Title: Parlay or Press
Author: scy
Feedback: scynneh@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine
Fandom: Supernatural/Lucifer
Pairing: Dean/Lucifer
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up through both series
Summary: Sam needs help to save Dean, and gets the only kind he can
Author's Notes: Written for Barb, who wanted flirting.
September 2008

Sam knew better than to go to a crossroads and summon a demon to get Dean out of Hell. He'd killed one already, and all he'd found out was that demons answered to more terrible powers, and one of them had been given his brother's contract. Even if he'd tried to call up another to try and persuade it to help, word had likely spread that it wasn't a good idea to refuse Sam Winchester, and they'd be on their guard.

So he had limited options, dark rituals copied out of books that people wouldn't let him buy, but gave to him in the heat of midday, begging him to take them far away covered sheets of paper like veins on dry leaves that rustled on the table. He had enough information to know that if he wanted to rescue his brother, do something that was probably going to rend through the fabric of the world, he would need more than a good argument and a gun to get his way. For this kind of problem, he needed an expert.

"Prince of the East, Light of Morning, I entreat you, heed my words and present yourself," Sam said, voice rolling out into the night air. "I claim an audience, with the right of blood given and blood spilled, Lucifer, come to me."

"Really," said a voice behind him. "A phone call is much less dramatic."

Sam paused, gathering himself before turning. "I tried your number, the woman that answered said you were out of town."

"Yes, I certainly was." Lucifer stood, dressed for the weather in a long coat, hands in his pockets, and stared at Sam. "When I said that you could get in touch with me, I had no idea that you were inclined to disdain the elegance of simplicity."

Sam snapped the book shut. "You want simple? Dean's been taken to Hell by one of the demons you told us we didn't have to worry about. What happened to you saying you would help us? Was that another one of your lies?"

"Careful, son of Adam," Lucifer said. "Ask, rather than accuse and you may find the answers worth hearing."

"My brother," Sam said, teeth gritted, moving closer, "Was taken by the hell hounds. His contract was collected, by Lilith, and now he's been dragged into Hell."

"Yes, I anticipated that event," Lucifer said.

"Well, then why didn't you stop it?"

"Your brother made an agreement with a demon, true, but any binding cannot be severed without consent of both parties. That she chose to hand it over is her own affair, but that demon is now dead, by your hand, so you cannot take your suit up with her."

"What do I do, wait around until Lilith comes for me?" Sam asked.

"You could do that, or you might as well look forward to the end of time. Lilith may try and kill you again, but she hasn't succeeded, and that should give you a hint as to what position you truly hold."

Sam stared, the nervousness that never left him now, that kept him awake at night, making him twitch impatiently.

"She hasn't been able to get the better of you," Lucifer said, and moved his hand, sweeping aside barriers as though pushing through air.

"That didn't stop her from taking Dean."

Lucifer gave him an exasperated look. "She had that right, Sam. This is no minor demon, she was Adam's first wife, who disdained his bed and forged her own kingdom out of the wilds of Earth before civilization. She has known worship and hatred, but she has only rarely been challenged, and not by mortals."

"Am I even that anymore?"

"You may not be entirely human, but then that was always true," Lucifer said. "Mortality is a thing you will have to test for yourself, and I do not think that it would be any real obstacle if you had reason to discard it."

"What does this do for Dean?"

"Knowing your strengths is what will make you an adversary rather than an irritant."

"So I have to fight somebody," Sam knew a little bit about the duelling code in Hell, but only a very small amount. "Who do I have to challenge to get Dean back?" Sam asked.

"Do you think it is so simple in Hell?" Lucifer asked.

"I thought demons liked ritual and bargains."

"They like winning much more," Lucifer said. "And a boy, barely coming into his abilities and apt to lose control is an ideal opponent. You have the passion and rage to fuel yourself during battle, but it will not sustain you if the unexpected interferes."

"That's what you think is going to happen?"

"We are in Hell, Samuel, there is little else you may count on."

Sam nodded unhappily. "So you have to make the appeal."

"I am your emissary," Lucifer said. "If there is a challenge, few will attempt to define the terms."

"Not against you, I'd bet."

"The consequences have been witnessed," Lucifer said, "There is yet another matter. No demon rules in Hell. The stewardship of the realm has been gifted to a pair of thrones."

Sam tried to find out what that meant, but it wasn't until they stood at the base of the steps leading up to a massive palace that Sam understood.

Angels, two of them floated on the humid air.

"Tresspasser," snarled one, pointing an accussing finger. "The fallen betrayer comes crawling, too late for mercy or foriveness." He dropped lower, and would have come down the steps twoard them, but the second angel descended to block his way.

"Why do you interfere? He has no rights here, and it is our duty to make an example of him," and the angel smiled in an unfriendly way. "I want him to know what it is to lose the grace of Yahweh," Remiel said. "To be alone, even on the fire swept plains of Hell."

"You should try another tack," Lucifer said.

"I've had ten billion years to learn what His plans are, and how little it matters to revel in the usual ways." He smiled, and Sam saw the quiet angel stand straighter, as though he recognized hte expression and knew to be cautious.

Remiel did not. "You are long out of His favor," Remiel said. "Tainted by the stench of humanity the base ruttings of that harlot you call a lieutenant. Now you take sons of Adam to your bed as well?" Remiel sneered.

"As ever, your prejudiced out only by a dangerously inflated sense of self importance," Lucifer said. "This mortal came through the gates of Effrul according to protocool and has a suit against your incarceration of his brother."

"Who is his brother?"

"Careful," Lucifer said. "Ignorance too, is a sin, and you cannot afford to acquire another."

Remiel stepped forward, and the other angel put an arm into his way, shaking his head.

"Do not presume, Duma," Remiel said, but stepped back and folded his arms. "Very well, mortal, speak."

"I've come for Dean Winchester," Sam said. "Firstly, by blood, then by history, and lastly, the ire of elementals we share." He had studied the words carefully, and known that it wasn't so essential that he got the order, but that he laid claim to his brother and let everything in Hell know that he wouldn't leave without him, and that it would be costly to try and keep Dean.

"Why has your brother been taken?" Remiel asked.

Sam didn't look away. "He made a deal with a demon, in order to protect me." It wasn't exactly the way it had gone, but he didn't really like the attitude of this angel, and wasn't willing to give up any more information than he had to.

Remiel looked bored. "A deal is unbreakable, and your brother, supposedly a hunter, should have known better than to enter a compact with a demon and expect to escape it."

"You claimed you had no idea who Dean Winchester was," Lucifer pointed out, and Sam thought he felt the ground sink under some unseen weight.

Blustering, Remiel took a step back. "I don't have to answer to you."

"When I came last to this plain, I was responding to a challenge from Amenadiel of the Host," Lucifer said. "I took his heart as a trophy." He tilted his head to one side. "What should I claim this time?"

"Dean Winchester doesn't belong to you," Remiel said. "The demon had a contract and fulfulled it according to its terms, those are the laws, and even you should respect that."

"This man and I have prior agreements that I share with his brother," Lucifer said. "Anyone entering a bond with him should have been able to read the markings on his wings."

"Wings?"

Duma was frowning and came down the steps to gesture at Lucifer, who nodded.

"He was touched by an elemental, Duma, and the brother too."

"Then that makes them a danger to other humans," Remiel, seemingly trying to grab onto any reason for not letting Lucifer have any ground.

"We know what we're doing," Sam said, and Lucifer laid a hand on Sam's back. His skin was so warm that Sam could feel it through his jacket, and he stilled. Dean had told him once that Lucifer only felt like he was carrying light inside him when he was gettting well and truly ticked off, and it seemed that these angels were going to get a taste of his anger. Sam couldn't find it in himself to feel even a little sympathy for them.

"Why do you delay, Remiel?" Lucifer asked. "Present the demon and Dean Winchester, else I will begin to demonstrate my impatience."

Duma turned to Remiel and waved a hand emphatically, and Remiel frowned.

"Why do you always cave to him, Duma? It's not as though he truly cares for you anymore, if he ever did."

"Jealousy is rather excessive at this point," Lucifer said, and crossed his arms.

"Very well," Remiel said and snapped his fingers. "Bring the two we speak of to this place, at once."

"That's all it took?" Sam asked Lucifer.

"Angels are infamous for wanting to prove their superiority over all beings, under any circumstances," Lucifer said.

"And you don't need to?"

"I know what is true and will alter all else that does not meet my needs."

Sam shivered, and Lucifer's hand pressed harder into him. "Steady, Samuel, you need to hold firm for a while longer."

A column of black smoke appeared between Lucfer and Sam and the steps. Sam coughed, breathing in sulfur, and then there were two figures in front of them.

A demon, in the shape of a woman, with dark hair and eyes that looked like blood, grinned as the smoke cleared. Dean was next to her, slumped on his side, eyes open, but blank, like he had been taken away.

"Dean?" Sam moved, and Lucifer yanked him back.

"Not yet."

"So Lucifer has returned," the demon said, and Lucifer took his hand off Sam's back, waiting for her to finish talking.

"This man is mine, sealed in a contract that was entered freely and that has been followed through to the letter." She sneered. "What has he done for the devil, that Lucifer cares so much about him? Does he do tricks? Tell me the best ones, and I will have them performed here and now." She stared down at Dean with a covetous pleasure that made Sam's anger rise.

"What he can do won't leave you alive to enjoy it," Sam said.

Giving Sam a dismissive glance, the demon snapped her teeth. "I am Lilith's agent on this field, human, do not speak to me."

"That Lilith didn't present herself is an insult to this matter," Remiel said, and turned his displeasure on the demon.

Bowing, and somehow making it a mockery of a respectful gesture, the demon did not appear intimidated. "Lilith regrets her absence, but the borders do not allow her such easy passage."

"So she sends a servant," Remiel said, looking even more affronted. "When this is settled, you, as her agent will convey our displeasure to her."

"Of course." The demon seemed bored with Remiel's threats, but when Duma gave her a long look, and then glanced to Lucifer, she straightened.

"Lucifer has nothing to claim here."

"Do not presume," Remiel began, and Lucifer stepped closer, having heard enough.

"If Lilith cares to make a formal protest against me, then she can expect the same welcome to my territory that I gave the Host of Heaven. And, she will find comfort in sharing the fate of an angel." Lucifer's fingers rolled fire between them, and nobody could take their eyes off the flames.

The demon shrank back.

Apparently, Remiel chose the company of even a fallen angel over a demon, and his smugness was turned fully to this new target. "An enemy of Lucifer could be an ally of Heaven, if they were not so beneath it."

"Luckily they are, and I will take that mortal from you," Lucifer said.

Still clutching the authority she had appeared with, the demon held onto Dean's collar. "My mistress has taken this one as her property."

"Argue this one second longer, and I will pull apart your excuses and your bones in the same breath," Lucifer said, and the demon let go of Dean and stumbled back. "Tell Lilith that if she attempts such foolish brashness again, I will not forgive it or the excuses with which you try and pacify me." Lucifer waved a hand and the demon vanished, a patch of blackened ground the only sign it had been there at all.

Sam rushed forward. He grabbed his brother, and Dean fell into his arms. "Dean?"

"He's unconscious," Lucifer said. "He may not remember what happened."

"Will it come back?"

"Best if it didn't," Lucifer said.

"But will it?" Sam insisted.

Lucifer reached down and placed a hand on Dean's head.

"He'll manage."

Sam opened his mouth to ask another question, but Lucifer held up his other hand. "Time enough for that later, Samuel." He turned to Remiel. "This ends my business here this time."

Remiel nodded reluctantly, and folded his arms, looking like he was swallowing something hard and bitter. Duma stood next to him, expression softer as he watched Lucifer.

Lucifer bent down and lifted Dean into his arms, the weight no trouble, and held him as carefully as Sam would have done himself.

Sam would have picked up his brother, but he felt the heaviness of ritual in the gesture, and knew that if he interfered, Dean's chances of making it out of this without more damage could vanish, so he stood by and watched the demons stare lustfully at Dean, and then him. When their eyes landed on Lucifer, they darted away, unable to stand the brightness that was showing itself around him as Lucifer made his exit, Sam and Dean encompassed by the same light.

They landed, or arrived at the same spot where Sam had demanded Lucifer meet him a couple hours ago.

Sam stumbled, feeling like he had been shoved back into his skin and that it was a bit too tight for him.

"What was that?"

"Your soul has expanded slightly, and therefore, your body has to readjust to compensate."

"How did that even happen?"

"In Hell, everything that you are, or have the capacity to do is revealed, and you measured up."

"Great," Sam said. "It still feels like my shoes are too small."

"Better than the alternative," Lucifer said. "Where is your conveyance?"

"The Impala? I parked it a mile or so away because I wasn't sure there wouldn't be a shockwave from the spell or whatever you were going to do to get us to Hell." Sam shrugged. "For all I knew there was going to be a backlash from the demons."

"None that I allowed to follow us," Lucifer said. "What they sent after us met a solid barrier and won't pass through."

Not surprised that either the angels or demons had tried to get back at them, Sam just wanted to know what to expect. "Everything's all right, then?"

"For the present," Lucifer said.

"Meaning we could have trouble again?"

"Never think otherwise. Given the hour and his condition, it might be wise to consider getting your brother inside. I can deliver you two anywhere, but he is rather fond of his car."

"Yeah, he'd kick my ass if I left it out here," Sam said, and his gaze moved from Dean's face to Lucifer's and the Morningstar was amused.

"If you trust me to get him out of Hell, he will be safe with me for a few moments more."

Sam held Lucifer's gaze for a second, enough to pass on what he might not be able to say aloud, nodded, and jogged off into the night.

Dean breathed in sharply, the memory of pain tightening his muscles, and his back arched in a spasm.

"Be still," Lucifer said, and laid a hand on Dean's face. "You are safe, Dean Winchester."

"Lucifer?" Dean asked, voice scratchy, eyes struggling to fix on a single point.

"Yes."

"Glad to see you," Dean said, and tried to get a sense of his surroundings.

Lucifer held Dean easily, not letting him fall as he insisted on standing, and letting Dean be supported. With an arm around Lucifers waist, Dean stayed upright, while not being entirely robbed of his dignity. "Samuel is retrieving your automobile, although he was very reluctant to leave your side for even a second," Lucifer said.

"Still doesn't trust you," Dean said.

"He's right not to."

"Yeah, pull the other one," Dean said, and refused to look intimidated, even when Lucifer raised an eyebrow at him. "You're the biggest badass of an angel there ever was, no question, but that doesn't mean I don't know what you're capable of." He waited, but Lucifer didn't interrupt, letting Dean have his say. "And I think you like having certain people around because they're interesting and keep you from losing your patience and just smoking every last sorry bastard that comes close to annoying you."

"Your vigor has returned," Lucifer said.

"I'm feeling better," Dean said. "But that doesn't mean I couldn't think straight a few minutes ago. You didn't have to help Sam without asking for something in return."

"There was an agreement in place."

"Yeah, and you keep your word, but that wasn't everything that mattered."

Lucifer didn't speak up, and Dean grinned.

"Okay, the angelic statue thing is really freaky, so cut it out, would you?" He looked away. "Reminds me of those two back there.'

"You're having flashes of it?" Lucifer asked.

"Just a little. Could be because you're here, you're helping me to remember."

"You don't want to recollect your time in Hell," Lucifer said, and pulled back slightly.

Dean held on. "No, I didn't mean that you should go." He tried to relax his grip. "Sam should be back any minute, right? I'll be fine."

Lucifer sighed, and hoisted Dean up and closer to him. "Which angel was watching you?"

"The silent one came in midway through that demon trying to take my skin off, and stopped it."

"Duma."

"You know him?"

"We have a long history," Lucifer said. "He will never harm you."

"Because he's so good, or something?"

"He is pure of heart, but it is because you have value to me," Lucifer said.

"Really?" Dean looked curious. "He's that close?"

"Once." Lucifer didn't elaborate, and Dean was aware enough to get the hint.

"The other one, he didn't show up, but I heard him talking, and I don't like him."

"That is wise, Remiel has no love for what he calls the lost souls of the damned, and even though you are no longer in the underworld, he holds no regard for your life."

"I got that." Dean's hand ran up Lucifer's arm and rested on his shoulder. "You do, though, and you kind of staked a claim for everybody to see." Dean's smile was wide and pleased. "Can't go back on it now."

"Are you going to try and make me regret the gesture?" Lucifer asked, neither exasperation or annoyance in his voice as Dean teased him.

"Probably, but it'll be interesting."

Dean exhaled, watching his breath cloud the night air, and leaned into Lucifer a little harder, trusting that he would be supported. "Thanks, for getting me out of there."

"It was necessary," Lucifer said, and kept Dean next to him, sharing the quiet, until the rumble of the Impala came over the hill.

-end