Chapter Ten: Alignment

Oliver Price was eager to get Dean and Castiel out of his house, but he wasn't too eager to convey that sentiment. He had already tried once and he saw Dean start thinking about ways to kill him. No, Oliver was smart enough to know that Dean and Castiel were going to stay at his house as long as there was the smallest possibility they would need to get in contact with Heaven again. From what he heard, it sounded like there was no need to call again. Bobby and that Ash kid were working to search all the corners of Heaven for Sam.

Even so, Dean sat at the table with Sam's laptop open and a phone to his ear. The angel Castiel sat in the chair next to him, gazing at the screen with an unfocused expression. Oliver couldn't read the angel's mind; all that he saw were colors. But compared to the last time he saw Castiel, he could tell that the colors were dimmer than before.

"Castiel, you look like you could keel over and die," Oliver said bluntly as he set a mug of coffee there for him to drink.

Dean glanced away from the computer, picking up on the conversation.

"I am technically dying," Castiel stated calmly. He reached for the coffee and drank, though he made a face when he actually swallowed it.

"Go lie down for a while," Dean said. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked over at Cas. Once he saw it for himself, he knew that it was time for Cas to get some rest. "I'll research for a while with Charlie." It was Charlie who he was on the phone with; their computers were synced as she presented her minimal findings to Dean and Castiel.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go," Dean insisted. He nodded his head towards the couch, lifting the phone back to his ear. "I'm still here, Charlie." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cas get up and walk over. Naturally, Oliver could hear Dean's thoughts and hear how worried he was over the angel, but worry was the tone of Dean's mind as a whole. Sam was trapped in Heaven, his best friend was dying—life wasn't fair. What was even more unfair to Oliver was that he was sucked into this crap. Again.

There was something else he could hear: for the past ten minutes or so, there was a weird buzzing in the room. Nothing harmful, and obviously nothing anybody else was noticing. I'm old, he reasoned. And I'm tired. He didn't bother worrying about it. Instead, he sat down at the table and listened in to Dean.

Throughout the whole thing, Dean wasn't ignorant about Oliver Price. He noticed him walking around, glaring at him and hoping he would go away. Every time he caught Oliver staring at him, he just thought of another way that he killed monsters. That surely let Oliver know that Dean wasn't leaving any time soon.

"I think I found Sam's escape route," Charlie said over the phone. That was a relief to Dean, since an hour ago, they had no clue how Sam was going to escape Heaven. He had a lock on his soul; that wasn't going to be easily shaken.

"How's he gonna get the lock removed?"

"I don't think he is," Charlie responded. "There's absolutely no research to support the idea that the lock can be removed."

"Charlie, there's no research period," he reminded her. She spent hours searching through material to save Sam, but there was absolutely nothing that told them how he could remove the lock or how he could escape. It all looked pretty hopeless.

"Exactly," she agreed. "And that's why I started to actually think instead of just dig."

Dean was too worn to figure out what she meant. "I'm not following, Charlie," he said tiredly.

"Okay, well, think about all of our experiences with death and Heaven. After the angels fell, Heaven was closed off. Spirits were stuck in the veil and began to tear through it. You guys saw that happen with Kevin; he was one of many who ripped through the veil and had presence on Earth again."

"Okay," Dean agreed, starting to possibly understand what she was saying. "So…"

"So," she continued, "if they tore through on this side, there's probably rips in Heaven too. Sam's gonna find one of the breaks caused by the veil, go through it, and break through it here on Earth. It's the only possible way I can think of. Ask Cas and see if he agrees."

Dean glanced over at Cas as he sat upright on the couch. He was fighting off coughs quietly, keeping a hand raised to his mouth. He hated to ask Cas this when he was obviously not doing well, but he called across the room and reiterated everything that Charlie told him. When he asked Cas if she was on the right track, he nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"That is a very viable solution," Castiel agreed. "But Sam's soul would quickly be pulled back into the veil and back to Heaven because of the lock. He'll need to reenter his body almost immediately in order to live again."

"Charlie, you hear that?" Dean asked into the phone.

"Yeah…but, how are we supposed to figure out where Sam'll break through? He could do it anywhere on the globe, even in the middle of the Atlantic or something."

"Well maybe he'll break through one of the spots that's already fragile. Any idea where those are?"

"Jody's out here marking things on the map based on ghost sightings in the past year. There's too many places to count."

"Wait a second," Dean partially interrupted. "Jody's out with you? Then who's with Sam?"

"Nobody right now…"

"We gotta keep him in sight 24/7 till we fix this," he said sternly. He told them from the get-go that somebody needed to keep Sam's body in sight all the time. Yeah, he was paranoid, but they had enough trouble on their hands without somebody or something nabbing Sam's body. The angels were probably having a field day, knowing that they finally had Sam Winchester in Heaven. They would do just about anything to keep him with them. "Knowing our luck, something'll happen. Tell Jody to take the map back with her and keep working."

"It doesn't matter," Castiel said from the couch. Dean glanced back to Cas in question. Since the phone was on speaker now, Cas had heard the question. He just shook his head slowly. "There's no way to know where Sam'll turn up. There are too many variables and we would need a definite answer. There's no possible method of achieving that answer."

Dean scratched the back of his head. They were so close to finding a real solution! There had to be some way to figure out where Sam was going to wind up.

Or maybe there is no way, his mind told him for the hundredth time. He lowered his gaze to the floor, furrowing his eyebrows deeply in irritation. Now wasn't the time to humor those kinds of thoughts. And anyway, they were wrong. If there was no way, he would make one. Really, it wasn't that complicated.

He shifted his weight while he stood on his feet. His negative, nagging thoughts weren't the only distracters. For a while now, he felt some kind of tugging feeling in his stomach. Something was trying to pull him in a different direction. Well, he was never one to distrust his gut, even if his gut was telling him to call Bobby back up even though he had nothing to report and there was no way Bobby could help more than he already was.

"Charlie, I'll call you back," he said to the phone. He didn't bother explaining; he just hung up after Charlie gave an "okay." "Oliver," Dean called then.

"Yeah, I know," Oliver sighed. "Give me the hat."

The two of them sat down at the table and sent a call up to Heaven. This time, the call went to one of Bobby's kitchen phones. The older hunter picked it up and spoke into it. "Hello," he said in his default phone- answering tone.

"Bobby," Dean said. That was all it took for Bobby to know who was on the other end.

"Holy smokes," Bobby said, sounding disbelieved.

"What?"

"He said you'd call again, but I didn't believe him."

"Who, Bobby?"

The answer on the other end was the last one that Dean expected to hear, ever. "Gabriel," Bobby responded.

At that point, Dean knew better than to question the fact that Gabriel was even alive. He was a trickster to the core, even if he was an archangel. "He's on our side?" he asked instead.

"Apparently. He corralled Sam away from some angels and took him off their radar. And he told me how Sam plans to get back to Earth."

"Let me guess…the veil?"

"Yeah," Bobby said, impressed. "How'd you figure that out?"

"I've got a genius friend," Dean smiled faintly. "But we need to know where he'll turn up, so he can get back in his body right away, or he dies again." Or he would stay dead and not return to life. Worrying about the specific terminology was on Dean's backburner.

"He told me Cas would know."

"I just asked Cas; he doesn't," Dean protested.

"Yeah, Gabriel thought you guys might not be smart enough to pull it together." Even though the two of them hadn't spoken in a long time and Dean didn't' say anything at all following that comment, Bobby still knew the unhappy and insulted look he wore. "I'm just saying what he said," he reminded Dean. "Look for a Lazarus pit in your region. That's where Sam'll wind up."

"When?"

"Soon, I assume. But there's one other thing…"

"What?"

"Dean," Bobby said, his tone suddenly more gentle. "Sam's tucked away in Jo Harvelle's heaven. I'm gonna transfer you over there so you and Sam can talk this over and stop using me as your middleman."

The emotions that spiked in Dean weren't easy to put into words. Last time he and Sam spoke, he was in the process of killing him. How was he going to reconcile that? He wasn't ready to talk; he didn't have the right words to say.

But—BUT, despite that, Dean desperately wanted to talk to Sam. He wanted to let him know that he was sorry, and that when Sam made it out of Heaven, he was in for a serious butt kicking, and that he loved him…

"Alright," Dean eventually sighed. "Transfer me."

*…*…*…*…*…*

Sometimes when Sam was extremely exhausted, he had nightmares all night long. Other times, his mind was quiet. Silent, even. Blackness would surround him and he would just be free of thinking about anything at all.

Unfortunately, his nap wasn't one of those occasions. Yeah, he was out cold, but he was dreaming of Jess, and of telling her he couldn't stay with her in heaven. She wasn't so happy about it in their dreams. Sam rolled over on the couch, hiding his face in the armrest. Jess tried to be brave, but she didn't want to say goodbye. He didn't either. So he accepted her outstretched hand and walked away from Heaven's door…

"Sam?" a voice from outside his dream called. It was gentle, feminine. Like Jess, but not her. He lifted a hand to his face, running a hand over it as he sat upright. Were those tears he felt, or just sweat? He chased the thoughts away and lowered the hand to his lap, seeing Jo standing in front of him. Glancing up at her face, he saw that she looked sad for him.

"What's up?" he asked. He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze.

"I've got Dean on the phone, Sam," she said gently. "You should talk to him."

Dean? On the phone? Sam grabbed the phone out of Jo's hand a bit too roughly, holding it up to his ear. "Dean?"

"Sam."

A small laugh left his lips automatically. "Good to hear your voice, man," he said in all sincerity. He didn't know how long he had been away in Heaven, but it felt way too long. Just hearing Dean's voice almost made him tear up again in relief, because whenever Dean was involved, he knew he would make it out alive. Dean was too stubborn to let him die, and he appreciated that today.

"Yeah, you too," Dean replied quietly.

With those simple words, Sam could tell Dean was beating himself up for stabbing him. Sam didn't care about it; he walked right into it. But telling Dean all that over the phone wasn't going to fly. He had to make it back and tell him in person. "So listen," Sam said, picking up the slack in the conversation. "I found a way out of Heaven. I'm gonna go through the veil."

"Already heard."

"From who?"

"Well, I heard it from Bobby. Bobby heard it from Gabriel."

"Gabriel?" Sam said, stunned. "He left me out to dry. I was stranded out in Heaven's hallway and he never showed up again." Gabriel was an enigma, as always. He guessed there was more to the story than he was seeing, so he just let that line drop. "I'll find an exit as soon as I can."

"When you get back, we'll have your body waiting for you. Gabriel already told us where you're gonna land."

Again, seriously? Why pass on the info and then not show up when he was supposed to? "Okay, great," Sam stammered.

"Why do you sound so groggy?"

Leave it to Dean to worry about him and something so simple when the situation was so grand. "I passed out on Jo's couch," Sam confessed. "…Heaven hasn't been too kind to me."

"There's a reason we avoided that place for so many years, Sam."

"Yeah." A tiny smile tugged at Sam's lips. "Well, you were right. Heaven sucks. I'm leaving and coming back, so you'll be stuck with me again."

"You're getting a serious beat down when you come back. You know that, right?"

"Looking forward to it," Sam said quietly. He did deserve it for making Dean go through something like that. He glanced up at Jo, but her gaze wasn't on him. She was looking at the door to the living room, which had also served as the door he entered in through. The door wasn't open, but somebody was standing in front of it, inside the comfort of the living room.

Gabriel finally decided to show up.

"Dean, I gotta go," Sam started.

"Why, what's happening?"

"Gabriel's here. Probably to take me to the veil. I'll meet you on the other side, okay?"

"Yeah. Meet me there."

There was plenty more to say, but nothing that they needed to put into words. They were on the same page and fighting towards the same goal. Sam would follow through with his end and Dean with his. That was really all there was to it.

He handed the phone back to Jo and stood up, facing the archangel. He had half a mind to slug him for leaving him alone in the hallway, but he restrained himself. "Where were you?" he asked dryly.

"Pulling together some loose ends," Gabriel responded. He stepped into the room, sitting down in an easy chair as a glass of chocolate milk magically appeared in his hand.

"Loose ends?" Sam repeated.

"I'm glad you asked. Our plan to go through the veil wasn't going to work unless your brother and everyone was in on it, so I dropped a few hints and whispered in their ears so they'd get it. Even after I got Charlie on the right train of thought, she didn't figure it all out, so I had to go to Bobby. And Jo here—I convinced her to open the door at just the right time to pull you in after Jess."

"You didn't say a word to me," Jo disagreed. "I didn't see you at all…"

"But you did get a feeling in your gut, right? Just this feeling of when you should open the door and that you should drag Sam in?" Jo digressed, realizing that was exactly what happened to her. "Yeah," Gabriel continued, "that's what I did with Charlie and Dean."

"Why not just come out and tell people what's up?" Sam asked skeptically.

"Um, how quickly do people in your lot trust angels?" Gabriel hardly even waited for an answer. "Yeah, never. But how often do you trust your gut?" Again, no wait time. "All the time."

"Okay, I get it," Sam submitted. He was annoyed, but Gabriel had valid points. No matter what side Gabriel was one, they could never trust him fully because of past experience and the fact that he was an angel.

"Glad you see it my way." Gabriel reached into a pocket and pulled out a small item: a tiny, corked flask with a white glowing light inside of it. Without any warning whatsoever, he lowered his hand and tossed the bottle to Sam. It landed smoothly and securely within his capable hands. "Congrats," Gabriel said. "You earned it."

The light shimmered inside, making a quiet noise that rang faintly in Sam's ears. "Where was it?" he asked, inspecting it with caution.

"A library. But I've actually had it on me the whole time."

At first, Sam was too shocked to believe it. Gabriel had it on him from the beginning? Even when he sent him to go see Jess?! "Why would you do that?" Sam practically growled. "Why did you force me to see Jess if you had it all along?!" He closed both hands into fists, though he was still careful with Cas's Grace. He wanted to slug Gabriel more than ever, and if Gabriel had been within reach, he would have done it. The angel pissed him off as he just sat in that chair and sipped his glass of chocolate milk.

"It wasn't a trial for Cas's Grace," Gabriel confessed. "But it was a trial. And you passed."

Sam was too tired and weary to put up with this. "Stop talking in riddles!" Sam snapped.

Suddenly, Gabriel became deathly serious. "You don't know what the veil's like," he said. "If you're going to make it through, you needed to be absolutely positive you want to go to Earth. No residual feelings or longings for Heaven. Seeing Jess helped clear all that doubt away, didn't it? You know where you belong."

He thought back to the dream that he had before Jo woke him up. Gabriel was wrong. He was still thinking about Jess and still thinking about staying in Heaven. If he had to put himself on a scale, he was probably 98% devoted to getting back to Earth, and 2% longing to stay with Jess.

But if he told Gabriel that, what would happen? Would Gabriel refuse to lead him to the veil? Force him to see and say goodbye to Jess again?

"Yeah," Sam bluffed. "Yeah, okay? Right again. Now will you take me to the veil?"

"With pleasure," Gabriel promised. He stood up, setting his empty glass on the coffee table in front of him. "Jo, don't bother showing us out," he told their hostess.

"You better not lead him astray," Jo threatened Gabriel darkly.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Gabriel walked over to Sam and stood right beside him, looking rather short and unimpressive compared to the giant. As he lifted a hand up to Sam's shoulder, the Winchester gave his farewell.

"Thanks, Jo," he said. "See you-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before his surroundings suddenly changed. One minute, he was looking at Jo and her small smile. The next, he was eying a swirling pool of darkness.

They were in the middle of Heaven, again. The white walls that surrounded them were as bright as ever, but the darkness was the darkest black that he could ever imagine. Even standing a few feet in front of it, Sam could feel cold, raw emotions protruding from it.

This is it, he told himself. The veil. His way out. If he had any doubts at all, he had to leave them here.

"Hop on in, Sam," Gabriel said calmly. "And keep your head straight while you're in there. You're gonna run into some opposition in there…"

He quickly picked up how everything Gabriel said only included Sam. "You're not coming," he concluded. He had a feeling, since Gabriel was flighty all along.

"Nah," Gabriel agreed. "I'm gonna play dead for a while. It's more fun…"

Sam didn't care if Gabriel was being fully truthful about that or not; he didn't have the time to worry about Gabriel's plans. "Well, uh…thanks," he said, glancing at the arch angel out of the corner of his eye. Shift as Gabriel was, there was no way Sam would have escaped or would have Cas's Grace if it wasn't for him.

"No chick flick moments," Gabriel responded nonchalantly. "Bye, Sam."

Just like that, Sam was alone. There wasn't any time to dwell on his thoughts or linger in his doubts; it was time to move.

Sam took a deep breath and took the plunge into the darkness.

*…*…*…*…*…*

Peanut: And…cut :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter; I don't really have too many comments except that I'm thrilled with how this one turned out. It came much more naturally and quickly than some other chapters have. Leave me a review with your thoughts. The more reviews I get, the sooner you'll get a chapter!

And to give you something to look forward to, here's the tentative title for the next chapter:

Chapter 11: Death