Chapter 1: Won't Get Fooled Again

Warnings: None yet, other than mild language and references to Hell.

Pairings: Implied, established Dean/Castiel

Spoilers up to Season 7, Episode 10

Sam had thought that he had it under control.

Or rather, he didn't think that. But like usual, he had been optimistic about his band-aid solution. In this case, it had been a literal band-aid; pressing the wound on his hand gave him a stabbing, burning anchor to what was real and what was from the Hell locked in his head.

Along with the fear, and the anger, and the disappointment…he couldn't help but think of how Dean would look when he learned about this. How Sam had messed up, again, and was having trouble picking up the pieces.

But that wasn't what he should be focusing on.

"Come on, Sammy," the devil said. He walked—they walked—briskly down a sunny street in Generic Small Town, Georgia. "I missed you. We never talk anymore. How's your dad? Or…dads," he continued with that smug, false concern.

After years of practice, Sam was getting used to pretending that his visions and hallucinations weren't there. As someone who was currently impersonating a federal officer, such a skill was important for appearances' sake.

Lucifer seemed to take his silence as a cue to continue. "Not well at the moment, huh? My condolences." His soft, gruff voice was an almost unbearable irritant to Sam; he'd spent almost a year being pursued by this bastard, and now several months haunted by his mirage. This voice was kinda like a bell to Pavlov's dogs. Only instead of drooling, Sam wanted to gank the son of a bitch.

He rounded the corner up the drive to the motel he and Dean were calling home this week. As he got his room key out, he scanned for the Impala. Since Cas had returned, he and Dean had been...out a lot, and Sam hoped the car's absence would mean that was the case right now. He was going to tell Dean. Really, he was. But he wanted time to think first.

He swung the door open, and that damp, dusty smell flooded his nose. The room was small, dark, and unoccupied. The pair walked inside, and Sam flopped onto his bed with a frustrated sigh.

"Okay, I know you're not real, you admitted you're not real…unless you plan on annoying me to death, just leave." He insisted, arm draped over his closed eyes like he was nursing a headache.

The devil sighed indulgently. "I don't want to anything you to death, Sam."

Nonetheless, a weight was lifted from the room, and the chill Sam hadn't noticed began to dissipate. The younger Winchester was alone with his thoughts.

…

"Yeah Sam, damn right I'm not thrilled." Dean said gruffly, pacing the room. Cas's gaze followed him seriously.

"I didn't figure, but you want me to tell you everything, right? That's how you said you could trust me. So I'm telling you. But I still know he isn't real, Dean. I'm not a total head case." Sam replied, trying to stay more patient than his brother. He didn't need to be this irritable—it wasn't Sam's fault. Technically it was Castiel's.

"I know Sam, but damnit. You kept saying you were fine."

"I was! I had a way to handle it! But it's…it's not working anymore."

Dean sighed, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. "Okay Cas, fix him."

All eyes were on the angel, who looked dejected. Or as Dean would say, 'constipated.'

"I…Dean…" the gruff voice tried.

"It's okay, Cas." Sam said, understanding.

There was a long, awful silence. It was the silence in which Sam looked for words, Dean smoldered irritably, and Cas did…whatever he did behind that concerned scowl. It was the routine they always had to play through to get past it—Dean had to blame his brother for something he couldn't help, then Sam had to apologize and justify himself, and Cas had to eventually find the clue or lore or whatever it was that moved them along.

The angel's frown deepened almost imperceptibly to one of nervous confusion as his glance flicked to the empty air next to Sam.

"And you don't think we're meant to be?" Lucifer asked earnestly. "We're the same, Sam. Your own brother, the closest person to you, is so willing to blame you. To pass judgment on your good intentions. Why is it I'm the one you don't trust?"

Sam didn't let his glance move to the figure in his peripheral vision. He didn't need Dean thinking he was having an episode of mild craziness at that very moment. He ignored the devil.

"Cas, can you…stay here, with Sam? I gotta grab a beer." Dean said suddenly. He didn't wait for a reply before slipping out the door The Impala's engine roared to life a moment later.

"DUI as therapy." Sam sighed.

Castiel nodded, then demonstrated a lack of appreciation for segues. "You are seeing Lucifer again," he stated gravely.

Sam's eyebrows rose with involuntary surprise, and he glanced to where the devil still sat, watching the proceedings with casual interest.

"Yeah, I said that. But I know what's real Cas. I told you."

"I'm not so sure that you do. Have you asked this image of my brother something you don't know? Something you couldn't know?"

"Why would I do that? He said he's not real. I can make him disappear." Sam protested. "And besides," he continued, gathering his thoughts "he could lie to me. Say he couldn't answer. "

Cas nodded in regretful agreement, gaze lowering as he thought.

Lucifer, on the other hand, shifted on the bed to lean toward Sam, staring in a way that dragged Sam's eyes to meet his. "I could lie to you, Sammy, but I won't. I want you to trust me."

That was all Sam could take.

"Trust you? You tortured me in Hell, you son of a bitch! You killed Bobby, and Cas, and you would've tried to bring Adam down if Dean hadn't gotten in the way of your fist! Why the fuck would I trust you?" He spat, standing to yell at the fallen angel on his bed.

And Lucifer looked hurt. Of course the devil could fake it, but Sam had never seen him drop his sarcasm for anything but his hate, even as his vessel. But he looked genuinely hurt, and it made the hunter pause.

"Fine. Then I'll ask you again: are you real?" Sam demanded.

"More than before," he replied with that infuriating little smile.

And now Sam felt more like panicking. "How is that possible?"

"What did he say?" Castiel asked.

"He said he's more real than before," Sam replied distractedly. "Tell me something I don't know. Anything." He continued.

"Jimmy Novak's father was a schoolteacher named William. He was born in 1932," Lucifer replied with patient amusement.

Sam repeated the answer to Castiel, whose brow furrowed with growing concern. "Sam, this is a true problem," he said. "I will need to tell Dean when he returns."

"Yeah, I know." He replied. "I just…how is this possible?"

"I wouldn't want to say without absolute certainty, but…have you seen anything other than the image of my brother recently? Anything else from Hell?" He asked.

"No, not recently," Sam admitted. "I did at first, but now it's only him."

"And can you, uh, feel when he's around?" The angel pressed.

Sam was nervous and confused, knowing that his answer was not a good one. "Yeah."

"Sam, I need you to listen to me. I would guess that Lucifer's energy bound to your soul somewhat. At first this would mean that even your conscious mind had snippets from Hell, but now you are seeing my brother. For real. And he is managing to slip into existence through you." Cas explained. "It's unprecedented," he added, seeing Sam's disbelief "but I see no explanation for your…delirium."

That was a whole lot to take in. Hadn't people spent a good part of last year telling him there was no way to get a soul out of the cage? And now suddenly Lucifer had managed to do it via piggyback?

"Hard to believe, I know," Satan said, rising from his perch on the edge of the creaky motel mattress. "But now I really owe you Sammy. So I want you to know how important you are to me."

"Okay," Sam interjected before the devil could say more. "You've said that before. Do I need to list the friends of mine you've killed again? I don't believe you. Except if this 'importance' is like the importance of your best suit." He snapped.

"No Sam, you misunderstand," he replied. "Things have changed. It's not about God, not right now. I have an eternity for that. Right now? It's all about you."

Hope everyone enjoyed that as an intro. I should be updating within the week, so hopefully you feel like continuing. R&R is always appreciated.