Daniel was heading up the stairs to exit Lux, when he was stopped by his demon.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?".

"Well, not that it concerns you, Maze," Daniel replied, annoyed, "but I'm off to invite the Detective and his offspring on an outing!".

"An outing? With humans?! Have you lost your mind, Daniel?!".

"On the contrary, it's as sharp as ever," he then looked at her menacingly, eyes flashing hellfire, "be sure to tell my brother that the next time your plotting against me".

Daniel went out the door…. leaving a stunned demon behind him.

*

Beatrice was coloring some new pictures for the wall, when she heard knocking at the front door. She got up to open it and was delighted to see who standing there.

"DANIEL!" she shouted, tackling him with a fierce embrace.

"Ah, hello again, my diminutive little pixie," he said as he patted her on the head, "tell me, is your father home?".

"He's upstairs, you want to see my drawing!".

She led him over to the coffee table, where various pictures were scattered about. Beatrice picked up her latest one and showed it to Daniel. It was a picture of her, with him on one side and Sam on the other. A crudely drawn blond woman with wings was drawn in the top corner.

"What's with the Angel in the corner, child?".

"Oh, that's mommy," Beatrice said with a sad smile, "she's in Heaven now, but Daddy says she watches over us!".

Daniel was about to say that it wasn't that simple, but the hopeful look on the child's face made him change his mind.

"And you included me because…."

"You're daddy's friend!" she informed him, "and that means mommy will watch over you too!".

Daniel was flabbergasted. He couldn't recall a time he'd ever been someone's friend, save maybe Delilah, and even they were close acquaintances at best. Plus, a child convinced that someone up there would watch over the Devil?! It was absurd!

And yet…. he couldn't bring himself to disabuse her of that innocent notion.

The devil didn't get a chance to say anything else, as he heard a voice from the top of the stairs.

"Beatrice? Did you pack everything you needed for the……Daniel?".

Sam was standing there, dripping wet, and wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Daniel's jaw practically hit the floor. He knew the detective was gorgeous, but he never anticipated as to how much. He wanted nothing more than to lick the water droplets right from those lean, taught muscles.

"You're going to get flies in your mouth if it keeps hanging open like that," Beatrice giggled.

"Right, yes," Dan cleared his throat, "you should definitely dress like that more often, Samael! I mean…. ding-dong".

Sam rolled his eyes and turned to address his daughter," Go get your bag from your room, little dove, while I speak with our friend here".

"Okay!" She gave Daniel another hug before running off to her room.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought I might invite you and the urchin on an outing today, but it appears that you two already have plans" He sighed.

Daniel turned to walk out the door when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"You could come with us, you know?".

He turned around, stunned. "You mean that?".

"Sure, Beatrice seems to enjoy your company, and it would give us a chance to get to know each other better…since we're partners and all".

"I'd like that".

*

They wound up at the beach. Oddly enough, it was the same stretch of sand that Daniel and Maze had landed on when they'd abandoned Hell for good. Sam and his daughter were pulling these strange, oval-shaped boards from the back of his car.

"What are those?" Daniel asked.

Sam gave him an incredulous look. "Are you seriously telling me that you've never been surfing?".

Daniel was even more lost.

"What exactly is surfing?".

"You're funny," Beatrice giggled, "surfing is where you take surfboards and ride on the waves".

"Ah, well that explains my ignorance on the subject, then, not exactly a plethora of water sources in Hell".

Sam rolled his eyes at the mentions of Hell, "So, do you want to rent a board and join us, or just watch?".

"Think I'll just watch for now, Samael".

"Suit yourself, "he shrugged, "come on, Little Dove, let's go!".

Daniel sat down in the sand, removing his silk shirt, as he watched father and daughter wade out into the ocean. He was almost envious of their relationship. His own father never cared for him like Sam did his daughter. The devil was starting to feel a strange longing in chest the more he stared at them.

He didn't like it.

Father and daughter came back onto the shore, soaked and laughing. Daniel had to admit that those swim trunks clung to Sam's hips beautifully.

"Have fun?"

"Yeah!" Beatrice squealed, "you'll have to do it with us soon!".

"Perhaps," he acquiesced, as Sam sat down beside him. Beatrice ran a little further down the shore to start building sandcastles.

Daniel reached over to pull out his cigarette and lighter, and that's when Sam saw it. A large, jagged scar going from the top of his right shoulder all the way down to his left side.

"What in the world happened here?" Sam asked as he traced the scar.

Daniel stiffened. He'd never had anyone touch that scar, especially not so tenderly. Part of him wanted to pull away, but the rest of him never wanted the touch to end.

"My brother, Michael, is what happened".

"You're brother did that to you?" Sam asked, horrified.

"Yup," Daniel said as he turned back to face the detective, "sliced me right across the back before he tossed me into Hell".

Sam didn't really get the Devil metaphors, but one thing he did understand, was that Daniel had been hurt, badly, by those he cared about.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, as he threw his arms around the other man, "no one should be treated like that, especially by their own family".

"If it's any consolation, I never liked them much anyway," Dan chuckled as he returned the embrace.

They pulled back from each other, and just stared. Daniel decided to make the first move and pressed his lips to Sam's. The effect was electrifying. He went to deepen the kiss, and Sam responded by gripping him tighter. Before it could go any further, however, the Detective pulled away and looked down at the ground, tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm…. I'm sorry, I can't…I…I just can't". Sam quickly got up and walked away to where Beatrice was, leaving Daniel wondering just what the hell happened.

*

Later that night, Sam was tucking his daughter in bed. Before he could start reading their nightly story, she put a small hand over his to stop him.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, my little dove?".

"Uhm," she fidgeted, unsure of how to start, "Do you like Daniel?".

"Well, I suppose he's not too bad".

"No, Daddy," she insisted, "Do you LIKE like him?".

Sam didn't know how to answer that. The kiss they'd shared on the beach that afternoon had certainly sent sparks of desire running through him. But then he felt too guilty and stopped. Even after all this time, doing those kinds of things with anyone but Chloe felt like a betrayal. How could he think that he deserved any form of joy when she was dead?

"It doesn't matter, darling, nothing is going to change the fact that it's you and me against the universe".

"But maybe I want that to change" she said in a small voice.

"I don't understand, Beatrice, what do you mean?".

Beatrice sat up and climbed into her father's arms. "I don't like when you're sad, Daddy….and you are sad ALL the time! But when Daniel's around, you're actually happy for once. I like him, Daddy…...and I think you do too. Don't you think Mommy would want you to be happy?".

Once again, Sam was astounded by how wise his little Beatrice was. Daniel did make him feel better about himself than he had in a long time, but was there more to that? That he didn't know, at least not yet.

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, it's time for you to go to sleep".

Beatrice smiled and kissed him on the cheek, before climbing under the covers. "Goodnight, Daddy".

"Sweet dreams, little dove".

*

Once his daughter was asleep, Sam left the room and went into the kitchen to pour himself a drink. Alcohol isn't something he consumed often, but tonight he desperately needed the burning sensation of whiskey down his throat. Before he could take a sip, however, there was a knock on his front door. He went to open it, and in his doorway was one Daniel Espinoza, looking far more subdued and thoughtful than he usually did.

"Can I come in?".

"Sure," Sam moved to let Daniel come in, "I was just about to pour some whiskey if you want a glass?".

"Dad yes, I'd love some".

Sam poured two glasses, and Daniel downed his before starting to speak.

"I wanted to apologize for scaring you earlier today".

"No, Daniel, you don't…" Sam tried to interject before Daniel put his hand up.

"Let me finish. When you left, I couldn't figure out what happened. I thought maybe I'd imagined the sparks when we'd kissed and was afraid that, I'd seriously misjudged your sexuality. But then, when I knew I wasn't imagining things, I realized that you may not want to explore those options now that your wife is gone. I never wanted to take your free will from you, Samael, but…. there is something about you…. about us…. that makes me feel different, excited. Believe me, when you've lived as long as I have, excitement is not easy to find. The thing is, you make me feel…vulnerable, and that is something that has never happened to me before".

Sam had an intense look on his face, seemingly coming to a decision in his head before he walked over to Daniel.

"If it's any consolation, it appears you make me vulnerable too," he said before pressing his lips to Daniel's.

This kiss was even more intense than the one at the beach. Before things could go too far, Sam broke away with a gasp.

"Do you want to take this upstairs?".

"Gladly".

He grabbed Daniel's hand, took him up the stairs to his room, and quietly locked the door.

Notes:

I borrowed some dialogue from 1x11...kudos if you spot it