Thank you so much Jenjoremy for giving your time to beta the chapter, and SandraEngstrom2 and Gredelina1 for helping me outline and giving feedback. I love you ladies xxx

Chapter Ten

"Now," Death said, pulling a chair around from the table and taking a seat, "I understand you need my help."

They all started speaking at once again. Death held up a hand and they fell silent.

"You," Death said, pointing at Dean. "Speak."

Dean was more than a little intimidated by being in the same room as Death, let along being addressed by him, but he pushed it all aside for the sake of his brother. "Sam's dead."

"I noticed," Death said, casting the bed a glance. The minutest downturn of his lips was the only sign of reaction in him.

"And he is in The Empty," Dean went on.

Death nodded slowly. "I see. And I assume you would like to me retrieve him for you."

"Can you?" Jo asked.

Death cast her a withering look. "I am Death. The places of departure and existence are mine to roam at will, even though I…" He shook his head slowly. "I will find Sam and bring him back for you, and then you will do something for me."

"Anything," Dean said.

Gabriel tutted and rolled his eyes. "Awesome, another Winchester deal. The last one worked out so well."

"It brought Sam back didn't it?" Dean said angrily. He would take the consequences of his deal because it put Sam back in the world.

"Yes," Gabriel said tiredly. "The Winchesters were served. The rest of the world however..."

Death turned to glare at him. "There is a difference. I am not some common, grubby demon. I don't make deals that destroy worlds."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. Dean had to admire his guts, facing off with Death.

"I can reap your Father, angel," Death said. "What do you think I can do to you if you irk me?"

"Stop!" Jo said harshly. "Just stop, okay. Sam's dead! Can't we just get him back before we start… We need our brother back."

And Dean realized that Sam was, indeed, their brother. Jo's by life experiences, Dean's by blood, Castiel's by a forged connection of fighting shoulder to shoulder. They were bound by love and they all needed him back.

Death eyed Jo for a moment, and Dean shifted a little closer, to comfort or perhaps defend if needed. But Death just turned away and smiled slightly. "Such an interesting group," he said. He rose to his feet and drew a deep breath. "I will fetch your brother, young Jo. Perhaps you can prepare for his return. I think perhaps a few less people at first."

Jo nodded and addressed Gabriel and Tessa. "Out you go. Sam's not going to want an audience for this. Give us some space."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "We'll be close."

"Sure," Jo said easily. "Hang outside if you want."

Tessa and Gabriel walked to the door and Castiel moved to follow them. "Not you, Cas," Dean said quickly. "You stay." Castiel hesitated and Dean added, "You're family."

There was nothing: no air on his face, no sound in his ears, no floor beneath his feet and nothing to see. He was just there. There was no way to gauge time; he could have been there an hour or a lifetime.

He had thought he would prefer oblivion to the Cage again, but he was wrong. This was worse in a strange way. This was The Empty.

Suddenly, there was touch. Something wrapped around his wrist and yanked. He tried to fight, scared of this new torment, but the grip was too strong.

Then his ears thrummed with sound—a voice calling his name and someone speaking in a warning tone, "Give him a minute, Jo."

He opened his eyes and was amazed that there was sight again. He was looking into Jo's strained face, her hand stretched in the air between them as if she had been reaching for him. To the other side was Dean, pale and nervous-looking. At the end of the bed stood Castiel, his gaze soft and pleased as it looked down at him.

He took stock of it all and memory rushed at him. The hunt, Reapers, Dean's battle to save him, the Empty. He had died.

"I'm okay," he said, his voice surprisingly steady given what he was feeling.

Jo moved a little closer, still tentative, and Sam reached for her extended hand and squeezed it. "It's okay, Jo."

She fell forward onto him and he enveloped her in his arms, soothing her with a hand on her back and soft words. Behind her, Dean smiled and nodded, satisfied. When Jo pulled back, Sam swung his legs around to the edge of the bed he sat up. Dean held out a hand to help him to his feet and Sam took it, knowing Dean needed to help even if Sam was steady. Dean pulled him into a hug and Sam held him tightly before releasing him and gripping his shoulders. "How?" he asked worriedly.

He was sure Dean would know what he was asking. Who had saved him and what had it cost them this time?

"Death," Dean said.

"You made a deal with Death?"

"Not exactly," Dean said.

"Oh, I'd say it's exactly that!" Gabriel was standing on the threshold and scowling. "Good to have you back, Winchester. You're just in time to see your brother screw the world again."

"Don't be so dramatic," Death's measured voice said from the other side of the room. "Dean did no such thing. I told you I am not a common demon. I do not make deals that destroy worlds. I quite like this world after all."

Sam's mind was reeling, and he held onto Dean's shoulders a little more tightly for support before pushing down his panic and getting his feet under him again.

"Shall we sit?" Death asked. "There is much to discuss." He sauntered over to the table and took a seat. Sam took the other chair and sat opposite him. Dean and Jo perched on the bed, Dean's arm around Jo's shoulders, while Castiel and Gabriel stood, Castiel stiff and Gabriel leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"What was the deal?" Sam asked.

"That I would retrieve you from The Empty and in return you would all do something for me."

Sam sighed. That was about as open a deal as you could get. His only comfort was that Death didn't seem interested in screwing the world; their own personal world was another matter though.

"What do we need to do?" Sam asked.

"I want my ring back," Death said simply.

"Oh…" Dean's little regained color drained from his face and Sam felt a sick twist of fear. Where was the ring? He'd assumed they were lost in the creation of the portal, but the way Death said it and Dean's reaction made Sam think that was wrong.

"The rings still exist then? They weren't part of the portal?" he asked hopefully.

"They still exist," Death said dryly. "They were the keys to the cage. When a key is turned, it stays in the lock until removed again."

Dean opened his mouth a couple times and closed it again before saying, "We don't have them."

"That is not news," Death said slowly. "Why don't you have them, Dean?"

Castiel cleared his throat. "It is my fault. Dean was in no state to think of the rings when Sam was gone, and we were forced to flee almost straight away to avoid Michael, and I just…"

"Didn't think," Death finished for him. "That much is obvious. Do you know who did think? Who took advantage of Dean's incapacitation and your lack of foresight?"

"Crowley," Dean growled.

"Indeed. The demon took the rings."

"That is how he is strengthening himself," Castiel said with dawning realization.

"Oh, not only that," Death said. "He has more cruxes in place now."

"The grace," Sam said.

"Yes, and the souls." Seeing their blank looks Death sighed, turning to Sam. "Billie and her ilk have turned away from their duty and are siphoning souls into the pit rather than Heaven. Their crossroads demons are working harder than ever, too. Crowley is playing the long game. When he can call upon the power of those souls, the grace and my ring, he will be able to take the fight to the archangels." He looked at Gabriel. "All of them."

Gabriel stared back, betraying no emotion at all.

"Uh, one question, if you can reap God, pop in and out of The Empty, cause death and destruction pretty much when you like, why can't you just…" Jo's voice quieted, "…get your ring back yourself?"

"Because Crowley is wearing it," Death said. "He has essentially claimed that power for himself. He cannot tap into its full power, as he is still essentially a demon despite his moniker of King, but he can access much of it. For me to fight him would be like one of you trying to fight yourself."

Sam closed his eyes for a moment and tried to untangle his thoughts. This seemed insurmountable. How were they supposed to take on Crowley when even Death couldn't?

"That is not all," Death said, and Sam's eyes opened to fall on him, defeat making his shoulders slump. "There are three other rings in play. The other horsemen's I believe, though I have not seen them to confirm. His elite demons have claimed them. War, Pestilence, and Famine never had the power I did, but they were still strong in their own right. By handing the rings over to his demons, he has created three new powerful weapons."

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Dean asked.

Death smiled grimly. "That is what you need to discover. You are more powerful than you realize. Sam has unique abilities against demons. You, Dean and Jo, ground him and aid in ways I don't think you understand. Outside of that, you're formidable hunters in your own rights. There are two angels here, one of them an archangel, and they're both fortified with immense untapped potential. I have every faith that, between the five of you, a solution will be found." He rose to his feet, a clear end to their conversation.

"Wait!" Sam said. "That's it? You're leaving this to us to figure it out?" He had never felt so out of his depth in his life.

"Hardly," Death said. "I will be working, too. You should continue as you were, saving where you can, and when I have something to offer, I will be in touch." He paused for a moment and then said. "I know you are searching for signs of Crowley, but it would not bode well for you to engage him yet. Wait. Be patient." He straightened and then looked at Castiel. "Threaten my reaper again, I will squash you like a bug, angel."

That said, he disappeared without even a whisper of sound.

"Wow," Gabriel said, looking around the room. "I thought I was good at dramatic exits."

"Amateur," Jo said with a shaky laugh.

"Exit aside," Dean said, "he's badass and he's got no idea how to do this. How the hell are we supposed to come up with something?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. It's not like he's sitting back and leaving us to it, though. I think we have to do what he says—get on with it and hope we come up with something between us in the meantime."

"One thing's for sure; we're not going after Crowley yet," Dean stated.

"Agreed," Sam said, looking at Gabriel.

Gabriel frowned. "Fine. Sure. If the mighty Death says not to, I guess we better listen."

Dean smirked. He thought it had been quite the lesson for Gabriel not to be the most powerful being in the room for a change.

"In the meantime, what do we do?" Jo asked.

"We finish this hunt," Sam said. "I'm kinda pissed about the whole being dead thing, not to mention The Empty. I want some revenge."

Dean grimaced. He was sure Sam was talking about it so calmly in defense, not wanting to admit how scared he had been by what happened to him, but it was still hard to handle. Sam had been dead because of the creature. He'd been murdered. Dean wanted a little revenge, too."

"What was it you were hunting?" Gabriel asked.

"Not sure. I thought maybe Baku, but they don't scare to death as much as drain your life-force."

"You were scared to death?" Gabriel asked.

Sam looked a little embarrassed as he nodded. "Yeah. I was having nightmares, and I guess one was too much."

"What were you dreaming about?"

Sam swallowed noisily. "Hell. The Cage. Lucifer."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "Then it's a Hag."

"What makes you so sure?" Dean asked.

"The fact that he remembers what he dreamed." He sighed. "I didn't want to have to tell you this, because merely talking about it risks its failure, but Sam cannot feel his Hell."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam said.

"When I brought you back, I figured I'd do you a solid," Gabriel said. "I gave you the makeover, scar removal and all, but I also blocked the Hell. Why do you think you've been so different since you got back? I blocked the experience of Hell. You don't dwell on it; you don't remember dreaming about it. In short, you're not the traumatized wreck from it you should be after over a century in the Cage."

"A century!" Jo gasped. "What? How?"

"I'll explain later," Sam said quickly. "So you blocked hell?"

"Of course I did. What did you think? That you just had that much mental fortitude to deal with it alone?"

"Thank you," Dean said fervently and Sam nodded. "Yes, thank you, Gabriel."

"Not a problem," Gabriel said then he glanced toward the door. "Okay, time for me to make my exit. Good luck with that…"

He disappeared with a fluttering sound at the same moment there was hard knock on the door. Frowning, Dean got up to open it. Ellen and Bobby stood on the threshold.

Ellen looked from face to face and spoke in a growl. "What the hell has been happening here?"

Sam took the lead, making it clear with a look alone that the others weren't to tell Ellen or Bobby the ghoulish details of what had happened. He just said he'd been targeted by a Hag and they'd had a little outside help. He tried to say as little about that as he could and focused instead on Death's visit—making it sound like a coincidence—and what he had told them. While she worked through her shock about that, Sam asked Bobby about Hags to change the subject.

"Nasty bitches," Bobby said. "Literally scare you to death with nightmares and feed on the energy of the stress." He eyed Sam shrewdly. "It came after you?"

"Yeah," Sam said easily. "Lucky Dean woke up and scared her off."

Bobby's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. Lucky."

Sam realized Bobby knew more had happened than him simply being targeted, but the older hunter seemed to realize that it wasn't the time to push the subject—not with Ellen there. Sam didn't like lying to her, but he'd made a promise not to leave her again, and he didn't want her to know he'd broken it already. She didn't need those nightmares.

"So how do we take it out?" Sam asked. "I've never tangled with one before."

"You can't kill it," Bobby said. "The most you can do it trap it. Hags are eternal. They've been a part of the natural order since practically the beginning."

Sam was disappointed. He really wanted to kill the thing that had caused the people he loved so much pain and that had forced him to break his promise. He would have to settle for trapping it though.

"How do we trap it?" Dean asked, and his tone made Sam sure he had been hoping for a little payback himself.

"We need to catch it in the act of feeding and do a spell, basically," Bobby said. "It will siphon the Hag into a crystal. We do that, stuff it in a curse box, and it'll be screwed for all time. I've got the spell in my journal. We just need a crystal and curse box."

"I can retrieve what you need," Castiel said.

Bobby nodded his agreement. "Upstairs in my place—Linen closet. You'll find a curse box under the towels."

Castiel disappeared.

"You up for another rough night?" Bobby asked Sam. "If it's targeted you once, it'll come back. I can lurk out of the way and do the spell without it even realizing I'm here."

"Absolutely," Sam said, holding up a hand to Dean's quick protest and Jo's gasp. "I can handle it," he said both in answer to Bobby and to reassure Dean and Jo.

Ellen's eyes narrowed but she didn't speak. If she forced him to talk, he'd tell her that it had been touch and go, but he'd made it out, which wasn't a lie in the strictest sense. He'd brief Dean and Jo on the story, too. And he'd just tell Castiel to keep quiet no matter what she asked—it was the easiest way.

"You guys must need something to eat," Sam said. "Did you drive all the way through?"

"Yeah," Bobby said. "We were worried."

"We'll go get us all some dinner," he said. "Dean? Jo?"

They quickly got to their feet and Sam grabbed his wallet from the table. "We'll be right back."

Ellen's eyes followed them as they left, making Sam feel like he was being x-rayed. When they got out of the door and halfway across the parking lot, Jo burst into speech. "Sam! You can't seriously be thinking of letting the Hag come after you again!"

"It'll have to know something went wrong, what with me refusing the Reaper, and so it'll come back to see what happened if nothing else…" He caught sight of their horrified faces. "What?"

"You refused your Reaper?" Dean asked, his voice strained.

"Yeah," Sam said simply. "What did you think—that I was just going to run off and leave you all? You should know me better than that."

"But what does that mean?" Jo asked. "If you refuse your Reaper, what happens to your soul?"

"You become a spirit," Sam said, setting off away from the motel again. "Come on. We need to get some food."

"Sam!" Dean growled, hurrying after him. "What were you thinking?"

Sam stopped and raked a hand over his face. "I was thinking it wasn't time. There is too much for me to do still to be able to skip off with a Reaper."

It wasn't just that, of course. The truth was it was never going to be time for Sam to leave them. Not after everything. If being a spirit was his only option, he'd take it. If that was what kept him with the people he loved, that was what he would do.

Ellen was troubled. Something was going on. Sam, Dean, Jo, Castiel even, were hiding something from her. Cowardly though, she didn't want to delve too deeply into what it could be. She was afraid of what she would find out.

Instead, she threw herself into helping Bobby prepare the spell to trap the creature that had targeted Sam. She shredded herbs and placed candles on the table of the adjoining room to theirs. In the other room, Sam and Dean were being sent to sleep by Castiel. The plan was that he would stay in their room, invisible until the moment the Hag arrived, and then he would come to them and tell them to start the spell. According to Bobby, it was simple enough. He just had to light the ingredients and say the Latin at the right time and the Hag would be trapped. She was still uneasy though—as she always was when one of her own was at risk.

Jo was sitting cross-legged on the bed, her expression tense and her eyes tired. Whatever had happened, she had been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours, Ellen could tell. When she got her home, Ellen would cook for her, take care of her, heap love on her the way only a mother could.

Castiel appeared in the room them and said, "I have put them both to sleep. Prepare," before disappearing again.

"We're ready," Bobby said.

Ellen picked up the matches and held herself ready to act. "Ready," she agreed.

She'd thought perhaps they would have to wait hours for the Hag to come, and she was prepared to do that, to stand poised for action at a moment's notice, but Sam must have provided a feast for it, because it arrived soon after Castiel left them.

His voice called to them before Ellen even saw him, shouting, "Now!"

Ellen lit the match and dropped it over the bowl while Bobby raised his voice in a clear command, "Audite me! Liga eam et hoc animal est impotens!"

Energy pulsed though the room, and the pink crystal in the bowl of ingredients glowed bright for a moment, and then faded to what looked like a husk of charcoal.

Ellen dropped the box of matches and raced out of their room to the adjoining. The door was closed and she hammered on it. It was answered by Castiel, and she brushed past him toward the bed.

Dean was awake, leaning over Sam and patting his cheeks hard. "Sam! Sammy!" Even as Ellen watched, her heart racing in her chest but her legs immobile, Sam's eyes opened and looked around the room. "It's okay," he said hoarsely. "I'm fine. We're all fine."

Dean fell back to sit on the edge of his own bed and laughed shakily.

In that moment, as Jo raced into the room and breathed Sam's name, Ellen understood what exactly it was she had missed before. Their reactions could only mean one thing.

She had almost lost her boy.

Again.

So… Death is on Team Free Will: Extended Edition. Think they have a chance now?

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx