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Ticking Time Bomb

The Winchesters knew they were both in deep trouble when the psychiatrist walked into Sam's room. Dean stood from his brother's bedside – Sam had fallen asleep, exhausted, after the revelation that he would have to say 'Yes' come the end of the forty days – positioning himself carefully between the doctor and his brother. Always the protector.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, and he really did try to keep the hostility out of his voice. He did. Just because he failed miserably…Yeah.

The man smiled, and there was something familiar about it. At once Dean was on high-alert. He'd never seen the face before, but he'd learned well enough the art of recognizing a consciousness in another body – Hell, that demon bitch Meg had burned through, like, seven bodies, right? Dean's eyes narrowed at the doctor but he said nothing, merely sat back down as the guy approached the foot of Sam's bed, eyes alighting on his brother. Yeah, there was definitely something Dean didn't like about that look – it was like a predator, but not really…more like a predator who knows his prey isn't going anywhere.

It made Dean's skin crawl.

"Your brother has been admitted to my care. I'm not allowed to discuss why with family members," he replied, an easy smile on his face.

"Look, Doctor…" Dean's eyes flickered to the nametag, "Manning, my brother is fine with a capital Fine. He doesn't need your 'Get inside his head' crap. What he needs is to leave. I'll discharge him myself if necessary. Is there anything physically wrong with him?"

"Well, no, but -."

"Then we're leaving. As soon as he wakes up." Dean had gone into full-on Hunter, 'Don't mess with me' mode, fixing the doctor with his best glare. To his credit, the man didn't visibly falter – which only leant to Dean's theory that the guy wasn't human – but he did smile and nod at Dean.

"Very well, Mister Winchester. If you insist. I'll go get the forms now." As soon as he was out of the room, Dean made sure the salt lines were checked. Okay…they were intact. The guy wasn't a demon.

He flipped open his phone, speed dial four, as he gently shook Sam's shoulder to get him to wake up. "Hey, buddy, come on we're leaving," he murmured when Sam blinked awake sleepily. Dean was glad to see that he was at least looking better, but there was something in his eyes that the elder Winchester definitely did not like.

It was almost a minute before Castiel appeared in the room with the cutting sound of wings. "Hello Dean."

"What took you so long?" the Hunter demanded, in the middle of helping Sam up from his bed. He flipped the phone closed and aimed a half-glare at the angel. He had to do a double-take.

Castiel looked like hell. The guy had been taking a serious beating before he showed up, that much was clear. "Dude, what happened to you?" he asked, even as Castiel stumbled a little into a chair, obviously wounded. The Hunter cursed, torn between helping his brother and helping his angel. Sam laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly and smiled at him, tilting his head towards Castiel. Dean took the hint and moved over to sit by the angel. "Are you hurt?"

"Nothing I cannot heal," Cas replied tiredly, sitting up as he scrubbed a hand over his face in an action that Dean definitely recognized – he'd done it many times before. The angel ran his hands through his vessel's hair, sighing heavily and then sat back up. "Gabriel is protecting himself very well. He wants to talk to Sam."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Castiel glared at Dean, with enough force that Dean was pointedly reminded of Castiel's still-angel status. He sat back, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, and the angel obviously calmed down, before he answered; "You don't want Gabriel near you or your brother. I was trying to stop him."

"What?" Dean paused, long enough to look around the room, making sure Sam wasn't there – he wasn't sure how Sam would react, given his new revelation on the subject of angels. "You tried to fight him? Cas, the last time you took on an Archangel you exploded."

"I made it out okay. Besides, Dean, he doesn't want to kill me, or you. He wants to talk to Sam."

"Well there's not even a snowball's chance of that happening!" Dean growled, standing up with enough violence to send his chair flying backward. "Gabriel isn't getting anywhere near my brother, ever."

"Stop, Dean." Cas' eyes flickered over the man's shoulder, making Dean turn to face his brother, the one who'd spoken. "Just stop it, alright? We're not getting anywhere trying to push away the one guy who might be able to help us!" The Witness would be screaming if it could. "It's inevitable, isn't it? We can't fight fate, and if I don't solve that damned Tribute," he pointed a shaking finger at the wall, "we're both going to Hell. Just…stop trying to protect me, for once in your life."

"Sammy…"

"No, Dean! I mean it! I can't…damn it; I'm not going to let you rule my life any more. I can't do it…to Hell with your angel and demon crap and the Apocalypse, I'm done. And I'm going to get to Detroit, and I'm going to say 'Yes' to Lucifer. He's wearing me to the prom and I don't want it, alright? I don't. But there's no way to avoid it. I dug my own grave so stop trying to jump into it for me!"

"Well well, that doesn't sound like sane talk, does it?" Oh fantastic, Doctor Tactful. Dean practically growled when the guy came back into the room, smiling triumphantly. He held up a tape recorder. "And I think this will be enough that my superior will insist young Sam stay behind. We can't have crazy people wandering the streets now, can we?"

"Wow, you really are just full of crap, aren't you?" The doctor grinned at Dean.

"I might be full of crap, but I'm afraid your brother will have to stay with us, until I deem him able to go into the outside world. We don't need him screaming about Lucifer and angels when people are already so high-strung. Now, Sam, we're going to need to transfer you to the psyche ward."

"No way in hell you're taking my brother anywhere." Dean shifted, standing very directly between Sam and the doctor. This guy so didn't sit right with him. It was like that instinctual big-brother-Hunter thing…he didn't know what the guy was and until he found out there was no way in Hell he was letting Sam out of his sight. "Can you give us a few minutes alone, please?"

"Sure thing, but take too long and I'll have to go get security. With you and your brother's obvious co-dependency on each other I think there's more than enough of a case to warrant forcible separation." With that, the doctor turned and breezed out of the room, easy as anything, leaving Dean gaping at his back.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he growled, a little too late, his eyes turning to Sam and then Castiel. At least Sam had the decency to look dumbfounded. Castiel looked…a little amused. "Dude, this is so not funny," he growled at the angel.

Castiel stood up, one of those almost-smiles on his face. "I'm sorry, Dean, I thought it was only me." He didn't give enough time for Dean to be confused about his statement before turning utterly serious. "But you could sense it, right? That is not a normal man."

"Yeah, Spencer, I got that." Castiel's brow furrowed and Dean shook his head. "Never mind. Anyway, we have to get the Hell out of dodge before -."

"Can I talk to you, Dean? Alone?" The elder Winchester looked uneasily to his brother, asking almost for permission, before Sam rolled his eyes and nodded. Dean could almost hear the Where am I gonna go? echoing around his brother's head. Finally he nodded, following Castiel out of the room. The angel turned to him almost immediately. "This can be a good thing. You don't want Sam in Detroit, yes? If they keep him here then we have yet another layer of security to add. You must sleep, and I cannot be here all the time. If they are convinced that Sam is dangerous enough they will keep him here, or transfer him to a higher-security facility. Either way the Devil will not be able to get to him if we secure the room. A lot of human facilities have the potential to be incredibly secure with some help. I think this is a good idea."

"But didn't you hear him, Cas? 'Forcible separation?' Let them try!"

"Dean, for this to work, you must calm yourself down."

"How can I be calm, Cas? You're basically telling me to let my brother go to a crazy clinic for god knows how long until Archangels or Demons corner him like an animal! We can't let him just stay, and we can't let him go…Damn it, Cas, I hate this. I hate feeling like I've got this leash on Sam and I keep having to tighten it, and he keeps pulling away."

"I -." Cas was cut off suddenly as he gasped, almost doubling over as a pain unlike anything he'd known before crashed through his vessel. Good God in Heaven that hurt. The whispers of his brothers were deafening, piercing through his skull until he felt his eardrums would explode.

"Cas? Cas! Talk to me! Come on!"

"Dean…" The angel felt disoriented, clawing desperately at the Hunter's leather jacket. "Something's wrong."

"Wrong how?"

"Sam…"

Dean cursed loudly, wrapping one of Castiel's arms over his shoulders to support him as he hurried back into Sam's room. He didn't know what he expected to find, but he was unsurprised to find the room empty. Sam's duffel bag was gone; there was no trace that he had ever been there. Even the Tribute had been erased; instead three words were pasted on the wall;

'Good Game, Dean.'

"Son of a bitch!"

--

The Witness growled, transporting itself through space faster than angel-travel, arriving before Gabriel did at an abandoned warehouse in Detroit. He knew where Gabriel would have taken Sam – the scene of the Winchester's downfall. This was the place Sam was destined to say 'Yes'. Demons crowded the area around the Witness, unconsciously shying from the place it stood though it remained unseen, its presence unknown.

This was cheating. This was plain old cheating, right here. The deal was close to being off. Even now the Witness could feel itself beginning to materialize, just a shimmer on the edge of vision; soon enough it would be able to cross into the corporeal world, stop this madness.

Gabriel appeared as the doctor, an unconscious Sam cradled in his arms. His vessel shimmered out of shape, into the face that the Winchesters had come to recognize as the Trickster. He set Lucifer's vessel down in the middle of a pentagram, an inverse pentagram. The one designed for Devil's Worship. The Witness growled, moving closer, stopped when the sea of Demons began to part. The Witness' entire being trembled at the flood of power emanating from the man who came from the masses. The vessel was wearing thin, frayed and burning away around the edges. Nick. Lucifer's Plan B.

He smiled at Gabriel as the Archangel stepped back, allowing him to approach his chosen vessel. Lucifer knelt, brushing some hair away from Sam's face, his smile triumphant and tender at once. It's weird how, out of all the Archangels, Lucifer was the one who emoted more than the rest of them. He was the softest on the outside. Maybe Hell does that; maybe he's that good of an actor.

Probably the latter.

The Witness stepped forward again. This isn't how it was meant to go, it said, catching the attention of both the Archangels. Gabriel merely shook his head, classic carefree expression on his face. I mean it, Gabriel, Lucifer; you are signing your own death warrants by this course of action. You are cheating. You are defying the will of God. For that, you will die.

"Will be the one to deal the death blow?" Lucifer asked, small smile indicating that he very much doubted the Witness capable of anything. After all, it existed outside of every dimension they inhabited. It wasn't meant to influence, and so it didn't.

The Witness shook its head. Not I. The Winchesters will stop you. Dean will stop you.

"Dean is…no longer a threat," Gabriel said, eyes landing on his younger brother with a large smile. "He's too busy to help his brother right now. I made sure of that."

Cheating! You are cheating!

"Silence!" At Lucifer's command, the Demons – who had begun to stir with unease, sensing the Witness' presence but unable to detect it – stilled, black eyes all focused on their father and master. Gabriel and the Witness, too, fell silent. Slowly, Lucifer knelt down, touching two fingers to Sam's forehead. The young man gasped awake, sitting up immediately. The Devil was pleased to see that his vessel was physically unharmed, though fear and anger tainted his soul – that was good. The Devil can use that anger. The fear was a minor setback, but able to be dealt with.

Lucifer's gaze landed on Gabriel, who nodded and stepped forward. From above, the sounds of eagles echoed loud and ominous in the deathly-silent warehouse. Sam looked up, cold sweat breaking out on his skin as he began to shiver – the cavalry of Heaven were more terrifying than Hell Hounds, to their victims. Flanked on all sides by Demons, Lucifer and Gabriel polar opposites in the centre, Sam felt dread begin to coil, heavy as lead in his stomach.

"It's been forty days, Sam, and you have yet to satisfy God," Gabriel said, voice deep and serious – very Archangel-y. Sam gulped, eyes wide with disbelief – no, he'd sworn he'd had more time! He had more time…

No, time was up. Of course, Gabriel was lying, but Sam didn't need to know that, did he? With the cries of the eagles circling overhead, the Archangels knew that Sam was trapped, that he felt it anyway. They would have waited the whole forty days, but time was running short. Nick wouldn't have been able to last that long.

"We're in Detroit, Sam. Those, up there?" Lucifer looked upwards, Sam following his gaze. He shivered when he saw a flash of golden feathers, heard a stronger cry from the eagles' razor-sharp beaks. "They're going to get you if you don't fulfill your end of the bargain. You've lost, Sam. Time to pay up."

"If I do, you have to promise me, promise me, that you won't hurt Dean. Please. Or Cas. Don't kill them."

Lucifer chuckled, and the sound spread out like waves on water through the rest of the demon horde. "I don't think you're really in a position to bargain, Sam, but since I'm feeling generous…very well. I won't seek out your brother and kill him. Nor Castiel. Is that satisfactory?"

Sam had always prided himself on being able to think through any loophole, find twists in how people thought and spoke and see if there were any holes in their promises, their theories, their lies – after all, he had wanted to become a lawyer. But with the eagles circling overhead, and surrounded by demons, his fear and anger were overpowering him. He was out of time. He was done.

"Fine," he snapped, before directing one last glare at Gabriel. It was Sam's fault, but it felt easier to blame someone else than shoulder it on himself.

"Tick tock, Sam," Lucifer said in a sing-song voice.

God, Dean, I'm so, so sorry… He wasn't strong enough. If he had only remembered, had stopped wasting time and had just gotten it together…It angered Sam that he had been coerced into saying 'Yes' through his own pride, his own stupidity. Dean wouldn't have caved this easily…He'd have kept fighting; he'd have gone on until the very end. Guess I'm not as strong as you are, brother.

Cheating! The Witness was blazing with rage, its being a pillar of flame and salt, and the demons instinctively stepped away, made a little space for it. It began to run forward, feeling with each step the power necessary to cross into the physical realm, put a stop to it, but it knew before it got there that it would be too late.

You can't fight destiny.

"Fine, Lucifer. Yes, alright? Yes."

The Devil smiled. "See, Sammy? That wasn't so hard."

Author's Note: BEFORE YOU ALL KILL ME! This story DOES have a happy ending, alright? It does. There is only one more chapter after this, and maybe an epilogue (doubtful), but everything does work out. I'm getting to that stupid point when the plot bunnies aren't leaving me alone, and I'm becoming a huge Sazazel fan right now so I want to write something like that...but anyway, there's just one more chapter and then it's done! Yay!

Also, there is a poll on my profile concerning the story Rowan Winchester. If you guys could cast your vote I'd appreciate it.

This was unbeta'd.

Much loves, Review?

HigherMagic x