Me and the Devil Blues

Fighting old time evil is hard enough without the Devil (and his friends) perched on your imbalanced shoulder. One shot.

I'm going to admit I'm actually a huge fan of the Hallucifer angle. It opens a huge door of opportunity to drag out some old faces via poor Sam's hallucinations This fic is just me trying to play around with the idea. Hope you enjoy.

The title is taken from the Robert Johnson song of the same name. This story takes place during the first part of Ep07.03 'The Girl Next Door' – spoilers for up until then just to be safe. I own nothing even vaguely recognizable.

"Another UFO sighting in Nebraska this past weekend – those faeries sure do get to a lot of mischief, don't they?"

It took great effort for Sam not to look up from what he was doing. For the past hour, while he had been trying to cram in research on lore so old it was like blowing dust bunnies around the internet, the Prince of Darkness had been sitting opposite from him at Bobby's table, idly paging through a tabloid.

"You know, Sammy, ignoring me like the ugly girl with a crush on you in class won't make me go away," Lucifer said, giving him one of his smug, cold grins from over the paper.

Sam resolutely tightened his jaw and concentrated on the text in front of him. Leviathans – In Hebrew 'Livyatan(i)' meant twisted or coiled, and generally referred to a giant sea monster…

"Even now, after that pep talk with big brother Dean, you're thinking, 'Is this all real?' This life, this environment, what was once something so very familiar is starting to get a little distorted, isn't it?"

… The Leviathan is mentioned six times in the bible, particularly in the book of Job…

"What is the true, undeniable proof that everything you're feeling, witnessing, isn't part of the microcosm that I've so lovingly woven for you?"

… 'Can you pull in the Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?(ii)'

"Could it be that you might actually still be locked in the cage, with me, and Michael, and Adam? You remember, Adam, right? Your dear little brother. The one you pulled in along with the rest of us. I can tell you, Sammy, he's having a similarly awesome time."

Sam clutched his hands into fists. He took a few deep breaths and then reached out for the bottle of whiskey Bobby had left on the table.

At once Lucifer's hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist. "Is this how you're planning to get a grasp on your sanity?" he mocked. "One hand around the bottle, the other tugging on Dean's shirt tail? Because kiddo, you'd have better luck holding on to your gun, turning it so that you're staring barrel first into that bleak emptiness, and pulling the trigger…"

"STOP it!" Sam finally yelled, yanking his arm back.

Lucifer broke into a long, satisfied chuckle. "Oh Sammy, you're so damaged it makes toying with you so easy. Luckily it's also really amusing or I would be disappointed at the lack of a challenge."

"You are NOT real," Sam growled fiercely at him.

"Aren't I?" Lucifer said, raising his eyebrows. "You want to believe I'm not real, but you're not convinced. Sounds like you might need a little help deciding. Let's open the floor up to a completely impartial panel, what do you say?"

Before Sam could ask him what he was talking about, he became aware that somebody had occupied the seat beside him. He turned to see Anna, looking at him with a wide-eyed, placid stare. He started, but she put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Sam. I'm not here to hurt you."

"You tried to kill me," Sam accused.

Anna shook her head. "No, I tried to keep you from being born. It's not the same as dying – remember?(iii)"

"And if you had succeeded maybe we might still have our wings, instead of being regulated to this nonexistent shithole," another voice said, and Sam whirled around to see Zachariah by the sink, looking suitably disgruntled.

"I don't see how that would have affected your demise," a deep voice said, and Sam realized that Uriel had been standing by a bookcase. "Out of all of us you were the only one careless enough to get killed by a human – and by Dean Winchester, no less."

"Says the douchebag who got knifed in the back by Anael over there," Zachariah shot back.

Uriel glanced over at Anna. "I do owe you for that."

Sam looked at Lucifer, who was listening with a serene look and mild interest. "What are you trying to prove?"

"Nothing. They're going to do it for me," Lucifer said, motioning to those gathered.

Sam put his head in his hands. Somebody put a glass by his arm and began to pour the whiskey. He looked up to see Balthazar giving him a wide grin. "Do lighten up, Sammy. I know this lot may be less than stirring, but there's at least one friendly face."

"… You?"

"Actually I was referring to Raphael," Balthazar said, raising the glass to the figure walking through the door. "But we can go with me if you like."

Sam tensed as he looked up to see Raphael, back in his imposing male vessel, standing over him. "Sam Winchester. What makes you think you're special?"

Sam swallowed nervously. All the others had grown quiet, listening to the archangel speak.

"You fell into a cage that held Lucifer for thousands of years. Did you really believe that a mere demon and a seraph in a trench coat could have sprang you from there when two other archangels are trapped in there with you?"

"But Death…"

"Death is a powerful entity, true, but easily bound, and, as you're no doubt aware, hardly finite," Raphael continued. "He begins and he ends. The cage was designed by our Father, the Alpha and the Omega. Only He has full jurisdiction. And I fail to witness His presence here."

Sam felt the fragile glue on that wall in his mind beginning to wash away. The atmosphere was oppressive; the room started to tilt.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that 'seraph in a trench coat' blow your ass to kingdom come?"

Everyone looked at the newcomer. Gabriel was leaning in the doorway to the study, giving all of them his usual impish grin. Sam blinked in surprise. "G-Gabriel?"

"What's he doing here, you ask?" Lucifer said to him. "Well, I did say it was impartial, right?"

"Wow, it's rare that I'm the least douchebaggiest guy in the room," Gabriel said, coming to a stop by Sam's chair. "Zach, buddy, that vessel's doing nothing for the ladies, man. And Anna – rocking the ginger. Didn't do so well at the end there, did you?"

"This is your last bastion of sanity?" Raphael actually looked between disdainful and a little amused.

"Haha, I see even in non-existence you still have that stick lodged up your ass, Raph," Gabriel said to him.

He turned to Sam. "Oh Sam, please, stop giving me that woeful, puppy dog look." He leaned over and said to him in a low voice. "You know we're not real, right? Anna, Zach, Uri, Balthy, Raph, even me – each one of us got ganked, and most of it happened all right before your eyes. This, now, it's happening right here," he tapped Sam's forehead. "And while I'm flattered I'm taking up space in that giant cranium of yours, it's also a tad creepy."

Sam took a deep breath and cocked his head at Lucifer, who so far none of the others had acknowledged. "Is he real?"

Gabriel turned his smile to Lucifer. All the others shifted their attention to him as well. Lucifer gave them a nonplussed look back.

"He's as real as you want him to be, kiddo," Gabriel said.

And then they were gone. Sam blinked, and then looked across the table and saw, with no shortness of relief, that Lucifer had also disappeared. Sam let out the breath he had been holding and put his head in his hands.

And then a voice spoke. "Of course, you seem to want him to be real enough."

Sam's head shot up and he met the cold blue-green eyes of the Holy Sword. The Archangel Michael continued to speak to him through Adam's form, saying, "There's a part of you that seems to think you deserve this – to be tortured by what you don't wholly believe to be hallucinations.

"It's the guilt that cripples you, Sam. Guilt over your brothers, your parents, your friends… Guilt is what cripples all mortals – even more so than pride. And yours has chosen to manifest itself in the most sadistic of ways. It's seeped into both your consciousness and sub consciousness."

Michael paused and then leaned forward. Sam found he couldn't move; if he thought the atmosphere had been oppressive earlier it was simply unbearable now. Michael said to him in a solemn voice full of finality, "The worst part is that guilt never truly goes away."

And then Sam's eyes flew open, only to be greeted by a blast of light from an overhead lamp. He groaned and flinched, aware of a throbbing pain in his head.

"He's awake," a familiar voice said, and he felt a presence at his side. Sam cracked open an eye and saw Dean, a little bedraggled and leaning on a crutch, standing over him. "Jesus, Sam, you really gave us a scare."

"Yeah, that knock to the noggin really put you out," another voice said, and he saw Bobby, another blessed sight, come over. "Plus your kept thrashing around in your unconscious state every now and then. Bad dreams?"

"Uh, dreams…?" Sam murmured, blinking, trying to process what he was seeing, trying to determine if it was real.

Dean frowned, and then he reached over and gripped Sam's hand, pressing at the curved scar in the inside of his palm. Sam let out a slight hiss of pain. "Hey, Sammy, listen to me. You're back, okay? You're back in reality with me and Captain Singer over there. Got that?"

"Mm… yeah," Sam said, finally fighting out of the haze in his mind. "I'm back."

"Good," Dean said, looking satisfied for now. He gave Sam a grin and then moved to take a seat.

Whereupon he revealed the form of the Morningstar leaning by the windowsill. Lucifer gave Sam a grim smile that promised many things to come. "Welcome back, Sammy."

End

i There is a crap-load of lore on the Leviathan – there is also an interesting passage in the Talmud Baba Batra where it says that Michael and Gabriel will slay the monster (singular). Took great willpower for me not to mention this in the story proper (of course I just had to put it in here, didn't I?).

ii Job 41:1-3.

iii As debated on in Ep06.17 'My Heart Will Go On'.