Sympathy for the Devil
Chapter Four
victorious1314
Warnings: See Chapter One
AU: Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter! They always inspire me to update sooner. Also I know I'm late but, Happy New Year! :) I also must apologize for typos, misspelled words, and grammatical errors because my computer doesn't have spell check so I have to use one online and it messes up occasionally. I try and proof read every chapter before I update but some mistakes slip through the cracks. Sorry it took me so long to update because of the holidays but I made this chapter extra long to try and make up for it :P Anyways, thank you again to the reviewers, I'm so glad you are enjoying this story
John, Sam, and Dean pack their bags into the impala with little to no words exchanged between them. The peculiar and mortifying occurrences from the previous day, silently looming over all of their heads. John plans to find out just what kind of monster was able to tear apart all those demons so effortlessly, why it spared him and his sons, and if they are still in danger. He knows he hasn't exactly been on good terms with Bobby since the man threatened him but John feels he has no one else to turn to. Bobby also has extensive knowledge on the supernatural that John can benefit from, along with his big ass library of lore books.
Dean keeps a close eye on his younger brother and carries his bags for him, not wanting him to tear his fragile stitches with the strain of carrying something heavy. Unsurprisingly to Dean, Sam hasn't put up a fuss about leaving so suddenly. Dean can tell just by Sam's face that he's as antsy as him to put this town in their rear view mirror, I mean, who wouldn't be after what just happened?
Sam feels like he is going to explode. Not figuratively explode with emotion or anything. Literally explode. When he tore apart those demons last night he consumed more blood then he probably ever has combined. He thinks back to yesterday when he passed out in school because he took a couple more sips then he should have and has to suppresses a laugh. Sam can feel the blood flowing within his veins, he can feel his cells multiplying. His vision goes black every couple of seconds and he has to fight to regain his sight as he continues to walk and pretend everything is normal.
Once John has checked them out they drive off in the impala, the morning sun shinning brutally in their tired eyes. Sam curls up on his side in the back seat and looses consciousness within mere seconds. Dean watches the New Hampshire scenery blend together in a red and orange mess out his window from the speed of the car. It'll take a day's worth of driving to reach Bobby's so Dean nods off to sleep after a couple minutes as well, leaving John alone with his thoughts. He doesn't hold any anger towards Sam for not telling them about his encounter with the black haired demon, not really. He supposes he would have done the same thing if he knew his family was in danger. After all Sam is only fifteen years old, he shouldn't have to be in these kinds of situations anyways. Sam and Dean should be worrying about acne, prom dates, and schoolwork. Not demons, monsters, and their lives. Guilt weighs down John's heart as he gets onto the highway. He forces his guilt into the back of his mind with thoughts of Mary. He needs to avenge her, even if his sons have to miss out on a normal childhood.
It's pitch black out when Sam starts screaming. John nearly crashes the car into a tree, having been searching for an inconspicuous motel to stop in for the night. Sam jolts up off the seat as if he's being electrocuted and John pulls off to the side of the dirt road. Dean begins shaking Sam awake, who is sweating heavily and shivering. The first thought in both John and Dean's minds is, infection. Sam's wound from the torture by Damon must have become horribly infected. Guilt makes Dean's vision cloud with tears, he must have stitched Sammy up in properly. Sam finally awakes and his heart-wrenching sobs fill the small space of the impala.
Dean puts a hand on Sam's forehead to discover that instead of him burning up from what he'd assumed was infection, he is utterly freezing. As if he'd been standing outside in a blizzard for a half an hour. "Jesus, Sammy! You're freezing! Dad, get blankets!" Dean exclaims. Sam tries to insist that he's fine, that he had just had a nightmare, leaving out the parts that Lucifer had been torturing him of course, but Dean was already throwing his car door open and rushing to help his father search for a thermal blanket in the trunk.
Lucifer snickers at Sam's distraught face. Sam shudders at the sound and glares at the devil, "Why are you doing this?" Luce rolls his eyes and responds, "Because I can."
Sam narrows his eyes at the blond boy and stares at his shaking hands, deep in thought. Lucifer hasn't tortured Sam in years, and it's only when he's done something to really upset him. If anything Lucifer should be happy with Sam right now. He did exactly what Satan said to do with the demons and the lying to his family. He considers Luce's answer, 'Because I can,' and decides that he's bullshitting him. Lucifer may be eccentric but he doesn't just torture Sam for no good reason. Sam feels his heart rate pick up and his blood rush in his ears as a new thought enters his mind. Perhaps Lucifer is trying to weaken him. Maybe Sam is so strong now that he can overpower Lucifer. After all, it's a 'miracle' that he can reach Sam from within the cage in the first place.
Sam's thoughts are interrupted by the startling noise of the car door being wrenched open and the warmth of a heated blanket enveloping him. Dean slides in to sit next to him and pull him into his arms before pulling him back to examine his brother's face. Sam's hair sticks to the sides of his face from the unexplainable sweat and his hazel eyes have dark bags under them. His cheekbones jut out sharply, giving his cheeks a hollow look, and his eyes dart around on Dean's face, as if he just witnessed something horrible and is in shock.
"Sammy, did you have a nightmare?" Dean asks softly, praying that he isn't physically ill and that this is just a normal reaction from having demons explode in front of you and being coated with their guts. Sam nods and lets out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. John eventually finds a motel and they all settle in for the night, Dean yet again refusing to leave Sam's side. He tells himself it's for Sammy and not because he's afraid of the dark and what happens when you can't see, but neither him nor Sam miss the way he flinches at the soft, 'click,' of the lamp turning off.
The next morning as they eat at a diner across the street, John announces that they'll be at Bobby's by nightfall and remembers he has yet to call the man and tell him they were coming. John leaves the table to call Bobby on his cell phone, leaving Sam and Dean briefly in the quiet restaurant.
"You really need to eat some of your food, Sam." Dean says firmly, his eyes locked on Sam's full plate of over easy eggs, bacon, and toast. Sam shrugs and continues to poke the yolk of one of his eggs until it breaks and seeps onto the edge of a piece of bacon. Dean sighs angrily, "Damnit, Sammy. How long has it been since you last ate? Did you even eat before we left the motel in New Hampshire?"
Sam shrugs again and takes a bite of his eggs to please Dean, not wanting his older brother to become upset with him. He grimaces at the slippery texture as it glides down his throat and looks up at Dean, who smiles softly at his younger brother. John comes back with a scowl on his face and takes a bite of his sausage with a dark look in his eyes. "What'd Bobby say?" Dean asks, expecting the worse. John sighs and takes a sip of his coffee, "Bobby's still got quite the mouth on him but otherwise he said he'll help. He's already getting rooms ready for us."
Dean smiles at the news, always enjoying when they got to stay at Bobby's. Sam and him would spend hours wandering through the maze of hollow and rusted cars, just talking about whatever came to their mind. Their dad always seemed a bit more at ease there as well, probably because of another hunter being present to protect his sons if things turned sour.
The Winchesters drive the rest of the trip while listening to John's classic rock tapes and enjoying the silence that enveloped them. Sam's pain had decreased slightly after the diner but he still felt like he was going to burst with power. Every bump in the road made his heart race as his demonic energy threatened to lash out. Finally, as the sun was setting, they pulled up to Bobby's scrapyard. Relief settling in all of their stomachs. Sam reveled at the prospect of working off some of his energy when no one was around. His throat tightened in anxiety as thoughts of forcing Lucifer away from him filled his mind. He can't believe he's actually considering this, even thinking about it. As they pull up to Bobby's shack-like house, they immediately spot the older man on his porch with his usual tattered, oil stained, baseball cap sitting snugly atop his balding head.
Dean gets out of the car first to give the old family friend a brief hug and thanks for taking them in on such short notice. John grabs some bags from the trunk, avoiding Bobby's eyes, but eventually nods his thanks in the man's direction as well. Sam stretches his rapidly growing legs and grimaces when they creak and pop.
Once they all have their bags in their rooms, Sam and Dean sharing a guest room while John sleeps on he couch, they sit down in Bobby's dusty study. Plies of books touch the ceiling, reaching the red devils traps painted above their heads. Bobby has them all drink from a cup of holy water and Sam ignores the way it slightly fizzes like soda in his mouth.
"So tell me what the hell you idjits have gotten yourselves into now." Bobby says with his southern accent. Dean unintentionally moves towards Sam a bit and clenches his jaw as the memories assault his mind. John yet again, breaks the silence, "I was out, interrogating a werewolf in northern New Hampshire when I caught the smell of sulfur. I quickly shot the werewolf in the heart, knowing that a bigger threat was going to show up any second, when I was thrown across the room. I was possessed and thats when my memory gets a bit fuzzy."
"I remember the demon using me to talk to some other demons but I can't remember what they were saying to each other. I somehow ended up in an empty warehouse in the middle of nowhere with the other demons when the son of a bitch possessing me calls Dean and tells him to get over there with Sam." John groans, clearly frustrated and continues, "Next thing I know, I'm no longer possessed, Dean and Sam are there, and they're tied up along with me. The demon who was possessing me, named Damon, now has another meat suit and starts talking to Sam. Saying that he wanted information and he knew Sam knew more than him. Sam seemed the recognize him and said that he didn't know anything. The demon starts cutting Sam and yelling all sorts of crazy shit and the lights go out. The ropes that were tying me down are torn from me and we're all covered in blood. I turn on the flashlight and everything in the room, besides Sam, Dean, and I, are torn apart." John gets a haunted look in his eye but quickly masks it with his professionalism, "I swear to god, Bobby, it looked like a nuke went off in there."
"We left and once we were all cleaned and patched up, Sam told us about how he knew the demon. He said that he saw the demon named Damon when he was walking home from school a week ago attacking some girl and when he tried to help her he attacked him. Apparently he said something about seeing Sam soon and told him that if he told Dean or I, he would kill him. Then we decided to come to you. We figured that you have so much books and information that maybe we could figure out what kind of creature was able to tear apart all of those demons and if it could be after us." John finishes his recount of what happened and both Dean and Sam wonder why he didn't bring up that Damon said that he was supposed to become King of the Demons. Didn't John trust Bobby? After all, Bobby has cared for Sam and Dean as if they were his own sons more times than any of them can count.
Bobby whistles at the new information and shakes his head, "Sounds like you got yourselves in a big heaping mess of shit. I'll help you look through the lore but I'll tell you honestly that I've never heard of anything with that kind of power before. Whatever it is, it's something that should be feared."
Lucifer snorts and Sam feels tears sting the back of his eyes. He needs to put a stop to this. He needs to overpower Lucifer, his destiny be damned. Sam's energy level is still dangerously high now, If only he can evade Lucifer sucking the energy out of him for one more night, maybe he can get some time alone tomorrow to stand up to the Devil. The idea of using his family as reinforcements is quickly banished from his mind, they would see him as a monster and he wouldn't put them in danger.
After a quick meal that Sam expertly evades eating, they settle in for the night. For the first time since the incident in the warehouse, Sam and Dean sleep in different beds. Well, Dean sleeps. Sam forces his burning eyes open, refusing to become Lucifer's torture victim in his dreams again.
The rising sun makes Sam's stomach churn with anxiety, he's been keeping his powers trapped inside of him for so long that even his bones are starting to ache. At the breakfast table Sam struggles to swallow even the smallest of bites, the lump in his throat starting to burn. Bobby leaves to go work on a car in his garage with Dean, leaving Sam with John.
"H-Hey, Dad?" Sam struggles to steady his voice. John looks up from his plate and grunts in acknowledgment. Sam continues, "Would it be alright if I went for a walk around the yard? I wont go far." Sam's voice raises a few octaves and he prays his father doesn't notice his obvious anxiety. John picks up a newspaper from the table, "Yeah, sure go ahead." He says dismissively.
Sam fights the urge to breathe a sigh of relief and leaves through the back door. Sam wanders for several minutes, traveling deeper into the junkyard. "Ready to work off some of that demon mojo, Sammy?" Lucifer laughs. Sam spins around, right in front of Lucifer's face, "You're scared of me." He states with a smile on his face, though his voice is devoid of any humor. Lucifer bursts into giggles and says, "That's a funny one, Sammy."
Sam growls, "Don't call me that." Luce looks at Sam like he's suddenly grown two heads and matches his rage, "I'll call you whatever I like, Sammy. You're my little bitch and always will be. Now why would you think I would be scared of you?"
Meanwhile, Bobby wanders back into the house, hands dirtied with black oil stains. "Where's Sam?" He asks John, "I wanna ask if he wants to help me and Dean with the car." John looks up from the sports section and grumbles, "He just went out to walk around the yard, he said he wouldn't be far."
Bobby nods and heads out the back door to look for Sam.
"I know you, Lucifer. I know when you're intimidated by someone, and you're intimidated by me. Ever since I drank that demon blood at the warehouse, I've been stronger than you, and you know it. Thats why you've been trying to weaken me, that's why you've been torturing me." Sam and Lucifer begin to move in slow circles around each other, as if waiting for the right time to strike.
Bobby hears a muffled conversation and sneaks up to see Sam acting strange, with a look of pure malice carved on his face.
"You're even stupider than I thought, Sammy. Do you honestly think I could ever be intimidated by someone, no, something like you? You aren't even human, you're less than human. A filthy monster." Sam's eyes turn pure white and dark energy seems to radiate from his body, "Who do you think made me like this?" Sam screams.
Bobby watches, terrified, as Sam's hand shoots up and throws something invisible against a rusty shell of a car.
Lucifer grunts as the car dents from his body hitting it so hard and pushes against Sam's force. He barely manages to escape his hold but uses his first window of opportunity to slam Sam against the ground, his hands gripping tightly at his pale throat.
Bobby watches as a blond haired boy appears out of nowhere and attacks Sam. Sam's eyes flicker back to their normal color and he throws the other teenage boy off of him, wrestling him to the ground. Bobby unfreezes, charges at the tumbling pair, and pulls Sam off of the blond boy. Sam pushes Bobby off of him and stumbles back a few steps, his nose bleeding, and clearly dazed.
Sam looks around for any sign of Lucifer but finds none, only the dent of the car he'd thrown him into left behind. "Where the hell did that kid go?" Bobby's words pull Sam from his searching and he looks up at Bobby, who is clearly mortified. Bobby grabs Sam's arm and starts pulling him towards his house, obviously having witnessed Sam using his abilities and needing answers. He isn't surprised when Sam pulls from his grasp.
"Uncle Bobby please, just let me explain!" Sam says, feeling so anxious he can hardly breathe. Bobby looks at Sam with a cold expression, "Christo." Sam feels something creep up his spine but otherwise remains unaffected by the word.
John looks at the back door nervously when Dean comes in from the garage to ask where Sammy and Bobby are. "Bobby went out to look for Sam about 10 minutes ago," John mumbles. Dean's heart rate picks up and he pushes the door open, his father on his tail, hand on his gun belt.
Bobby remains stoic, "What are you?" Bobby could tell something wasn't right with the story John told him, he knew there were parts being left out. Perhaps Sam has something to do with all of this somehow. If the creature standing before him is even Sam. "I'm Sam, Bobby. Just please let me explain," Sam's words come out in short gasps as if he's on the verge of a panic attack. Bobby replies after a pregnant pause, "Yeah you can come back inside and explain exactly what in the hell is going on."
Sam shakes his head so hard that his floppy brown hair swishes in his eyes. Sam's eyes widen enormously, "N-No Uncle Bobby. My dad and brother can't know about this! It isn't in the plan, I'll be in big trouble!" Sam begins nervously wringing his hands as he tries to even his breathing. Bobby takes an intimidating step towards Sam, "Either I can tell them or you can. You choose."
Sam feels like he's going to vomit, "No, no, no, no, you don't understand!" He rakes his hands through his hair roughly, a dark stain growing on his forearm from what Bobby assumes are his torn stitches. Bobby pulls out his gun and points it at the monster, "That wasn't a request." The next thing Bobby knows he is flung across the small clearing and pinned against a rusty blue truck, his gun is on the ground next to Sam. Sam feels tears stinging in his eyes and his breathing become unmanageable. Bobby looks at Sam's now completely white eyes and feels a shiver run through his entire body. Whatever is possessing the boy is nothing he's ever encountered before.
Dean hears a loud crash from up ahead and pulls his knife from it's sheath. He turns around a corner in the maze of stacked, wrecked cars and feels his blood turn to ice. Sam has his hand extended towards Uncle Bobby, who is pinned up against a truck, and his eyes are a bright white. Dean's throat is constricted so tightly from fear and anger at whatever is possessing his baby brother that he feels he might loose consciousness. He takes a step forward but John yanks his eldest son back by his arm.
Dean glances back at his father angrily but John merely shakes his head and presses a finger to his own lips. Dean's nails bite into his skin in frustration but otherwise follows his orders.
Sam feels his powers threaten to lash out at Bobby but after several moments he gains control again. "Uncle Bobby," he says, his voice still wavering and broken by small sobs and hitches of breath, "I don't want to hurt you. Please listen to me."
Bobby can't find his voice to speak so instead nods, his eyes wide and terrified. Sam continues, his completely blank gaze unrelenting, "My dad and brother can't know about this. I'll be in big trouble if they do." Dean watches in confused horror as his brother's shoulders shake from fear and sobs.
"Y-You have to understand. That I'm trying to-I'm trying to make things right." Sam sways on his feet, feeling his world spin. The words come tumbling out of his mouth ungracefully as he miserably attempts to formulate the correct words to convince Bobby not to tell his family. "I d-don't want to be in trouble." His words fall off his lips weakly and he looses his grip on Bobby completely. John taps twice on Dean's back as a signal to move forward. Sam's knees buckle beneath him and his eyes return to normal. Sam looks up at Dean lazily as warm blood trickles from his nose and down his chin.
Just as John is about to pin Sam to the ground, he looks up at the sky through hooded lids and says softly, "I'm scared." Sam face plants on the ground and Dean sweeps him into his arms. "Get him to the house and tie him down!" John orders, his voice stern with authority. Dean scoops his lanky brother into his arms and starts jogging towards the house, needing to get there before whatever is inside of Sam wakes up. How long has Sam been possessed? How could Dean, the big brother who is supposed to take care of Sam, not notice he was in such a state.
John helps Bobby to his feet who grunts in pain. "You alright?" John asks. Bobby nods quickly, "Yeah, just might'a pulled something." John claps a hand on his friend's shoulder and starts towards the house to help Dean. "John?" Bobby says gruffly. John turns around impatiently, "Yeah?"
"This thing's a demon, but nothing like I've ever seen or even heard of. We need to be real careful around it." Bobby mutters, adjusting his baseball cap. John raises his eyebrows as if to ask, 'is that all?' Bobby continues hesitantly, "You also need to be prepared if this turns out to really be Sam, John."
John scowls at the older man, aghast, "Bobby, no offense but I think I would know if my son was demonic." Bobby runs a tired hand down his face, "Well, John, you sure as hell didn't notice that he was possessed, now did ya?"
John rolls his eyes, though his stomach lurches at the idea of his son having something other then demonic possession wrong with him. He stifles a sad laugh, how could things have gotten like this? Wordlessly, Bobby and John race back to the house to see Dean tying his brother up on a chair underneath a devils trap on the ceiling. Dean's hands shake violently and his heart jumps every time his brother so much as flinches. Bobby grabs a jug of what John assumes is holy water and a bag of rock salt. Dean finishes tying the last of the knots and checks his brother for injuries. Sam's arm is bleeding again but Dean knows he shouldn't mess with it until they've managed to exorcise whatever entity is inside of his little brother first.
Dean thanks his dad when he places a cold beer in his hand and waits anxiously for Sa-not Sammy to wake up.