Disclaimer: As much as I love this show, I don't own any of the characters. That honor belongs to Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble and co.
A.N: Whoo-hoo! S7 is 2-2 so far. Both episodes have been stellar and to prove it, after I saw the warehouse scene, the best brotherly moment we've had in a long time, I knew I had to write more about it. So this is an extended conversation into that moment and one of two tags to this episode but more on that at the end of the story.
Summary: Tag to 7.02: LTC. And extended look at the Warehouse scene. LimpSam of course.
Lucifer smirked walking closer to Sam, "Want to point that gun at someone useful? Try your face."
Sam's eyes widen at the implication the devil was making.
"Want to know the truth? Want to skip to the last page of the book? You know where to aim." Lucifer lifted up a finger to the underside of his jaw and make a 'pow' motion.
Sam took a step back, his head shaking a little more vigorously. "No….no…."
Lucifer gave Sam a mocking sympathetic look, "It's the only way to get rid of me, that's for sure. Although…." He paused and tapped a finger o his chin as if thinking, "Oh, that's right!" he snapped his fingers and pointed to Sam, "You'll end up in hell again, anyway. " his voice turned chipper, "So I'll see you there, buddy!"
Sam took another step back, his entire body taunt as a bow string, ready to snap at any moment. "No…." He didn't want to believe that he would have back to hell again. He couldn't do it again. Once was one time too many.
He couldn't go back to the cage.
He just couldn't!
The door opened and Sam's eyes snapped to it as a too familiar figure stepped in.
"Oh, look another me!" Lucifer grinned.
Dean looked around, "Sam….what are you doing?"
Out of reflex, Sam held up the gun level with his brother who threw up his hands, "Whoa, what are you doing?"
Sam's voice trembled, "I was with you Dean…..I was with you!"
"Okay, then here I am!"
"No, no….no….I…..he, you….." Sam couldn't form a coherent thought as he glanced between Lucifer and Dean, "I don't know that for sure. I can't know that for sure!"
"Okay we'll have to start small."
"I say just jump ship, life made easier." Lucifer spoke up.
"Shut up!" Sam screamed making Dean jump.
Dean licked his lips and dared to take another step forward. This was a precarious situation. Sam's eyes darted around, "I don't remember driving. I don't remember."
"That's cause I drove", Lucifer volunteered, "Well, you thought so anyway. You see…"
"Be the heck quiet!" Sam snapped again pointing his gun at Lucifer and firing.
"Whoa, whoa! Sam, this conversation doesn't require a weapons discharge!" cried Dean.
Sam eyes were wild as it settled back on Dean.
Lucifer mulled, "As much as I'm having fun, I say skip all this drama and discharge your gun into your skull or mouth or whatever floats your boat!"
"Didn't I tell you to shut the heck up!" Sam cried physically turning to Lucifer.
Dean watched wide eyed, his eyes darting from Sam to the space Sam was talking too, trying to make sense for what his hallucination was supposedly telling him.
"Hey, excuse me for trying to make your life a little bit simpler." Lucifer huffed.
"My life was simpler before you came! Before all this crap!"
"Then end it once and for all, take your chances and be done with it!"
"You would like that, wouldn't you? Off myself! Then you get sweetest end of the deal!"
Dean's blood went ice cold at Sam's words.
Lucifer leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner, "I kinda do."
Dean jumped as Sam let off another shot. "Sam!" He cried.
"Everyone shut up and give me a moment of freaking peace! Is that too much to ask for?" Sam screamed running his hands through his hand in a crazed manner.
Dean swallowed keeping is voice soft and steady but loud enough to be heard, "No…no it isn't. I want to help you."
"You could be the angel to the devil on my shoulder for all I know." Sam lifted his head, "You could be another hallucination for all I know. I don't know! Whatever and whoever you are, I don't freaking know!"
"Then I will prove it to you", Dean spoke up, "I'll prove that I'm the angel to the devil. I'm the good guy. Give me one chance to prove it. Just one!"
Sam looked at him, hands still holding either side of his head, messing up his hair. The fact that he seemed to be listening gave Dean some comfort.
So he continued, "Come on. You don't know what's real? I can relate. Remember? I've been to Hell. Okay, I know a thing or two about torture. Enough to know that it feels different. Than the pain of this...this regular, stupid, crappy this."
"Yeaaaaaa, sure, right." Lucifer commented making Sam's eyes drifted to the side to him.
"Sam!" Dean snapped seeing he was losing his attention. He could not afford to lose his attention. He wouldn't! , "Look at me, man! Please!"
That pleading voice so familiar to Sam, made him look back at his brother. He shook he head, "How do you know? How do I know?" His voice came out pleading, looking for any anchor, any port in the storm.
Something.
Anything.
"Let me see your hand." It hurt that Sam looked at him suspiciously, but Dean was unwavering as he held out his own, "Let me see it."
Lucifer sighed, "What is it about hands right now? He got a hand fetish?"
Sam's eyes once more trailed to Lucifer.
"Sam!" Dean snapped, his voice laced with desperation, "Your hand."
Sam stared at him moment before slowly lowering both hands from his head the one with the gun in it, in the lead.
"Other one!" said Dean.
"I cannot believe you are listening to this crap. Sam, pull the trigger. Pull it and be done with it! Come on, put yourself out of your misery. Cause it's just gonna get worse. Like you can tell what is real and what isn't. There isn't a way. Not even Dean can show you that." Lucifer took a step towards Sam making him take a step back.
Dean glanced at the empty space before taking the chance and shooting his hand out to grasped Sam's bandaged hand. Sam didn't even seem to notice as he was too busy looking at Lucifer in horror. Dean shook his hand to get his attention. Sam's eyes snapped back to Dean's face, his too large eyes taking up most of his expression.
Dean brought Sam's hand up making him glance at it, "This is real. Not a year ago, not in Hell, now. I was with you when you cut it, I sewed it up! Look!" he pushed away the guilt at squeezing his brother's hand, physically causing him pain, while grabbing the barrel of the gun in Sam's other hand.
"Now you got to know this isn't real", Lucifer spoke, "Your so-called brother is hurting you."
"You're hurting me", Sam choked out.
"But it's real, isn't it!" Dean pressed, anguish at causing his brother excesses pain, but not knowing what else to do.
"I can feel it, if that's what you mean. Please stop."
"Don't be such a baby, Sam." Lucifer growled, "We've done a lot more with pain, you know."
Dean eased up but his voice didn't lose any of his vehement tone, "This is different, though. Right? Then the crap that's tearing at your walnut? I'm different." His voice took on that desperate tone, "Right?"
"Sure, your brother is hurting you. That's different." Lucifer's tone was mocking as he nodded solemnly.
Sam glanced at Lucifer. "You're hurting me, too."
"At least you know to expect that from me. But Dean, this thing here, you wouldn't expect that from him, hence, he cannot be what he says."
In Sam's mind that logic was really logical but part of him was screaming that it was wrong. That Lucifer was wrong. But was it just that he really wanted to believe that anything but Lucifer was right. If a tree told him the opposite of Lucifer, he'd be more inclined to believe that.
Even though trees cannot talk.
This made a small laugh escaped him. Here he was thinking about talking trees. He knew he was losing it. Dean heard Sam's breathy laugh and it shot a spike of fear through him.
"Sam, Sam….please!"
"The real Dean wouldn't hurt me" Sam murmured looking back at Dean, that suspicious look coming back full force.
Dean was momentarily at a lost for words but he bounced back quickly. If he was playing cat and mouse with some hallucination, he couldn't see or physically fight himself, he would darn well not lose, "I'm helping you. How many times have I beat you up? Huh, tell me Sam? How many times have I had to beat or kick some sense into you? How many times have you done the same for me?"
He jerked at Sam's hand it vibrating up his arm, to keep his attention, "Hey. I am your flesh-and-blood brother, okay? I'm the only one who can legitimately kick your butt in real time. You got away. We got you out, Sammy. You are not in hell, you haven't been for a long time now. That's over, that's past, that's done. We deal with the hand given to us now."
Dean saw Sam's thoughts swirling as he cocked his head. It must have said something because Sam hadn't snatched his hand away yet. Dean was willing to grasp onto anything. Sam glanced at Lucifer who rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. To anyone else, they might have missed this sign, but even with Sam in his current state it didn't go unnoticed.
"You got nothing to say to that? No comeback? No stating your case?"
Dean's hope rose slightly at Sam's words to empty air. He dared to believe that something was sinking through.
"You are still my bunk buddy."
"That's not an answer to the question, nor is it a defense to your case."
If it was a lighter moment, Dean might have been amused that Sam sounded so lawyer-ish. Once upon a time, he would have been. He would still have been now in another life.
Lucifer shrugged, "Doesn't mean anything."
"Still not an answer but does it? That's classic when you don't know what else to say."
Dean was listening closely trying to fill in what his little brother's hallucination might be saying.
Lucifer gave a smile, "Sammy, Sam…. I'm telling you. It's not gonna end until you take that gun and pull the trigger. Don't get smart with me now. I still have the winning hand."
Sam's hope was fading fast. He was right. It wouldn't end. There would be no end. Dean's own heart plummeted fast, when he saw how Sam's face fell. "Sam, hey, hey. Look at me. Look at me." He reached out his other hand and grabbed Sam's shoulder, using his hand to force his head and gaze to him.
"Listen to me. I don't know what he, she, it or them is saying, but you have to trust something. Right? You wanna and more than that with this, you gotta trust something. Trust me, I know. You have to trust someone and I'd rather it be me. I'd rather you believe in the storage of memories and all that other good crap we have, you know? Risk of sounding incredibly Dr. Phil-ish, believe in that!"
Lucifer made a choking noise making Sam's eyes drift towards him. "Please all this touch-feelly, hold hands and skip through the meadows ain't gonna do you a bit of difference."
Dean released Sam's hand and brought his other hand up to the other side of Sam's face. He shook Sam's head almost violently making Sam's eyes dart back to him. "Please, I am begging you! Believe me, okay? You gotta believe me."He was desperate for Sam to believe him, give him something to work with.
Lucifer caught Sam's attention by skipping in place and then gagging once again.
"Sam!" Dean snapped.
Sam's eyes darted back to his brother, "You gotta chose to believe in me. When you come back from hell, the first thing you gotta do is trust something around you and know it's solid and unmovable. When I came back I trusted you to be real. Please, Sammy, return that favor. You came back. You gotta trust in me. You gotta make it stone number one and build on it. You understand?" Dean's eyes keep searching Sam's for something.
Anything.
Sam swallowed.
"This is all well and good but it's not gonna help you." Lucifer sing songed.
"But what if he's right?"
Dean didn't know if Sam was talking to him or his hallucination.
"What could he possibly be right about? All this brotherly crying never worked in the past, what makes you think it's gonna work now?"
"But….it….did work. It made it easier", Sam murmured.
"Did it? Or did it just box you in, tighter and tighter until you had no way of escape. It choked you off." Lucifer disappeared and reappeared behind Sam, draping his arm around his neck. He whispered in his ear, very much the devil he was, "I'm offering you the end of the book. Not just the chapter, but the entire book. All it takes it one shot." His voice got softer and more sinister, more beguiling, "Come on, Sammy. What I'm offering you is 'The End' in neat cursive all done and finished once and for all. What this", he spat looking at Dean, "is offering you is a way to cope…again. And again…and again...and again...and..."
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"Sam!" Dean cried as Sam started to pull away from him. So in a desperate attempt he pulled him and held him close, wrapping his arms around Sam's frame. He felt Sam struggling again him. "Please."
"Come on, I'll prove it to you. Just blast him away, just like you do me! He'll come back. He's another hallucination. Blast him and he'll come back...five minutes from now or so", Lucifer whispered still hanging onto Sam. "Very simple…" His hand touched butt of the gun in Sam's hand, "Pull it on him."
"You just said it, he'll come back", Sam murmured though it was muffled by Dean's arms around him.
"Exactly, so no biggie, but at least it'll give you pause. Just like shooting me, apparently gives you pause. Take whatever you can get, right? Come on….."
Lucifer managed to lift Sam's hand up. Dean froze when he realized that the gun was pointing at his head, pressed against his temple. "Sammy…" his voice cracked as he held very still, "Sam...Sammy..."
"Pull it and I promise you, you'll get that pause. Swear it on my honor." Lucifer spoke.
"You got no honor."
Lucifer laughed once, "Yes, I do. You can always count on me to honor being dishonorable."
There was something about the statement that gave Sam pause. He lift his head up and turned it slightly, looking over his shoulder to where Lucifer was standing, his face next to his ear. Dean was standing quietly and still, sensing the change in Sam and prayed it was a good one. It felt like it but one could not be sure at the moment.
"I can count on you to honor being dishonorable?" echoed Sam.
Lucifer nodded, "Hmm-mm."
"Then what makes you think that what you said isn't dishonorable?" asked Sam.
For the first time Lucifer looked a little stumped but he easily smoothed his way, "Why would I lie to you, Sammy?"
"Sammy?" Dean's voice was quiet, hoping to bring him back from wherever he slipped too. And he was a little worried about being worm food at this particular point in time. He swallowed, not for himself, but he knew that sooner or later, Sam would realized what he had done and would be crushed by it. He would spare his brother that.
At the sound of Dean's voice accompanied with the revelation of seconds ago, Sam's gaze swung around to Dean's who was looking more than a little worried. He was barely breathing. Sam blinked as if really seeing him and then seemed to realize what he was doing as he blinked at the gun. With a hoarse cry he stepped back and dropped the gun.
It was loud and echoing as it clattered to the floor.
"Dean! What…..I…..I almost..." He got dizzy as he dropped to his knees and retched.
Lucifer grunted in disgust.
It took Dean an extra moment to get in gear, but when he heard the retching, it moved him. He kicked the gun far away before sinking to his knees and tentatively reached out and touched Sam's shoulder.
Sam scrambled away from him, his eyes wide as he wiped his mouth, "Dean I almost. I….I….I could have...I..."
"Shoulda pulled the trigger." Muttered Lucifer, "He's not real."
Sam looked in horror at Lucifer. "Go away, okay! Just go the heck away."
"I'm not going anyway, bunk buddy."
Sam made a fist, making him grimace as he forgot about this hand. He looked down at the blood as if seeing it for the first time. As if in a trance he lifted the other hand and pressed it.
"That…isn't…."
Sam looked up to see that Lucifer sounded like a radio going out of tune.
"Sam?" Dean questioned glancing to the space that held his brother's interest.
"It's different." Sam voice was in awe.
Once again Dean didn't know if Sam was talking to him or the hallucination. He watched as Sam pressed hard on his hand and repeated as he watched Lucifer blink out, "It's different."
"Not really gonna….help your case….in the….." and with that Lucifer was gone.
Sam looked around the warehouse, searching for the devil that didn't reappear after a moment like he usually did.
"Sammy?" Dean spoke again.
Sam's eyes swung to his as he lifted his uninjured hand to the side of Dean's head, touching the spot where the gun had been previously. "I almost…." His voice sounded very young and broken.
Dean shook his head, "But you didn't. You beat it. Hey!" He lifted a hand and turned Sam's gaze to his so that he was looking into his eyes. He wanted him to hear this and internalize it, "You beat it. You beat the hallucinations. That is all that matters."
Sam gave a trembling sigh as he dropped his hand from his brother's head, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean. I didn't…..I can't believe I almost..."
Dean gave him a small smile, "I know. I don't not admit that you scared me there, but it's okay. You beat it. That means you can do it again. You can do it. And you got me. I got your back."
"If he….." Sam paused his eyes sliding away.
"What , Sam?" Dean asked softly.
"If he hadn't said what he said, I don't know what would have happened." A shudder ran through Sam's body at the thought of the alternative.
Dean shook his head and wiggled Sam's face making him look back at him, "Doesn't matter."
"Dean…"
"Ahh-hh...we are not gonna play the what-if game." Dean stated firmly, "Our entire lives is a bunch of what-ifs and we are not gonna dig our grave faster by going to them. Understand? It didn't happen."
"But….what if…."
"Did you hear what I just said?"
Sam couldn't help but ask even though he did hear it, "What if it happens again?"
"Then we deal with it then and not a moment sooner." Dean's hand dropped to his brother's shoulder as he gave it a comforting squeeze.
They stared at each other for the longest moment, Sam's eyes constantly darting around searching Dean's for something. Dean prayed he find it. He seem to when slowly he shook his headd and gave a small trembling smile, "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay." Sam couldn't help but reach up his hand and touch Dean's head as if reassuring himself that he didn't do it, his eyes fixed on his hand. He couldn't believe that he almost did it. He never wanted to hurt his brother, never. He let out another trembling breath.
Dean reached up his hand grasped Sam's wrist, "You are thinking too loud, bro. Stop it. I'm not mad so you don't get to guilt trip about this."
Sam eyes looked back at Dean, searching his eyes for any hint of a negative response to what he almost did. Searching for any lies in his words. Dean gave a lopsided grin of reassurance. It seemed to work as Sam nodded.
It was then the phone rang, Sam's to be exact. Both their hands pulled away as Sam answer it slipping back to the brother he knew he was.
FIN.
Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading!
I do have another story titled: Violins aren't that bad, which is a similar concept to this, but takes the more AU. I wanted this one to be more in line with the TV show but I will give you a hint to that story: Far more LimpSam. In fact the whole point was to push the limpness…. Think about that, lol.
I hope ya'll will keep an eye out for it. Already written but I gotta re-read, edit it and then it'll be up.