Thanks so much Ktoon for beta'ing for me and Themegalosaurus for doing the final edits, and thank you VegasGranny and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading. These ladies give up their time and energy to help me, and I am forever grateful.
I know it might be harder to read Chuck in this role after Moriah, but he was written before the episode aired so maybe try to concentrate on him as he was in Alpha and Omega. That's who I was seeing as I wrote him. I'm pretty sure that's who I will continue to see him as unless I ever write a Post-Moriah story.
Chapter Fourteen
Sam stared at Chuck as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "Are you really God?" he asked.
Chuck smiled slightly. "I am. I can see why it would be a struggle to believe, though. The Chuck you knew was a—"
"Alcoholic hack writer and pretty much a coward?" Dean suggested.
He didn't care that he was facing off with God. All he could see when he looked at Chuck were all the times he hadn't been there for them. When they were on the mat, desperate for help, he'd not shown and they'd been left to mop up the mess in his world alone. They had died because he hadn't been there, Sam had gone to the Cage for the world, and Chuck was there now, acting like it was nothing.
"Well, I'm not really an alcoholic, but I guess you can make a case for the other two. I can't write, and I've not stepped up to my duties. I've left you guys to handle things."
"Then what are you doing here now?" Sam asked.
Chuck came a little deeper in to the room and addressed Sam, not meeting Dean's furious gaze. "I wasn't going to come, not yet anyway, but there was something I needed to do first, and I figured there was still time for me to take a break."
"You took a break for the life of the universe," Dean accused.
"Not really," Chuck said. "I was here in the beginning. I did…maybe not my best, but I was here. I thought I could keep that up a little longer with you two around, but then—"
"Sammy died," Dean said, his heart aching with the remembered pain of what had happened.
"Sam died," Chuck agreed, looking annoyed by the second interruption. "At first that didn't seem to make much of a difference."
Dean gaped at him. No difference? Sam had been in a kind of hell and then had been brought back to this half-life that was an apparently different kind of hell for him. And he hadn't even been able to share it. He had managed to play it cool most of the time, not showing Dean just how hard it was for him, and Dean had let him. He hadn't pushed Sam to talk because he was scared of the answers. He reasoned it away as giving Sam space, letting him keep his secrets as he would want to if it was him, but all that time Sam had been struggling.
"You were both still working the problem," Chuck went on. "So it was safe to wait, to do what I needed to do, but you've given up now, so I had no choice but to come back. You've both given up before, when you haven't been able to shoulder the weight, but that was okay because the other took the load until you could. But this time it's both of you, and Castiel isn't strong enough to go on alone. You forced my hand. I need to step up."
"You should have stepped up a few thousand times before," Dean said, a muscle twitching in his jaw as he worked to control his anger. "The world has needed you. We've needed you. We fought an apocalypse started because of your sons."
"It wasn't them," Sam said quietly. "I did it."
"No!" Dean said, his voice rising. "It was on them. Lucifer's demons made you what you were. Zachariah trapped me in that place so I couldn't come stop you in time. They wanted it the whole time. It's down to them."
Sam shook his head and looked down at his knees.
"Dean is right, Sam," Chuck said, making both pairs of eyes snap up to him. "You made your mistakes, but it was a path you were set on before your birth that led you there. I could have intervened, but I never did. I told myself it wasn't my problem, that Michael and Lucifer should fight, but it was an excuse. I just wasn't ready to come back. I am back now, and I am prepared to clean up the mess my mistakes made, but are you ready to do your part?"
"Can you bring Sam back?" Dean asked. If Chuck would do that, he would do anything, give anything.
"I can't," Chuck said. "There are rules to the universe. My sister and me, Heaven and Hell, Zericel and Cipencel. It's all balanced. I can't take from one without affecting the other."
"But Sam isn't in Cipencel anymore," Dean said. "He's here. You just need to bring him the rest of the way, put him back in his body."
Chuck shook his head slowly. "Sam isn't really here. His consciousness is, the part of him that thinks and feels, but his true soul in the Cipencel."
"I'm soulless?" Sam asked, his mouth dropping open.
"Of course you're not," Dean said, his angry eyes fixed on Chuck. "You were different last time. You're still you now."
"You are still connected to your soul," Chuck explained. "You retain the purity of it, but it's there still. That's why this is so hard for you. Even though you can't feel it, your soul is there."
"Is it being mutilated again?" Sam asked, his tone neutral as if the answer didn't matter to him, when Dean knew it mattered more than almost anything. Sam's soul had already been damaged so much by what had happened to him in the Cage, the thought of more suffering for it was abhorrent to them both.
"It's there," Chuck said in lieu of a real answer.
Sam looked away, biting his lip.
Anger surged in Dean. "So he's there still, being hurt and making him feel like this, but you won't save it because of some crap about balance?"
Chuck's expression darkened but Dean didn't care. He owed him nothing. The debt was owed by Chuck. He was the one that had abandoned them, was still refusing to help.
"It's okay, Dean," Sam said quietly. "We've got way bigger problems than what's happening to me."
"You do," Chuck agreed. "This is about the universe."
"I don't care," Dean spat.
"Yes you do," Sam said. "We both do." He looked up at Chuck. "What are you going to do?"
Chuck's eyes lightened again and he said, "We should all talk together. This is going to take more than just my help."
They walked after Chuck into the library where Rowena and Castiel were sharing a decanter of whiskey. Rowena was slumped over the table and Castiel staring down at his glass. Neither of them seemed to notice Chuck's arrival with Sam and Dean at first. He was almost at the table with them before Rowena looked tried to focus her bleary eyes on Chuck.
"Who's the creepy uncle?" she asked.
Castiel looked up and then lurched to his feet, his eyes wide. "It's my Father."
Rowena's brows pinched together. "I thought your father was… Oh God!"
Chuck smiled. "Exactly. Nice to meet you, Rowena." His eyes moved to Castiel who looked scared, and his eyes softened. "Hello, Castiel."
Castiel nodded jerkily.
"You don't need to worry," Chuck said reassuringly. "I'm here to help now."
Castiel licked his lip nervously. "What about the things that have already happened?"
Chuck smiled. "I forgive you."
Dean felt a surge of irritation. Chuck should be the one asking to be forgiven. The things Castiel had done wrong had been part of him trying to clean up the messes Chuck's absence had caused.
"You don't need to be forgiven, Cas," he said, glaring at Chuck. "You were trying to help when you screwed up. We all were."
Chuck looked angry, and Dean bunched his fists.
"Calm down, Dean," Sam said firmly.
"Are you hearing him?" Dean asked angrily.
"I hear him, and I agree with you, but Cas needed to hear that from him, and, Chuck is here now. It's him or nothing if we want to save the world. We've got to work with him."
"He's not helping you," Dean growled.
Sam looked sad. "Just because he can't bring me back doesn't mean he's not helping. I want to stop Amara, and he's our best shot at doing that." He paused and considered for a moment. "He's our only shot."
Dean understood what he was saying, and he knew Amara did need to be stopped, but what he wanted from Chuck was for him to bring Sam back, and he couldn't do it. Now he knew the truth of what Sam felt and what was happening to him, it was even harder to accept Chuck's presence.
Chuck nodded to Sam and said, "You're right. I'm sorry. Castiel. I owe you more than forgiveness. I owe you thanks. The things you did were to protect humanity and Heaven. You are my son."
Castiel's lips parted and he looked awed.
Dean nodded stiffly, satisfied, and Chuck took a deep breath.
"I need you to help me protect humanity again, all of you. For this fight I need Lucifer, and you can help me get him."
Sam flinched and Dean was sure he was thinking of Dean again. Dean wasn't worried. Lucifer was no threat now that Chuck was there. Maybe Chuck would even do them a favor when it was all over and kill him for them. It would save Dean needing to do it.
"Amara has Lucifer," Castiel said.
"I know," Chuck said. "But I can't stop Amara without his help. I need his strength to lock her away. There is no time to bring back the other archangels, even if I thought it was a good idea, so I have to work with what I have. Lucifer has proved that he wants Amara stopped. I hope that will be enough to persuade him to work with me."
Dean had forgotten, caught up in his own feelings that he wasn't the only one that had a grudge against Chuck, Lucifer had a pretty big bone to pick with him, too. Dean had known he resented him for Michael banishing him to the Cage, but now that he knew the story of the Mark, he thought he understood Lucifer a little better. It didn't come close to excusing what he'd done, but it did explain how he had gone from being God's brightest to his adversary.
"How do we get him back?" San asked.
"We need to give her what she wants."
Castiel's brow furrowed. "That's you."
"Exactly. If I go to her and offer an exchange, she'll free Lucifer. When Lucifer is recovered, you can come for me."
"Recovered from what?" Sam asked.
"Amara is torturing him. She wants me to come for him. I will."
Dean crossed his arms over his chest, his expression skeptical. "So we're supposed to nursemaid Lucifer from the torture—which by the way is awesome, it's about time he got a taste of it—while you are Amara's prisoner, and we're supposed to come get you, without a Hand of God to even power Lucifer up a little?"
"I can make you another Hand of God," Chuck said. "But you won't need it for this battle. You're going to gather other allies to fight."
"We have allies?" Dean asked, an amused eyebrow raised.
"We do," Sam said with a look of dawning comprehension. "With Cas, Rowena and Crowley, we can get all we need: angels, witches and demons."
"I can gather a few witches," Rowena said obligingly. "Even with how much most of them hate me, they will want a world to hate me in."
"And Crowley has plenty of demons," Sam went on.
"I can assemble the Host," Castiel said, looking at Chuck. "If they know you're here, they will do whatever is asked of them."
"Perfect," Chuck said with satisfaction.
"Can't we just use these allies to kill her?" Dean asked.
"You're forgetting about balance, Dean," Chuck said. "She needs to exist in some form. We are both needed in the world."
Dean rolled his eyes. He'd already heard enough about balance to last him a lifetime.
"What's to stop her killing you though?" Sam asked. "She's not going to care about a balance."
"She doesn't want my life," Chuck said. "She wants revenge." He looked between Castiel and Rowena and said, "Tell Crowley what we need. Have him come here and then assemble your own allies. Sam and Dean are coming with me."
Rowena frowned. "I thought Sam was dead."
Chuck smiled slightly. "You haven't spent enough time with them to know yet, Rowena, but to the Winchesters, death is just a step to life."
"Except this time, right?" Dean said bitterly.
Chuck nodded. "Yes, except this time." He drew a deep breath and turned to Rowena. "But Sam is still here, in a form. You just can't see him."
"So Dean's not lost his mind," Rowena said thoughtfully. "I suppose that's some good news at least. A sane Winchester is a better ally than a crazy one."
"We should go," Chuck said.
"Wait!" Sam held up a hand looking concerned. "What about the Mark? Where exactly are you planning to trap her? Who's taking it this time?"
Chuck turned to Dean and Dean saw the answer in his eyes. His heart sank. He was going to have to take it again.
"I was hoping you would, Dean."
Dean nodded stiffly. "Better me than anyone else, I guess. I'm already damaged goods."
"No!" Sam's voice rose to a shout. "You can't ask him to do this again!"
Chuck looked apologetic as he said, "It's not ideal. If I had the choice, I would ask you to take it, Sam, but I can't. Dean is the only other person I trust with it, with her."
Sam's hands clenched into fists. "And when it makes him crazy with bloodlust again, when he becomes a demon, what happens then? It ended bad last time."
"I know," Chuck said. "I saw."
Sam looked furious. "You saw it and you didn't stop it."
Dean wasn't surprised that Sam was angry now. They could both take the blows when they were directed at themselves, but when there was a threat to their brother, they reacted. Dean was angry at Chuck for his failings, but most of all for what they had cost Sam. Sam was angry now because he saw how Chuck had let Dean himself down.
"I couldn't have stopped Dean taking the Mark, and I couldn't have stopped you saving him. Even I can't get in the way of you two when you're committed to something, especially each other."
"Dean went through hell because of that mark!" Sam growled.
"I won't let that happen again," Chuck said. "I will take him somewhere he cannot hurt himself or anyone else. You will be with him. It will be okay."
Dean thought that was probably the best option. He didn't want to take the Mark back, but he would to save the world. And he wouldn't lose Sam. If he couldn't hurt people, the Mark would be easier to handle, and Sam would be there to help him ride it out. It was probably the best outcome they could hope for.
"I'll do it," Dean said.
"No, Dean!" Sam said angrily.
"We don't have a choice, Sammy. I'm the only one."
Sam turned away.
"Now, we need to leave," Chuck said. "The longer we stay here arguing, the more damage Amara will do to Lucifer."
Dean scoffed. They could wait a week as far as he was concerned. Let Lucifer feel even an idea of what he had put Sam through.
"The more hurt he is, the longer he will need to recover," Chuck said.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Let's go then."
Chuck nodded and Dean felt the disorientation before his feet hit a concrete floor and he found himself in the garage beside the Impala, Sam and Chuck standing on the opposite side of the car.
"We're driving?" Sam asked.
"Not technically," Chuck said. "But you need a means of escape when you have Lucifer. He may not be able to fly if she's hurt him as badly as I fear."
Dean shrugged and opened the door. "Fine. We might as well go."
He got in behind the wheel and Sam slid into shotgun. Chuck sat in the middle of the backseat and said, "Hold tight."
"Wait, what?" Dean said, but they were already in motion. He gripped the steering wheel and looked at Sam as they appeared outside an old warehouse.
"Where are we?" Sam asked.
"Just outside Oklahoma City," Chuck said, opening the door and climbing out.
Dean and Sam did the same and looked up at the building with its heavy doors and windows set high in the walls.
"Are you ready?" Chuck asked. "You know what you need to do?"
"Grab Satan and run," Dean said huffed. "We know."
Chuck's brows contracted but he didn't object to the name Dean had used for his son. "Then let's go."
So… It's rescue Lucifer time. I am as torn as Dean about this. I liked the idea of him in pain for a while.
Until next time…
Clowns or Midgets xxx