Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Okay, so this story is dark and depressing for the first two parts, but the second two aren't nearly as gloomy. The first half of the story is why Sam said yes. The second half of the story is what is going to happen in 2011 (in the show) in Detroit when Dean has agreed to take Sam back as a hunting partner, proving that not all paths lead to the same end.

Read and review and there will be more interesting things to come!!

Summary: Tag of sorts to 5x04. Sam said yes to Lucifer when he believed that Dean no longer cared about him. He said no when Dean was there for him. Four-part story.

The Devil May Care

Chapter 1: Say Yes

He pulled himself up over a pile of debris, letting out a loud groan as pain spiked through his body. He nearly blacked out again as the agony threatened to overcome him, but not before he saw the devastation that surrounded him. What few buildings were still standing were burning; the streets were broken and rearranged into small mountains; bodies littered the street, both demon and human; and there was a thick layer of smog that clung to the air, making it impossible for him to draw air into his oxygen-starved lungs.

He let out a huge cough, cursing mentally when wetness splattered his hand. He didn't have to look at it to know it was blood, that the piece of wood lodged firmly in his chest had struck a lung, that he was slowly bleeding to death internally. He didn't have a prayer. The thought caused him to make a sound that distantly resembled a laugh—he hadn't had a hope of a prayer in the longest time, perhaps since before he was born.

Footsteps, making no effort to be quiet, walked toward him. The ominous sound was the only sound heard for miles, save for the crackling of flames as they fed on the buildings and the occasional scream as somewhere, someone else that he was unable to save died.

He didn't have to look up to know who it was—and who it wasn't—and he couldn't help but feel as though someone had kicked him while he was down. Because he knew that it would never be his own personal hero ever again, the person that he wanted so desperately to be there, but had pointed out two years ago that they weren't ever going to be a team again and basically he could care less what happened to the other.

"Sam."

The gentle voice always scared him more than his father's angry voice ever had, more than Azazel ever had, and nearly more than his brother dying ever had. He couldn't bring himself to hate the person the voice because the person, or rather angel, sounded so sincere and so innocent. It was hard to believe that the angel was capable of so much destruction.

He couldn't make a sound, he could barely breathe, but he thought he got his how many different ways do I have to say no way in Hell am I going to be your vessel look down pat. His brother would have been proud, had he been there.

It hit him heavily at that moment.

"Take a look around you, Sam," the angel said with a sympathetic tone as the devil voiced aloud what Sam had just realized. "Dean isn't here. He doesn't care about you anymore. You're dying and your brother isn't here."

Sam desperately wanted to disagree, wanted to cling to the hope that his brother was here, that he would appear out of thin air to save the day like he always did. But he knew that it was futile, that his brother wasn't coming, that he was going to die alone this time.

"You're not going to die," the angel said quietly.

I rather die than allow you to use me, Sam thought loudly. He knew that the angel would be able to hear him as clearly as if he had spoken the words aloud and since he couldn't speak at the moment, it would have to do.

"The people you are so willing to die to save don't care how it ends," the angel murmured. "They just want it to end. This horror, this destruction, this nightmare that is their sad lives at the moment… they want it to be over. They want to be saved from it. You can do that, Sam, if you just say yes. You can end their suffering. You can end everything if you say yes. You can be redeemed, Sam."

No, I can't, Sam thought, because the only person he wanted redemption from no longer cared. That was obvious because he wasn't there.

"Your brother is foolish for not realizing the error of his ways," the angel said softly. "You have done nothing wrong."

Except start the apocalypse, set you free, consort with a demon and then stab my brother in the back by choosing that bitch, Sam internally growled. Yeah, that's definitely not doing anything wrong.

"You think that because that is what others have led you to believe," the angel pointed out. "Sam, I promised I would never trick you or lie to you. I'm the Devil, remember? I have to uphold my promises. You have done nothing wrong, except to say no to me. By doing that, you're letting innocent people die in this foolish war between your race and mine. Say yes, Sam. End Hell on Earth."

Sam was starting to lose consciousness. Pain started to overwhelm him. He panicked, looking for the person he trusted most of all.

Dean…

"He's not coming, Sam. Only I can save you now."

He didn't want to die, not really. Sure he threatened to do it just to spite Lucifer, Dean, and the angels in their thrice damned plan to bring about paradise on earth, but he would never actually have come through with it. Dean would have brought him back and personally killed him for that. Provided Dean actually cared enough.

"SAM!"

Would it be ironic to use the phrase 'speak of the devil and the devil shall appear' in this case?

"Say yes, Sam," the angel said urgently. He sounded almost… frightened by Dean's sudden appearance.

Dean hasn't cared about you in three years, a small voice in the back of Sam's head told him. Why should you keep holding out for him? Don't you realize how many people are dying because of this stupid crusade of yours to die human? You won't die human because Lucifer here will keep bringing you back over and over again until you say yes. Just say yes. End Hell on Earth and end your own suffering.

Sam saw Dean's familiar form in the distance, struggling to make it up a pile of debris. He watched as his brother stopped dead at the sight in front of him. Sam could almost see the shocked and horrified look on his brother's face.

He's horrified of you, the voice told him. He doesn't care.

"Sam," the angel said. "Say yes."

Those green eyes that had once been more familiar to Sam than his own, the ones that gave away all of his brother's emotions, now belonged to a total stranger. He recognized the expression, the one he had seen so often when he had been with Ruby. The obvious feelings of mistrust and anger and maybe even a little hatred.

It dawned on him once again that Dean never wanted to be brothers again, that he didn't care. After all, it had been two years without a single phone call, without a single hey, how's it going without anything. Dean had given up caring. So why should Sam care anymore? Why should he continue to allow himself to be hurt time and time again? Why should he allow himself to hurt people time and time again?

"You shouldn't," the angel murmured.

And in the end, it wasn't the promise of ending the world's suffering that made Sam choose to be Lucifer's vessel. It was that mistrustful look on Dean's face, the fact that it wasn't Sam but Castiel that stood behind him, the fact that Sam's world as he knew it was over. There would be no more Sam and Dean and Dean and Sam, no more brothers, and no more Winchesters. It was over.

Sam struggled to draw in a breath so he could state his reply.

"Yes," he whispered before everything went black.

Sam Winchester ceased to exist.