Smoke

Sam tracked demon signs to a suite of offices in Seattle, and when Dean insisted on transporting Castiel and himself there right away Sam had to argue hard to stop him.

“You always used to complain about Cas flying off by himself,” Sam said, noting the startled look on Cas’ face at that and regretting reminding the angel about the loss of his wings. “Just drive there. You like to drive.”

“I live to drive,” Dean said, the light dancing in his eyes all the more disturbing for the fact his eyes could flicker to black without warning. “But the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can scrape the black from my eyes and get back to showing Cas around the bedroom.”

“Yeah, Dean, I’m not helping you with that,” Sam said, because there was something a bit too relaxed about his brother’s appetites when he was like this. “And you can wait long enough for us to drive there.”

Somehow, Sam ended up driving with Bela and Hannah in their huge vehicle, leaving Cas and Dean to ride in the Impala.

“They’re probably going to pull over and make use of the back-seat,” Bela helpfully pointed out as the Impala vanished into the distance. “Oh, don’t look like that, Sam. As though you haven’t had sex in that car.”

“I really don’t want to think about Dean’s sex life,” Sam said. “I saw enough of it when we were younger, thanks.”

“You’d rather focus on Castiel’s sex life?” Bela asked.

It was a long drive.

Seattle was coated in a fine mist when they pulled up and Bela cut the engine, leaving the headlights on as she checked their location was right.

“It should be just across the street,” she said. “Does anyone need a rest break before we get to it? You can’t decide you want to go later.”

Sam’s door was yanked open before he could get to it, and Dean leaned in, looking for too pleased with himself. And with black eyes.

“Relax, Sammy,” he said, voice close to a purr, “just eager to get on with it. Come on. I’ll even let you kill a few of them.”

Behind him, Cas stood in jeans and a black shirt, his blade in his hand. He looked on edge. Sam wondered exactly how the guy felt about his newly acquired boyfriend turning Knight of Hell, or whatever exactly Dean was. Cas’ hair was damp, flattened, and it looked like he’d been out in the mist for a while.

“You’ve been standing out waiting for us?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

Sliding out of the car, Sam bypassed Dean and headed to Cas.

“You up for this?” he asked the angel.

The look Cas gave him almost made him retract the question. Still, Cas had a habit of throwing himself into things which were only going to hurt him. Sam at least had to ask.

“I’ll be fine,” Cas said, which was a step worse than usual. “I just want this done.”

Hannah had her own blade out and Bela carried a gun as they joined Sam and Cas, Dean pacing behind them, the black eyes and red shirt making him look truly murderous.

“You’re certain this is them?” Bela asked.

Sam didn’t bother answering. He was sure the signs pointed to demons. If they were the right demons was a matter of question, but some of the ingredients Bela said were needed for their spell had been bought from places nearby in the last few days, so it was at least a decent chance.

Apparently bored of waiting, Dean stalked past them and disappeared into the mist, not looking back to see who was coming. He must have known they’d all follow him. Or else he didn’t care.

“Do we have any way to force him back if he doesn’t come back willingly?” he asked Cas as they crossed the street side by side.

“We can try lighting the lamp,” Cas said. “It should reverse the process. In theory.”

In theory. Great. Always a solid bet.

Squaring his shoulders, Sam resolved that his brother would be coming back with him, and would be losing the black eyes. One way or another.

*************************************

It was the right group of demons. One of them, anyway.

Dean flung the doors open with a flick of the wrist. From eight feet away. Sam did his best not to react to that as he flanked Dean into the room, Cas on the other side, Hannah and Bela behind them.

“Hey, boys,” Dean said, despite the fact at least half of the room was full of demons wearing women. “I’m home. Who’s got a hug for me?”

And he held his arms out wide.

If Dean was expecting to be rushed, he was wrong. The demons looked at him, a few glanced at each other, and they folded to their knees. One demon, a woman with tight black plaits and dark skin, stayed on her feet, bowing.

“Master,” she said. “King.”

Dean turned back to the rest of his group, smirking, his arms still wide, and span back to face the demons.

“Now that I think about it, that has a nice ring to it.”

Dean snapped his fingers, and Sam found himself alone in the room with Hannah.