liked she was devoted now to the ideal of the democracy and to supporting it. Adam was thankful that she could take control because he needed to slip away and make certain that Castiel and Dean weren’t falling apart. This should have made them stronger. Michael squeezed his hand tightly then let him go and Adam got up, following Castiel and Dean out into the hall. As he closed the door behind him, he heard his father’s voice calling out the next order of business.
His footsteps echoed down the corridor as Adam ran, glancing into the doors of open rooms till finally he caught sight of them. They were standing, arms wrapped around each other, foreheads pressed together and Adam stopped, hovering in the doorway to the little room they were in, listening.
“I love you,” Dean said, his eyes tight shut and Adam saw Castiel smile. “I love you and I don’t want to do anything to hurt you. I…I’m as bad as they are, Cas. They trained me to be like them.”
“You are not,” Castiel said firmly. “You are not like them. Don’t you dare say that, Dean. You are a good person.”
“Only because of you, Cas. You kept me sane,” Dean murmured.
Their mouths met, the kiss soft and slow. Adam moved away from the door, his heart hammering in his chest but his fears had been laid to rest. They would be fine. They had been tested and their love had not been found wanting. Adam smiled as he walked away, hoping that he and Michael would prove to be that strong. He thought they would. He was almost certain they would. Thinking of Michael made him want to see him even more and Adam ran back to the auditorium, pushing the door open slowly just to stand there and gaze at Michael.
The other boy caught his eye and smiled at him. Adam’s heart fluttered and he knew that whatever tests might come he and Michael would be strong enough to withstand them. They had already been through the closest thing to Hell and they had found each other there. Everything now could only be easier. It had to be. They deserved that much at least.
Epilogue: Five Years Later
It wasn’t often they all got together. It was hard for them all to make the effort but they made the effort for this. The transport network had been one of the first things repaired and Adam went west with Michael to see his home. It had been strange at first, trying to fit into Michael’s life with his brothers and sisters. It was like suddenly adopting grown children. Lucifer and Raphael hated him, Anna was sweet but reserved.
Gabriel played pranks on him and Adam believed for the longest time that Gabriel hated him too until Michael explained it was his way of showing how much he liked him. Even so, it took Adam months before he stopped wanting to run away, to board a train and run home. Slowly things got better, slowly they accepted him but Adam was still glad as they grew up, found their own lives and moved on. It was only Gabriel who still lived with them now and Adam was certain he was always going to be under their feet in some form or another. They’d packed up Gabriel, put him on the train with them and started travelling early in the morning because even with the fixed transport system it still took the best part of a day to reach their destination.
His mom had stayed in the Capitol. They talked every day and Adam wrote her letters. His mom had set up her own hospital. There were a lot of casualties at first and it was more of a field-hospital than anything else but slowly people had stayed, she’d trained them and they’d built something that would last, that would help people. Adam was proud of her but he missed her. The fact that this journey meant a chance to see her again was an extra bonus for Adam.
His father had chased down the last of the Demons. He was a hero, a bounty-hunter and Adam was proud of him too. He got occasional letters and about once a year his dad rolled up to visit but this was the only time he saw his father regularly. They all kept this date.
Sam and Kali had stayed in the Capitol to create democracy. Sam, to his complete surprise and Adam’s, if he was being honest with himself, ended up being voted in as their first president. He asked Kali to be his advisor, to help him because while Sam was a man of peace, Kali was a woman of war. She’d ended up the head of the armed forces. She’d even trained most of those who’d volunteered for their makeshift army. They were both busy, involved people but they always made time. They had to. It was a promise.
Dean and Castiel had gone back to their home, to their little house on the edge of town but they weren’t alone. The rebellion hadn’t been bloodless. There had been pockets of demons who’d held out, who’d gone after innocent people who’d never left their homesteads. In the months following the rebellion there were massacres across the country. In one of those massacres the only survivor was a two month old baby girl. She’d been brought to the Capitol. Adam could still remember how his mother had held her, how the little girl had been crying until Castiel took her in his arms. She had big green eyes, little tufts of dark hair and when Castiel hummed to her she’d stopped sobbing. They’d taken her home with them when they left. They called her ‘Mary’. Her original name was lost.
It was her birthday they all gathered for. They managed it every year, no matter what they were doing. They gathered for her birthday and the national holiday celebrating the end of the Capitol and the end of the demons rule.
The train rolled into the station and Adam looked out through the widow to see Dean on the station platform, Marry seated on his shoulders. He waved and she waved back. Michael peered out of the window beside him, smiling. “We should have one,” he said, his fingers brushing the back of Adam’s hand.
There was a crash further down the carriage as Gabriel pulled his suitcase from the rack and down on top of himself. Adam winced. “We’ve already got one.”
Michael got to his feet gingerly and he moved slowly down the carriage to help Gabriel. Adam watched them, still wishing he had done more to help. He was certain it was his hesitation in the arena that had left Michael with lasting problems. He still walked with a slight limp and if the weather was bad, his leg ached. He always told Adam it was nothing but Adam still wished he had done more. The carriage door opened and a second later Adam had a lap full of squirming five year old. Mary’s smile was so bright, her laugh infectious and he held her close, wondering if Michael was right and they should have one of their own. There were so many children who were left orphaned by the rebellion. He and Michael could make one of them so happy.
“Hi, little bro.” Dean ruffled his hair and Adam looked up into his face. Dean looked contented finally, the haunted look gone from his eyes.
“Hi, Dean. Where’s Cas?”
“At home, fixing lunch,” Dean said, sweeping Mary up into her arms and tickling her stomach. “He’s been baking since this morning, kicked me out of the house to come and pick you up. Do you remember when he used to be nice? Yeah, I don’t.”
They managed to get the bags off the train without Gabriel breaking anything. Michael gave Mary a hug and Dean dropped some hints about how they’d all like to come and visit Michael and Adam for an extended holiday and how Mary would like to be a flower girl if the possibility ever came up. They rode back to the house in the car that Dean had spent the last five years restoring from scrap. It was a beautiful thing now, purring as they drove down the street. There were ribbons, flowers and banners hanging over the streets, celebrating the holiday; and Adam snuggled tightly against Michael.
Parents would be telling their children the story of the final Games tonight. They’d gather round and tell the story of Adam and Michael and how they’d fallen in love, they’d tell the story about Dean and how his concern for his family had been stronger than the demons. They’d tell the story about how they, themselves, had been so brave. It was still humbling to Adam to think that he had played a part in this history.
They drew up outside the house. Sam was already there, feet up on the picnic table in the front yard, Kali at his side, going through papers and Gabriel barrelled out of the car before it had even come completely to a stop, eager to get their attention all to himself. Adam rolled his eyes. At first Gabriel’s little crush had been endearing and Adam was certain it would fade with time but if anything it had grown stronger. Gabriel couldn’t seem to decide if he like Kali more or Sam and these family get-togethers allowed him to bask in the reflected glory of the both of them.
Castiel came to the door of the house, his and Dean’s second adopted child, Sammy, resting on his hip. “Adam? Your mother called. She should be here in an hour. She met up with your father and they’re going to drive down,” He said, moving to kiss Dean as his husband ducked past him and into their house.
“Come on! Come on!” Mary squeaked, grabbing Adam’s hand and pulling him after her. “I want to show you my drawings.”
Adam glanced at the little house, at the sun shining on it, at his family laughing and at Michael who was looking at him with a fond gaze. When they got home they would talk about marriage and children and when they would talk about it, Adam would say yes. He wanted this little slice of Heaven for his own.
They deserved it.