Mirror Image
The Witness
Sam was sitting in the middle of a clearing. It looked weirdly familiar to him, but for the life of him he couldn't place where he'd seen it before. Above him there were the loud cries of eagles, and when he looked up he could see their dark silhouettes, giant birds momentarily blotting out the stars as they flew overhead. The cries seemed faintly ominous, and the young hunter shivered as he looked around, trying to get his bearings.
A car was parked nearby. It was black, a '67 Chevy Impala. Maybe it was his, but it didn't feel like his. He got the faint sense of Dean, jolting at his memory when he looked at the car. When no images leapt to his mind, he shrugged and turned away again. He'd learned long ago to stop trying to get his mind to remember things that he obviously wasn't going to remember.
He knew someone was here with him, and so swallowing his fear and the dread gathering in his stomach by the cries of the birds, he cleared his throat and called out; "Show yourself!" On the surface, he looked completely calm; the Hunter his father had trained him to be. On the inside his stomach was tied in knots. "Come on!" he yelled again, when no face appeared, and wishing for all get-out he had a weapon.
There was a sharp pain right above his heart, strong enough to make him gasp and send him to his knees. He planted a hand over his chest, could feel the burn of a small handprint, totally eclipsed by his own, and he pulled his shirt away to see the print burning white-hot and bright, pure white light. He gasped again, confused as to what was happening, when two feet stepped into his field of vision. They were bare, and the owner was wearing jeans. When Sam looked up he was looking into the face of the man who had come to talk to him shortly after he'd first woken up from Hell. Sam didn't know that this was Gabriel, the Archangel who'd sent him under in the first place, but he would soon find out.
"What's happening to me?" he asked, desperate when he looked up into the impassive face of the man.
Gabriel smiled slightly, kneeling down to be at eye-level with Sam. He placed a hand over Sam's heart and immediately the pain dulled as a part of Gabriel's soul united with the rest of the Angel. Sam was left feeling cold and empty when the white faded from his body, breathing heavily at the loss.
"Nothing, now," Gabriel replied, staring at Sam seriously. "Do you know who I am, Sam?"
"You came to…to talk to me after I woke up…I didn't remember then and I don't remember now. You obviously know something. Tell me!"
"I can't. Terms and conditions apply, kiddo," Gabriel said his voice almost sad. "Look, Sam, I can't help you, but that psychic in Detroit can. You need to go find her and she'll be able to tell you." Gabriel stood up again, beginning to take a few steps back from Sam. The further he crept away the closer the cries of the eagles came. Those beasts that had sent him under. He cried out desperately for the man to come back, and a name leapt to his lips in his panic;
"Gabriel! Don't leave me here!"
The Archangel stopped, turned around and looked in surprise to Sam. He bit his lip, a look impossible to decipher crossing his features for a moment before he smiled again, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I can't. You dug your own grave now lay in it."
"You son of a bitch!"
"Words hurt, you know."
"Go to Hell."
--
When Dean walked back into his brother's hospital room, carrying two steaming cups of coffee, Sam was just pulling on his shirt and jacket, having woken up, full of a frenzy to get out of dodge, so that he could find that damned psychic and remember. This memory loss was killing him. He looked over at Dean, and watched with a strange sadness as his brother's entire demeanor seemed to change; at once Dean was wary, remembering Sam's recent breakdowns, how he'd fought so hard to get away, the conviction his little brother had to get to Detroit…Carefully Dean set the cups down. An insignificant gesture, but it freed up his hands for use and Sam knew that Dean would be ready to take him down if necessary.
"Hey Sammy…" he said, voice hesitant as he took a step forward. "What you doing?"
"Getting dressed, Matlock," Sam replied shortly, running his hands through his hair as he exhaled heavily, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to be wearing that damned hospital gown when the demons start showing up." And I need to find Gabriel.
"Why do you think demons will start showing up?"
"Because it makes sense, Dean!" Sam growled, exasperation making his voice harder than he'd intended, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "I escaped from Hell. Something pulled me out and the demons aren't going to be happy about it."
"It's okay, Sam. We're protected. Cas won't let the demons get you."
"Cas?" Sam blinked at his brother, who'd taken another step forward. His brow furrowed for a moment in concentration, and Sam bit his bottom lip, trying to remember and gave up with the memory invoked by that name didn't lend itself to him. He shrugged. "If you're talking about that tax accountant guy who's stalking you, I don't think he'd be much help in a fight."
"Cas is an angel, Sam," Dean snapped, annoyed at Sam's dismissal of his angel. Then again, apparently Sam's brain had gone under some sort of toxic cleaning and he didn't remember jack-shit. Immediately Sam's posture stiffened for a brief second, before he fell to sit on his hospital bed. He looked pale and sick, and Dean immediately rushed forward, in full 'big brother' mode. "Hey, Sammy, you alright?"
"Angels…Angels…" Sam's hand went over his own heart, frowning when he felt nothing there. Not even the handprint remained. "Son of a bitch….Gabriel…Dean." Sam looked up, other hand knotting suddenly in the front of his brother's t-shirt. "Was Gabriel here? Did he show up?"
"What? No. I sent him away. I couldn't take the bastard screwing with us anymore. He's a Class A dick, Sammy. We don't need him."
"But he pulled me topside! He's the reason I went under in the first place! And if we don't find him…" Sam trailed off again, frowning heavily, desperately trying to listen to what his blocked mind was trying to tell him. This wasn't right; surely he would have remembered something by now, unless…Unless something was blocking him from remembering. "Oh…Jesus…it all makes sense…"
"What makes sense, Sammy? You lost me at 'Hello'," Dean said, genuinely freaking out over his brother. Sam stood up again, shaking his head heavily, eyes focused on nothing as he seemingly looked out of the window into the road beyond. God…what had he done? "Sam?"
"Listen to me, Dean. In less than four months I'm going to have to say 'Yes'," Sam said, his voice a monotone. He turned around before Dean could voice his protest, gripping his brother's shoulders violently, and ignoring the pain flashing through his hand when he touched the mark on Dean's shoulder. He flinched but didn't pull his hand away, despite the lances of fire shooting up his arm. "Listen to me, it was the Deal. It all makes sense, now! If I say 'Yes'…then you have to say 'Yes'…and the only reason they're not letting me remember is so that I won't be able to solve the Tribute, and if that happens then we're all screwed to Hell anyway…Oh God…" He let go of Dean, knotting his hands in his hair and shaking his head from side to side as he took a step back. He hit the wall and slid down to the floor. "There's no way to stop it."
I win, so I win.
"No, Sammy, no. You're not going to say 'Yes'. They can't make you say it."
"It was part of the Deal, Dean!"
"But they can't make you say it! They cannot physically make you say the word, alright? You're going to be fine."
"But if I fail to hold up my end of the bargain…we both go to Hell, Dean…and I don't know how long I can last again. I can't do it again, Dean…I barely held on for that long and I can't go back. I don't want to go back to Hell, Dean!" Sam cried, tears rolling down his cheeks, uncontrollable and unstoppable. The younger Winchester was shuddering through his tears even as Dean came up beside him and wrapped his arms around his younger brother. Still the sobs didn't stop; Dean's comfort felt empty now with the weight of despair crushing Sam. "Dean…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry, I thought I could do it…"
"It's alright, Sammy," Dean said, stroking a hand over Sam's sweat-dampened hair. He held his brother closer and continued to mutter nonsensical things into his little brother's ear until Sam stopped shaking. "It's alright, you hear me? We're gonna be fine. We're gonna get through this."
"We can't, Dean…We can't."
"Trust me, Sammy. I've never let you down before, have I?"
And Sam kept mercifully silent, biting his lower lip as he tried to cease his trembling, to no real avail. They were silent and shaking until Castiel walked into the room, a harsh demand on his lips to speak to Dean alone.
--
The Witness screamed in anger, picking up a non-corporeal table and throwing it across the room, shattering a wall that didn't really exist. The Witness isn't allowed to affect anything; it does as it's meant to, which is to watch the dealings of Angels, to make sure each party held up their end of the bargain. Frustration unlike anything the entity had felt was washing through it in waves, for whilst Gabriel wasn't exactly cheating…he wasn't playing nice either. The entity growled, vanishing from the hospital room and leaving the two broken Winchesters, in favor of finding what wasn't exactly his brother…was more his nephew, or cousin…something like that.
Gabriel… The Witness reappeared several states away. Gabriel was busy amusing himself torturing people who said they didn't believe in God and the story of Moses by making them suffer their own individual version of the Seven Plagues. The Archangel turned around as the Witness appeared, a small smirk on his face – he knew the creature couldn't harm him. The Witness existed on a plane entirely different from Angels, from humans, and the only way a Witness could cross the barriers was if someone violated a term of their contract. Gabriel was untouchable, his secrets guarded by Sam's own obstinate personality.
You must stop this, the Witness screamed at him, eyes dark and clouded without having a mouth to speak the actual words. Still, the Archangel understood him, and shrugged without a care.
"Why should I stop anything? The kid dug his own grave."
You are playing with fire. This will end in your demise. Gabriel laughed; that cocky, nothing-can-touch-me, egotistical laugh that told the Witness his warning was going unheeded. I mean it, Gabriel. The future does not end well for you.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to enjoy the ride," he replied, still smirking and he turned away, signaling that the conversation was essentially over, since Angels have no real bearing over the Witness' activity. The Angels couldn't affect the Witness, just as it couldn't affect either of them. The entity growled softly, disappearing without a word, a soft huff of frustration and resignation on the wind.
Author's Note: I remember where this is going again! Yay! And it does have a happy ending! Yay! Don't you just love it when that happens? The Plot Bunnies seem to have left me alone for now, but I've also been loosing my Writer's Block Cats. Woohoo.
This was not beta'd.
Review if you love,
HigherMagic x
