Chapter Text
“Okay, okay, enough about me. I talked all this morning, I want to know more about you,” Luke said soon after their food had arrived, pointing his chopsticks at Sam.
“Who says I want to tell you my secrets?” Sam rivaled, raising an eyebrow and making the other man chuckle.
“Guess I’ll just have to do a background check then - breakfast and dinner together all in one day, I should probably get to know you a bit better before spending any more time with you.”
“May I remind you that you are definitely the one who invited me both times?”
“I was thanking you this morning and merely wanting company in a new place this evening. Nothing more than that,” Luke said, a dusting of pink on his cheeks as he picked up his water glass.
“Ah. So as soon as you make more friends, you’ll throw me to the wayside?” Sam questioned, feigning an upset look.
“See, I quite like the fact that you call me attractive so often, so I may just have to keep you around for the ego boost,” Luke claimed and they both laughed. “No, I won’t throw you to the wayside - as long as you tell me about yourself,” he added with a smirk.
“Well, I have a brother named Michael-”
“Older or younger?”
“You practically beg me to tell you about myself and then you interrupt me within my first sentence!” Sam chided, nudging Luke’s foot. “He’s older by four years but he sure as hell doesn’t act like it. That’s it for blood family these days, actually.”
“Really? Just you two?”
“Yeah. It was us and our dad but he died a few years back, when I turned nineteen.”
“I don’t like how you reference nineteen as being a few years back - how old are you?” Luke questioned, raising an eyebrow and making Sam chuckle.
“I’m twenty-seven,” Sam offered. “But ‘a few years back’ sounds better than almost a decade ago, Jesus.”
“I’m thirty-six, Sam. I was your age ‘almost a decade ago.’ You’re still but a child,” Luke claimed, narrowing his eyes at him teasingly. “Have you always lived in L.A.?”
“I mean, in some sort of way, I guess? We were born here but mom died after I was born. My dad wasn’t prepared for an infant and a toddler by himself, so we ended up going to stay with our Uncle for a while in South Dakota. But then Dad wanted us back so we came back to California and he was pretty damn wishy-washy about his opinion of us until Michael turned eighteen. So we were in and out of various boarding schools or our Uncle’s place until then, then we came back to California to stay for good,” Sam explained, taking a bite of his dinner after his rambling.
“That’s really shitty of him, honestly,” Luke said bluntly, not even remotely willing to sugarcoat.
“He just… He didn’t really understand how to be a dad. Apparently he was excited when mom was pregnant but that was only because he knew she was going to be a wonderful mother and would make up for him. And I’ve heard the she was, to Michael, for those first few years. So it was a pretty harsh blow to him, you know? Losing your wife and getting a newborn at the same time?”
“Did she die during childbirth?”
“Yeah, she did. But, you know, this isn’t really the nicest conversation to be having the second time that we’ve spoken to each other. I think we got off topic pretty fast,” Sam suggested, taking a sip of his water. Luke gave him a sheepish look and nodded.
“Sorry. I’m just.. You have an interesting story, Sam. I shouldn’t have pried, I had no right to ask about something that personal,” Luke apologized solemnly. Sam gave him a smile and reached across the table, giving Luke’s hand a quick squeeze and shaking his head.
“No, it’s fine. I’m just sure there are far better things to talk about than my childhood. Why don’t you tell me about you? Organized crime, huh? Tell me what led you to here, Lucifer,” Sam finished with a smirk, leaning back in his seat as Luke took over the conversation once more.
--
When Sam walked through the door that evening, Dean was sitting on his sofa and lifted a beer to him in greeting. Sam wasn’t phased - despite owning two townhouses right beside each other, it didn’t stop his brother from spending the majority of his time there with him. The only time he even bothered going to his own place was if Cas was staying the night. He retreated to his bedroom, changing out of his clothes and into sweatpants and a t-shirt before finding his way back to the living room, finding a spot beside his brother easily.
“Where you been?” Dean asked, not appearing to actually care about the answer.
“Dinner with a new friend.”
“‘New friend?’ Is that what we’re calling hookups now?”
“Not a hookup. You really think I’d be home so soon if it were a hookup?”
“Could’ve fucked first, then ate,” Dean suggested with a shrug.
“He wasn’t a hookup, Dean.”
“Was it a date then?”
“No. Doesn’t fucking matter, anyways, it’s none of your damn business,” Sam snapped, resulting in Dean lifting his hands up in surrender and turning back to the television.
--
Please explain to me why my employees are all dumbasses. LA
I definitely feel that way sometimes. They have their uses at times, however. Gotta remember that. SW
I just feel like there’s only one guy here who’s actually trying to help me and the rest of them are just making my life difficult. They’re… challenged, at best. LA
At least you have that one? SW
Michael's my one. Most days. SW
Okay. Some days. SW
Yeah, I guess. The Captain is a smart one - he’s definitely done well in trying to get me caught up. There’s a LOT that they had on their plates before my arrival and it doesn’t just disappear because the Commander died. LA
Captain must be a really good guy, then. Take advantage of his knowledge and mold him to help you the way you want it. SW
Old Commander may have done things a lot differently than you do. Perhaps you can mold him and the rest will follow. SW
“Sam, dinner’s just about ready,” Castiel announced from the kitchen, where he was assisting Dean. “If Dean will stop,” he added, smacking Dean’s hand when it traveled too low down his back for the twentieth time.
“You know what that uniform does to me,” Dean excused, eyeing his partner who indeed, was still in his police uniform from work today. Sam smirked at his phone for a moment, amused.
“I don’t care, Dean, I’m starving - there was barely time for lunch today with the new boss. Should’ve known they call him Lucifer for a reason,” Cas whined and Dean growled, angrily plating the pasta now.
“You have it under control, right? Do you need some help?” Dean asked. The look Castiel gave Dean easily rivaled Sam’s bitchface.
“Yes. Please. My knight in shining armor, come and help me with the new boss. I don’t know how I ever could’ve handled Commander Jackson for all those years without your hands on top of mine,” Castiel answered dryly, taking the plates from Dean and placing them on the table before turning to make two salads for himself and Sam.
“Leave him be, Dean, before you get castrated,” Sam warned, heading into the kitchen now. “I’m sure Castiel has it under control. Start doubting him and he’ll turn on you.” To emphasize Sam’s statement, Castiel turned from where he was slicing cherry tomatoes and pointed his knife at Dean. Dean may not have been very amused but Sam laughed loudly, extremely pleased as they sat down to dinner.
--
“Charlie, I’ve got a job for you,” Sam called out as he let himself into her apartment around midnight the next night. Charlie was at her desk and barely spared him a glance as she saved and closed whatever game she was playing. “I need information on someone.”
A dark, mischievous glint entered Charlie’s eyes and she grinned at him, immediately opening up databases.
“Name?”
“Lucas Alighieri, originally from Chicago. I want everything you can find. Be thorough but quick,” Sam ordered, tapping his fingertips on her desk as Charlie’s own flew across her keyboard.
“I’m meeting with Dean tomorrow for lunch. I’ll have a file ready by then.”
“Dean doesn’t find out about this project, Charlie. This is just a me and you thing,” Sam said, using a voice that was rarely necessary with her. She looked up at him, slight alarm, slight annoyance on her face.
“Don’t you go all bossman on me, Winchester,” she chided. If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t have seen the light the next morning. But it was fucking Charlie and despite her smart mouth, she was more than just an employee.
“You hand this off to nobody but me, do you understand?”
“Sir, yes, Sir.”
In a matter of three weeks, Sam and Luke had met up for breakfast five times (they had attempted a few more but Luke didn’t like mornings and often didn’t get up early enough to properly meet with him - the first day of work was a special circumstance). However, they had met for dinner fifteen times with only two overlaps with their breakfast meetings. They had seen each other eighteen times in twenty-one days before Luke finally gave in and used the word ‘date.’ So Sam milked it for all it was worth, teasing him about their first date relentlessly and asking him if he was nervous and was he going to wear a tie. (Spoiler: Luke didn’t wear a tie.)
In fact, Luke cooked dinner for them both at his place and then they sat down for a movie in his living room. The difference between this date and other times they had dinner at Luke’s place was the physicality - the touches as they moved about the kitchen, Sam allowing his hand on Luke’s lower back to stay there longer than just as he scooted past him, Luke pulling him in close as the stir-fry simmered and playing with his hair. Date number two involved a short hike to a picnic spot, where they sat on a Star Wars blanket (“You just said bring a big blanket! You didn’t say a specific one, Sam!”) and Luke tackled Sam when he was sitting and happily stayed on top of him, talking, for quite some time. And finally, date number three happened in public at a restaurant.
--
“Sarin? What the hell is sarin?” Sam asked, laughing as Luke took a bite of his burger. “I’m over here making sure these idiots realize that a running car in an enclosed space creates carbon monoxide and you’re dealing with some fuckers who are killing people with some poison I’ve never heard of before,” Sam shook his head, reaching over to steal a fry from Luke’s plate. “Look, we are on two completely different playing fields.”
“It’s refreshing, Sam, to talk about things with someone who isn’t so serious all the time,” Luke answered, smacking Sam’s hand when he reached for another fry. When Sam shot him puppy-dog eyes though, Luke caved and held out a fry, which Sam took with his mouth instead of his hand. “Even if you are a pain in the ass,” he added, though there was no malice to it - especially not when Sam shot him that smile.
“And I didn’t know anything about it myself - the Captain and the toxicology reports had to fill me in. It’s a nasty thing. First thing I looked for were earlier reports of local deaths in the same way. They had to make that shit and I figured there’s no way someone makes something that deadly and gets it right on their first try. They had to have made a mistake somewhere, right? But no, there was nothing. I even widened the search out of L.A., still nothing,” Luke complained. He found Sam’s company invaluable and appreciated how the other never hesitated to let him rant about his daily frustrations. In turn, he listened to stories Sam told about his brother, Michael, about his life moving cross-country so frequently, and about work. Despite Sam downplaying the work he did in running the garage, Luke could clearly tell that Sam was a lot smarter than he gave himself credit for. It made him wonder if Sam could’ve gone off to do better things had he been given the chance at a proper education. Luke could really use that brain of his on his team.
“That’s crazy. Kinda makes you feel unsafe, knowing there’s people out there like that, with access to stuff like that. From what you’re saying, it sounds like it wouldn’t be hard to wipe out the entire city, especially if they’ve gone as far as outlawing it from warfare,” Sam rubbed the back of his neck, looking slightly uncomfortable.
“Hey, no, don’t think like that. We won’t let that happen. And besides, these guys don’t want that to happen either. Can’t keep power if there’s nobody to control,” Luke pointed out, reaching out his hand to place over Sam’s. Sam looked more at ease with his words and Luke gave him a soft smile. “Come on, let’s talk about something happier, yeah?” He offered, giving Sam’s hand a quick squeeze before letting go.
They sat and talked for another hour, their food long gone, before finally agreeing that it was probably time to head out. With a generous tip - partially as an apology for holding the waitress’ table for so long - they headed outside and started their walk back to the parking garage they’d left their cars in earlier. Luke walked Sam over to his car, even though it was on the other side of the garage from his own, and they both leaned against the vehicle as they wrapped up their night.
“I know the implications of what happens on a third date, Lucifer,” Sam pointed out when Luke’s hand found his hip.
“Do you now?”
“I do. And I’d just like to make it clear that I’m not that easy.”
“What if I wasn’t going to ask for sex?”
“Just a preemptive measure, in that case,” Sam murmured with a slight smirk as Luke stepped in closer and they both leaned in, faces mere inches away from each other.
“What about a kiss? Do you kiss on a third date, Sam?” Luke asked quietly, his eyes darting down to look at Sam’s lips. Sam ran his tongue over his bottom lip before nodding.
“Since you asked so nicely,” he whispered in response, leaning in to kiss the other. Sam had expected it to quickly escalate, wanting the other man desperate and panting by the time they were finished, just so he could leave and draw it out longer. He couldn’t chase Luke; he had to make Luke thing it was all his idea, had to make him want Sam so badly that if and when he found out the truth, he couldn’t bare to leave. But it stayed slow and sensual as a hand found his long hair. Luke didn’t pull, he just softly ran his hand through it while the other came to rest on Sam’s chest. Sam had one hand on Luke’s hip and the other on his back, keeping him flushed close as they explored each other’s mouths like long-lost lovers trying to memorize each other again after so long apart. When Luke finally pulled back, it was quiet, both of them just staring at each other until Luke leaned back in for one last soft, chaste kiss.
“You, Sam Wesson, are more than worth the wait,” Luke whispered, squeezing Sam’s hand before taking a few steps back. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, beautiful.”
“Dude, you know good and well that if there are plans to meet again after date three, then I have every right to meet whoever it is,” Dean complained the next day over lunch in their office. “You’ve spent more time with him than with me in the past few weeks and you won’t even give me a goddamn name. I’m about to get Charlie to track your ass and get me answers.”
“Charlie won’t listen to you over me,” Sam pointed out with a challenging look.
Dean was older, yeah, but that didn’t mean that he was the one in charge around here. That had been his father’s plan in bringing them back to L.A. when Dean turned eighteen. John was grooming Dean, preparing him to take over. But Sam and Dean had an unbreakable bond and Dean wasn’t about to do this alone - an equal playing field for them both, as soon as Sam was old enough, Dean had argued. They’d do it together or not at all. John had protested but when Sam turned eighteen and Dean made it clear that he was serious, John had to fold. He had died the next year anyway and the two brothers had taken over together, in stride every step of the way. But Sam… Sam was the engine behind it all. Sam knew strategy and Sam knew people. He knew how they ticked and who they could trust and most importantly, who they couldn’t. Sam had been the one who brought Castiel into the picture, a brand new beat cop at the time. He had been easily and quickly molded into exactly what they needed him to be and Sam and Dean had planted the seeds for a quick and easy promotion, purposely leaving him one step away from the top.
In theory and in name, Sam and Dean were both in charge. But even Dean knew that his baby brother had a natural talent for this that he himself had never received - and in the end, if he had wanted the power to himself, he wouldn’t have fought for Sammy to join him.
“That’s not the fucking point, Sam. I need to check this dude out and make sure he’s not going to cause any problems.”
“He won’t, Dean.”
“Let me help decide that. If you’re bringing some random new man into your life, I deserve to know. For my safety, if anything.”
“Jesus, Dean, you have nothing to be afraid of. Stop acting like I’m fucking the mayor.”
Dean was quiet for a few beats, brooding in his chair before standing and smacking his hand down on his desk.
“I’m trusting you, Sam. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t!”
--
“That’s a nice photo. Who is that?” Luke asked when dropping a file off on Captain Novak’s desk. Castiel glanced up, following the Commander’s gaze, and smiled softly, picking up the picture frame.
“That’s my partner, Michael,” he answered, letting Luke see the photo up close.
“You look very happy together.”
“We are - I’m a lucky man. He co-owns a garage downtown with his little brother. I didn’t really have anybody here and then I met the two of them. My life’s been changed ever since,” Castiel explained, setting the photo back down on the desk. He noticed the look on the Commander’s face and tilted his head, unsure of the cause.
“Commander?”
“You said his name is Michael, yeah?”
“Yes. Michael Wesson. His little brother’s name is-”
“-Sam.” They both said the name in unison and Castiel looked at Luke in confusion.
“How do you know that?” He asked his boss, appearing to look uncomfortable. Luke chuckled quietly, a small smile finding its way onto his lips.
“Because I’m seeing Sam. I’ve heard a lot about this Michael of yours.”
--
Dean, we need to talk. Now. CN