The Devil You Know - SPN

Chapter Eleven

The One In Which The Author Loves Adam
---

I walked into the kitchen where Adam was creeping toward the door. "Going somewhere?" I asked, intercepting him and leaning on the exit.

He sighed, "For a beer?"

I smiled, sweetly, "Good, we've got beer," I replied, placing my hand on his arm to guide him back to the table.

"Great," he replied, Sam walked into the kitchen as I opened the fridge and grabbed Adam and beer.

"You know you pitch this whole dewy-eyed bromance thing, but the truth is I'm on lockdown, right?" I sat down at the table in the seat across from him and nodded, softly.

"Adam, you may not believe it but Dad was trying to protect you. Keeping you from this." Sam reasoned from the fridge.

"Yeah well, I guess the monster that ate me didn't get that memo," Adam quipped, twisting the cap off his beer.

"Still, there's one thing worse than seeing Dad once a year and that was seeing him all year."

Adam laughed lightly at Sam's response, "You're so full of crap," he began, Sam widened his eyes, "Really. You see, it was me and it was my mom. That's it. She worked the graveyard shift at the hospital. I cooked my own dinners. I put myself to bed. So you can say whatever you want about our dad, but the truth is, I would have taken anything."

I chuckled lightly, he raised his eyes to meet mine, "What?" he asked.

"I don't know, just that you make it sound like having a mother who cared about you enough to work as hard as she did, was a bad thing," I replied, glancing at my bottle, "my mother spent most of my life trying her hardest to pretend I was never born."

I noticed Sam straighten up out of the corner of my eye, this was the first time I'd so much as alluded to my childhood and he was clearly intrigued.

"I'm not saying that living like that is fun, but don't make it out like you've been to hell and back. I'd love to have a mother like that."

He nodded slightly, "So, what? Now you parade around with these guys, as what? Their guard dog?"

I smiled slightly, "Guess so."

Sam abled toward us, falling into the seat beside Adam, "Look, if we had of known we had a brother, we'd of come and found you," he apologised.

Adam scoffed and shook his head, "Look, I can't change the past, I wish I could but from this point on—" Sam continued but was cut short by Adam.

"What? We gonna hop in the family truckster? Grab the dog and drive on down to Wally World?" He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sam smiled softly, looking down at the table, "I'll tell you one thing, with an attitude like that you would've fit right in around here."

-

Since Adam's arrival Dean had seemed even more adamant that he would be Michaels vessel, we'd take turns watching him and Adam. We'd a house full of flight risks and no plan, I wasn't the only one feeling stressed either. Sam was skimming over yet another book, his eyebrows knitted together while he bent over the piles of papers. Dean was sitting at the kitchen bench, a beer in hand staring idly at the counter.

He looked up when he noticed my eyes on him, a small smile graced his lips when we made eye contact. I could see all the lines around his eyes, the skin creased from his lack of sleep. His cheeks were hollow as well, making his entire face look gaunt, I chalked it all up to the stress of the apocalypse.

Sam groaned from behind me, "I've read every book in here twice and I've got nothing," he complained, straightening up his constantly crooked back.

"We'll think of something," I replied softly, attempting to coax him back into research.

Dean laughed dryly, "We've been looking for months and we've got bupkis. I don't think that's gonna change anytime soon."

"You're just being pessimistic," I replied, jutting out my chin and turning away from him.

"Pessimistic? What, you got a plan? Other than cross our fingers and hope?" he retorted.

"Maybe I do," they both swivelled around to face me properly, there interest piqued, "but you're not gonna like it."

Sam stood up and walked toward me, folding his arms over his chest, "What you got?"

"They're keys to the cage, right? We could find them," I began, Sam nodded, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yeah, so what? We gonna open it up and try and push him in?" Dean asked, sarcastically.

"Almost, remember when Bobby took control back from a demon?" Dean seemed to catch on then, shaking his head and standing up.

"No, no, not gonna happen," he cut me off, waving a disapproving finger.

Sam wasn't so easily deterred however and nodded at me, gesturing for me to continue, "Well, if Sam agreed we could open up the cage and he could take back control, just for a second, and jump in."

Dean looked like I'd just cut off his right arm, "That's not happening," he began, shaking his head furiously.

Sam pursed his lips, rolling the plan around in his mind, "It could work, Dean."

Dean looked at him incredulously, "No, no way."

I was quiet for a second, as an uncomfortable silence settled over the room, Dean's arms were crossed over his chest and his lips were pursed.

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, it probably wouldn't work. It was hard enough for Bobby to regain control from that demon, let alone the Devil."

Dean nodded, looking between Sam and I before moving to lean back against the wall, "You're not doing it, Sam."

"Nor are you," Sam said, standing up and walking out of the room.

I stayed where I was, watching Dean and taking note of the emotions flickering across his face. He moved his gaze from the door frame to me, "Do you really want him to do that?" He asked me, softly.

I felt like I shouldn't be watching him, in this vulnerable state, like I should drop my gaze to the floor before answering him but I couldn't tear my eyes away, "Just thinking out loud," I responded, watching his reaction.

He hung his head and uncrossed his arms, bringing the beer bottle in his hand up to his lips, "I'm not gonna let him do that."

I nodded, "He's not gonna let you agree, either."

He sighed and pulled his gaze back up to me again, "He doesn't let me do anything."