Thank you soooo much Jenjoremy for beta'ing this so fast for me – especially as you already have another of my stories to work on. You have made it so much better with your tweaks and polishes. You really are a star.
Ncsupnatfan is a trooper. I put out a call for help in October and she signed up to pre-read for me. I told her it was a big job, but even I didn't realize just how big it was going to be. This was my NaNoWriMo project and the story flowed like I've never known before. Most days I was sending her 2 chapters, and she came through for me with them every day. In 20 days she pre-read 115k words, gave great feedback, and made this story—hopefully—something worth reading.
Chapter One
Lucifer got unsteadily to his feet and came towards Sam, clutching his injured arm. He was bleeding and shaken from his altercation with Michael, and Sam reveled in the sight. This wasn't the mighty archangel that had tortured him for almost two centuries. This wasn't the archangel that could strip Sam down to his barest bones and laugh while doing it. Sam had the power here at last. It was liberating.
It was almost easy to grab Lucifer by the throat and stop him feet from the rift. He was smiling as he did it.
"Sam, what are you doing man?" Lucifer asked. "I'm hurt. Please."
Please… How many times had Sam said that in the Cage? How many times had he begged for the torture to stop, first for Adam, when he'd pleaded with them to hurt him instead, and then later, when Adam was gone, he'd begged for them to leave him alone, too? Did Lucifer really think a plea from him was going to make a difference after everything he'd done?
Holding Lucifer tighter, he leaned close and sneered, "How did you think this was going to end?"
He shoved Lucifer back and he fell to the ground, his eyes wide with disbelief. His lips parted with a question, perhaps why, but Sam didn't wait to hear it. He started to turn toward the rift, but then something caught his eye. Michael was looking at him, smiling slightly as he lifted a hand, and a then burst of blue-white light poured from his palm. It collided with Lucifer, knocking him flat, and then hit Sam in the center of his stomach. He was thrown to the ground. The air was knocked out of him, and with his first drawn breath, he shouted automatically for Dean, a plea and a warning.
He thought he heard Dean call back, but then Michael was rushing past him, throwing himself at the rift. He passed through and Sam bellowed, "No!"
Ignoring the pain in his body from Michael's attack, he crawled towards the rift, stretching out a hand. If he could just touch it, perhaps he'd be pulled through, but before he could reach it, the rift closed and Sam was left staring at the place it had been with a cry trapped in his throat.
He rolled onto his back and stared up at the grey sky, misery washing through him. "Dean," he whispered, though he knew now it was too late for Dean to reach him. They were separated by an entire universe.
The sky above him darkened with rolling black clouds and thunder rumbled close enough that it hurt his ears. Rain started, pelting Sam like darts and freezing him in his threadbare clothes. He lay there, feeling his defeat, and then sense began to return. He needed to get out of there before Lucifer came to him for revenge for what he had done.
He scrambled to his feet and started to run, his feet skidding on the muddy ground. He managed only a matter of feet before a hand caught him around the neck and dragged him back.
Lucifer slammed him to the ground and leaned over him, his eyes alight with malice and madness. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked. "You and I need to talk, Sam."
His eyes glowed red and Sam shivered with fear. The red eyes had always shone from Lucifer's true face, the one that he'd worn as he'd tortured Sam in the Cage. Seeing them now was like stepping into one of his nightmares.
Lucifer straightened and Sam watched as he raised his hands to the sky. Thunder rumbled again and the hairs on Sam's arms and the back of his neck stood on end. Knowing what was coming, Sam curled into a ball and squeezed his eyes closed. The lightning hit close, and he felt the ground shudder and the transference of the weaker jolt passing through the rain that coated the ground and into Sam, sending pain shooting through him.
He heard laughter and he looked at Lucifer. He was standing with his arms spread wide and his face upturned. It would have been a rapturous scene of someone enjoying the rain if it wasn't for Lucifer's obvious fury. He was looking up to see the storm his anger had created. He didn't look weak anymore. Sam couldn't have opposed him if he tried. Emotion gave Lucifer strength and this storm was just the smallest part of it.
Lucifer pointed a hand at Gabriel's body and a bolt of lightning hit it. Lucifer laughed cruelly, sending another bolt into the body of his brother. Gabriel jerked and Sam felt sick. Lightning wasn't enough for Lucifer though. He held out a hand and a rush of light, just like the one Michael had used to knock them down, poured from his palm into Gabriel. White flames erupted and, seemingly immune to the rain, spread over Gabriel, eating at him and turning him to ash. Lucifer laughed again, a mad sound. The flames died and the ashes were washed away by the rain; all that remained were the images of the wings scorched into the ground.
Sam tried to get to his feet again, thinking perhaps he could get away while Lucifer was distracted, but Lucifer shoved out a hand without even looking at him, and Sam was knocked back onto the muddy ground.
Lucifer seemed to calm slightly. The storm slowed until it was only weak thunder and drizzling rain. Sam lay there shivering in his soaked clothes and watching him as he paced, his face now pensive. Sam had always hated that look. It was what came when Lucifer was plotting something in the Cage, when he was divining new and more imaginative ways to hurt Sam.
Without looking at Sam he said, "You trapped me again, Sam."
"You deserved it," Sam said. "You don't get to destroy that world, or Jack."
Lucifer turned to him and his eyes glowed red again. "You took my son away from me."
"Good," Sam said, staring up at him with hatred. "You don't deserve to even breathe the same air as him. Jack is good and innocent and kind. He's everything you aren't."
"He is my son!"
"That's just biology," Sam snapped back. "He doesn't belong to you."
He stepped towards Lucifer, not thinking of escape now but revenge. He wanted to hurt Lucifer for what he'd done to him, to beat him with his words.
"You had a matter of hours with Jack. I had months. He's my family, not yours. I'm the one he came to for help and guidance. It's me that he cares about, not you."
"I was reaching him!"
"You were trying to trick him," Sam said. "He didn't know what you really were. If he knew the truth, he would hate you, too."
Lucifer's face darkened and Sam knew pain was coming. He was ready for it though. Lucifer could hurt him, but he would get through it as he had before. He could handle this. Lucifer wouldn't have the freedom of the Cage. This time Sam would not sustain when Lucifer plucked out his heart and showed it to him. Sam would die and it would be over.
He braced himself, but the pain didn't come. Instead, Lucifer's face softened and he looked behind him. Sam didn't understand what was going on until he saw a ball of light flying through the sky towards them. It landed, spraying up mud, and Sam was knocked flat and pinned by an inexorable force. There was another and then another. The sky seemed to come to life with the balls of light, and as they landed, figures appeared. They were all in the fatigues the angels here favored, though Sam would have known what they were even without that or their mode of arrival. They all held themselves stiffly and watched Lucifer warily, their eyes falling on Sam and quickly moving away.
"Pay no attention to him," Lucifer said. "Sam's just here as an audience to my triumph, aren't you Sam?" His face was filled with glee for the boast.
"Lucifer?" one of them, a female, said. "Is it you?"
"It is!" Lucifer said cheerfully. "I'm afraid I don't know your name. I've been out of the loop for a while."
"Beriah," she said.
"Good to meet you," Lucifer said.
"What happened here? Beriah asked, her eyes, like the other angels', on the scorched wings on the ground.
Lucifer chuckled. "Ah, those. Yeah. That's what remains of your mighty leader." He lowered his voice to a confidential whisper. "I killed Michael."
There was a murmur among the angels, and Sam realized what Lucifer was planning. He laughed. "He's–" He had intended to tell them Lucifer was lying, but Lucifer pointed a hand at him and the word came out as a breath, inaudible even to him. He tried again, shouting even, but all that escaped him was air. Lucifer had stolen his voice.
"How did you win?" a male angel asked. "Michael smote the Lucifer of this world."
"I was faster and stronger," Lucifer lied. "I'm not the flabby waste this world's me was, fresh from the Cage and out of practice. I have lived and fought in my world for years. I took on The Darkness. I am at the top of my game. Michael had only fought humans for years. He was no match for me. Well, that's a bit of a lie; he was a match and got a few good licks in, but I was ultimately the victor."
Two angels at the front of the group exchanged a glance and the woman said, "I don't believe you. Michael was a mighty warrior."
The man beside her nodded.
"And your names are?" Lucifer asked.
"Hester," she said. "And this is Inias. We're the commanders of Zone R4, and we don't believe that you could have beaten Michael."
"He was more than a match for you," Inias said.
Sam realized he'd met these angels before. They'd come for Kevin when they'd found the tablet. Castiel said they'd been killed by Leviathans. They hadn't seemed all that powerful in his world, but apparently here they had excelled if they'd been put in command of a Zone. Sam wondered where it was, what part of his world had been reassigned a number instead of a name, what it looked like now.
Lucifer sighed. "You know, I really hate doubters. Here I am, victorious and happy, finally having fulfilled my destiny, and you're killing my buzz." He looked around at the other angels. "What's an archangel to do? I know." He pointed at the two angels that doubted him, and they exploded into grey dust. "That's better."
The angels murmured among themselves and shifted from foot to foot. Sam understood their fear as he had experienced Lucifer at his most vengeful before, too.
"Anyone else doubting me?" Lucifer asked, eyebrows raised as he scanned the group.
"No," a tall male said, and the other angels shook their heads. Sam wasn't sure he believed them. He thought they were just scared to oppose Lucifer and end up dead like their fellows. Lucifer seemed convinced though.
"Good," Lucifer said. "Now, you have a choice. You can serve me and live, or you can fight me and die. I don't mind which it is. I already killed Michael today, and those two bozos, and I rather enjoyed it. I don't mind adding a few more of you to my account. Does anyone want to fight?"
They murmured, no, and some of them shook their heads and stepped forward to show him their willingness to serve.
"Well then, as an old enemy would have said, awesome. My first task is for you to get out there and do something for me. I need you to spread the word among the troops. I want everyone to know there is a new sheriff in town and he's got big plans. I want every angel out there to know what happened to Michael and… Hefter was it? And the other one. Tell them that I won't put up with doubters." He tapped his chin. "I need a few of you to stay here. I've got a job for you. You, you and you." He pointed at three of the angels and they stepped forward to him. "The rest of you can go. Now!"
His suddenly harsh tone reached them and they disappeared one by one, leaving Sam with Lucifer and the three angels. Lucifer looked from face to face as if appraising them and said, "You two, come here." The two female angels stepped forward, looking nervous.
"I'm a little depleted after the fight," Lucifer said, "and I need a pick-me-up. It won't hurt much, and you're really doing your bit for the cause, so if you'd just stand there, nice and still, it will be over quickly. "
He drew his blade and the angels took a step backwards. They didn't try to escape though, and Lucifer smiled approvingly. He whipped his blade across their throats and grace began to seep from the wounds. Lucifer leaned close, and the two streams of grace merged and drifted into his open mouth. He leaned back and ran his hand over their wounds, healing them instantly, and said, "That's better. You're probably going to feel weak for a while, but you'll be back on your feet in no time." He winked. "Maybe try some juice and a cookie. I hear that helps."
The angels merely frowned at him.
"You can go," he said.
He had apparently taken too much grace for them to fly, as they walked away swiftly, huddling close together.
Lucifer turned to the remaining angel and said, "What's your name?"
"Bartholomew."
Sam recognized this name, too. It was one of the faction leaders after the fall. Castiel had killed him. He was powerful though, and clever. If Lucifer was keeping him for any reason other than to drain his grace, it made him a threat to Sam.
"Bart," Lucifer said decisively. "What did you do before Michael bit the dust?"
"I was second-in-command to Zachariah," he said. "And when Zachariah was killed, I took his place."
"Were you loyal to Michael?" Lucifer asked. "No backstabbing and bitching?"
"I was as loyal to him as I will be to you," Bartholomew said.
Lucifer frowned. "That's not exactly reassuring, Bart, but I can use you anyway. You looked a little smarter than the other grunts, and I am going to need a second-in-command, too. There's somewhere I want to go, and I'm not exactly clued in on the geography of this place. I want to go to Michael's little hidey-hole."
"His hidey-hole?"
Lucifer looked disappointed. "Church. Kinda gloomy place. Cells and interesting accommodations hanging from the ceiling."
"His Fortress," Bartholomew said with dawning understanding.
"He called it a fortress?" Lucifer asked with a dry laugh. "He really thought a lot of himself, didn't he? That's where I want go. He had something there I need."
"It's in the Great Barren Plains."
Lucifer shrugged. "Means nothing to me. Yet. You lead, I'll follow. Just give me a sec."
He walked toward Sam and bent and grabbed his arm. He yanked him upright with such force and speed that Sam thought his shoulder was going to dislocate. He wanted to roll the joint, to check it, but Lucifer held him fast by the wrist.
"Ready when you are," Lucifer said.
Sam felt the disconcerting sensation of movement and then he was blinking in the dim light of a large room with a map spread across the stone altar but no other furniture.
Before Sam could do more than look around, Lucifer was dragging him back into a second room. It was empty but for a cage set on the floor with a large hook in the ceiling above it. It was barely large enough for a man to stand in, but its size was the least outstanding part of it. What Sam noticed was the metal spikes that were pointed into the cage that would stab into a person if they didn't stand ramrod straight. It was a cleverly designed hanging iron maiden.
"Like it?" Lucifer asked. "I know you have a thing for sticking people in cages, so this should be right up your alley. What do you think? Oh, right, you've lost your voice. I'll take your silence as agreement."
He shoved Sam forward, making him stumble. Sam considered running, but he knew that would only garner him more pain. He had no real chance of escape with Lucifer as his jailer.
Lucifer pushed Sam into the cage and the spikes scraped his stomach. He straightened up, not wanting to even breathe and risk being stabbed again. The cage door was slammed behind him and then he was rising into the air as Lucifer lifted it and attached it to the hook on the ceiling. It swung and the spikes jabbed at Sam. He had suffered much worse pain in his life, and it was easy to not make a sound, but he was worried about the idea of an extended period spent inside.
Lucifer turned the cage so Sam was facing him. "I know from personal experience that it's not exactly comfy in there, and more than a little constricting, but I figure you're used to cages, so you should handle it as well as I did." He leaned close and smiled cruelly. "You'd better get used to it since you're going to be in there a while. You're going to have a lot of time to think, and I want to give you something to really mull over. Michael went to your world, Sam, arriving in that hole of yours only seconds after Dean and the rest of your family. Now, I know my family is safe, Michael is no threat to my boy, but how long do you think Dean and the others lasted with Michael gunning for them?"
Sam's mouth dropped open as shock rolled over. He'd been so selfishly consumed with his own situation that he'd not though of Dean and the others. Would Jack be able to defend them, too, or would Michael have killed them all as soon as he arrived?
He whispered Dean's name, but all that came out was a soft breath.
"What was that?" Lucifer asked, cupping his ear. "Were you calling for your big brother maybe? He can't hear you, Sam. He's not coming. He's dead. They all are. I want you to stay here and think about that. They're dead. You're not. I have big plans for you." His eyes glowed red again and Sam swallowed hard. "Really, Sam, how did you think this was going to end?"
Lucifer laughed and then turned and left the room. Sam watched him go, only releasing his stranglehold on his emotions when the door had slammed behind him. He closed his eyes and a tear slipped out.
He was Lucifer's prisoner again, the people he loved could be dead, and he was in Hell. The location had changed, the torment would be different, but he knew what was coming, and that terrified him.
Sam was back in the Cage with Lucifer.
Dean felt Sam's hand on his back, urging him towards the rift. "Go! Go!"
Dean fell forward into the rift, feeling the dizzying sensation that it created, and then he was staggering into the library among the crowd of people that had gone before him.
Rowena was sitting at the table, sweating and pale with exhaustion, holding her hand out at the rift, keeping it open by some miracle. Everyone else was standing back and staring with fascination at the rift. Dean moved forward to give Sam space to come through and he looked back at it, waiting for a sign of his brother.
"Dean!" The word was an echo, barely heard, but its desperation was clear, as was the owner of the voice.
"Sam!"
The rift pulsed and Dean felt hope, but it wasn't Sam that came through. In the moment before the white light hit him, Dean saw Michael straightening in front of the rift. The force knocked him onto his back, forcing the air from his lungs and blurring his vision. He was moving though, rolling onto his hands and knees and crawling forward. All around him people were on their backs, eyes blinking and air being drawn into empty lungs, but Dean barely noticed them. He was almost at the rift, reaching for it, when it shrank and closed.
Dean's first drawn breath was exhaled in a sigh of his brother's name, and he kept crawling, even though it was too late.
"Sam?" Mary spoke behind him, and her voice was questioning and concerned.
Dean stared at the place the rift had been and then pushed himself to his feet and turned toward her. She was still lying on her back, looking up at him with confusion.
"Where's Sam?" she asked.
Dean held out a hand to help her to her feet. She took it and pulled herself upright. All around them other people were doing the same. Ketch had Rowena under his arm, and he seemed to be supporting her. Bobby was brushing off his clothes, and Jack was helping Maggie up.
"Where is Sam?" Mary asked again, her tone insistent now. "Has anyone seen Sam?"
"He's not here," Dean said. His voice was harsher than he'd intended, but he couldn't control it. He was struggling with the reality of what had happened and what it meant.
"Where is he?" she asked, though she clearly already knew the answer. They all did.
"He didn't come through," Jack said weakly. "I saw Michael and then the light that hit you all, but Sam wasn't through. It closed."
"Then… he's still there," Mary said, then she clapped a hand to her mouth as if that could call back the words, make them not real.
"Lucifer didn't come through either," Jack said. There was sadness in his voice that angered Dean as he thought it wasn't solely for Sam. Jack was upset his father, the murdering, torturing, monster, wasn't there either.
"We have to go back," Mary said. "Now! Open another rift."
Dean wanted the same thing, but he knew there was a problem. They had more of the fruit and Rowena had been able to siphon the power of the seal for her magic, but there was no grace.
He turned to Rowena who was sitting down again, looking faintly sickened. "Help us," he said.
She shook her head. "I could barely hold it open to get you all out. I can't open one from scratch. I need grace, and Gabriel was tapped." She frowned. "Where is he?"
"Dead," Dean said harshly. He'd thought that had been a loss when he'd seen Michael sink his blade into the archangel, but that was nothing in the face of what had happened to Sam.
Castiel shifted uncomfortably at his side. "There is only Michael left, and…"
There was no need to say more. There was no way they could get the grace from Michael.
"Jack!" Dean said, spinning to face the kid was still looking shell-shocked and sad. "Get one open."
"I can't," he said. "I needed someone to show me the way. I can't do it without Kaia."
"Kaia is dead," Dean spat.
Jack's eyes widened. "Then there's nothing I can do… I can't get them back."
Dean turned away, disgusted at him. It wasn't enough that he couldn't get Sam back. He was mourning the loss of Lucifer, too.
"There has to be something we can do!" Mary said desperately, and Bobby put his arm around her. She stayed rigid against him, her eyes wide with panic. "We can't leave him there."
Dean closed his eyes and tried to find calm. He couldn't think while his mind was reeling like this. He needed to find a solution to get Sam back, but, even when his thoughts had cleared, he could think of nothing. There were only two ways—Jack or the spell—and neither would work without more. He felt defeat washing through him.
"No!" Mary said harshly. "There has to be a way. We need to get him back."
Bobby hugged her a little closer. "I think it's too late, Mary," he said in a gentler tone than Dean had heard from their Bobby since the day they'd parted after Sam had gone to the Cage. "Michael would have killed them if they'd fought him, and I can't see your boy bowing and letting him through. I think Sam and the other one are dead."
Mary covered her eyes and Dean bit down so hard on his tongue to stifle his cry that he tasted blood.
"They could be alive," Jack said. "Maybe Michael was in a hurry to get to the rift. He would have needed to fight Lucifer. There wasn't time. He would have to have run right for the rift to make it through." He looked at Dean, "Sam is alive."
But that was worse. If Sam was alive, he was trapped in that place with Lucifer. Lucifer would destroy him all over again. He would never let Sam be. He would want to exact revenge for what he saw as Sam's crimes against him.
Dean looked at Castiel, pleading for reassurance. "He's there with Lucifer, Cas."
Castiel nodded, looking at Dean with such intensity that Dean felt like he was looking right into his mind. Perhaps he was, as he said exactly what Dean needed to hear. "Then he's dead. Lucifer would not let him live."
"No!" Mary cried. "He's alive."
Dean shook his head. "Cas is right. Lucifer wouldn't let him live." He clung to the words because he couldn't bear the alternative: that Sam was alive and trapped with the archangel that had tortured him so completely for so long that his soul had been ruined.
"But he brought him back," Jack said. "He saved Sam. Why would he kill him now?"
Castiel spoke softly, his voice steeped in the same misery Dean felt. "He did that for you, Jack. He has no reason to do it again."
Dean wanted to cry. He wanted to shout his pain into the room, to give voice to it, but he bit down on his already ragged tongue and held it in. He was angry, too, and that felt better. It was easier to handle. He was angry with Jack for defending his father, angry with himself for letting Sam come through last, and angry with Sam. He didn't want to be, but he was. Sam had been right behind him. If he'd just come through straight away, he would have been fine. He had hesitated for some reason, and that had doomed him. What could he have been doing that made him wait?
The answer came at once. He'd been dealing with Lucifer. He'd said he would, and Dean had agreed. He hadn't known what Sam was planning, perhaps Sam hadn't himself, but he knew better. He'd known they were out of time. The rift should have been closed already. Sam should have come through straight away, not waited to keep some stupid promise to stop the devil. He'd already done that once, and look at what that had cost him. Sam should never have hesitated.
His anger filled him and broke the hold he had over himself. In spite of his best efforts, a tear crept down his face. Mary rushed to him and put her arms around him. She stroked his back and whispered, "He's alive, Dean. I know it. He came back before. He will again. You have to trust him."
Dean pulled out of her embrace and shook his head bitterly. "He's dead. Lucifer killed him."
"He wouldn't," Jack said.
Castiel glared at him and his voice was harsh as he said. "You have no idea what your father is. He would kill Sam without hesitation." He looked Dean in the eye and Dean knew he needed to believe it as much as Dean did, as they were the only two people left in the world that knew what it meant for Sam if he was alive. "He's dead."
Dean nodded, taking comfort in the words. Sam had to be dead. The thought tore his heart apart, but it was better than the alternative.
"Stop saying that!" Mary shouted. "He's not!"
Dean turned away from her. He couldn't comfort her or persuade her of the truth. He couldn't make her understand why he needed Sam to be dead.
She didn't know that if Sam was alive, his soul was being torn apart even now at Lucifer's hands. She didn't know what that kind of torture felt like. She couldn't know as she'd never been to hell, and she'd never seen the damage Lucifer wrought over Sam the last time he had him prisoner.
Dean needed Sam to be dead, as he couldn't handle the alternative.
So… Here we go with a new story. This idea came hard and fast and was written in the same way. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Until next time…
Clowns or Midgets xxx