Author's Note:

We get a new episode soon! I'm looking forward to it, but in the meantime, here's a new chapter to tide you all over!

Thanks to funkypanda, PuraStones, 1983Sarah, SPN Mum, and ncsupnatfan for their reviews on chapter 28!


Chapter 29 - We Still Are Made Of Greed

Sam had been shocked when Gabriel turned up at the door to the bunker with a teenage girl, but to his credit he hadn't immediately pestered the archangel for an explanation. He had raised an eyebrow at the suspicious look the girl was giving him, but he hung back until Gabriel had escorted the girl to an unoccupied room down the hall. When the archangel emerged a moment later, Sam was waiting for him with an expectant expression.

"Claire Novak," Gabriel offered, jerking his thumb towards the room to make it clear who he was talking about.

Sam's eyes widened in understanding. "Why?" He asked, surprised. "Also, how?"

"She's got a fragment of Cas' grace in her," Gabriel explained. "I was using a ritual to track whatever bits of his grace I could find, and she was easiest to find."

Remembering with startling clarity Castiel's attempt to pull Gadreel's grace from his own head, Sam immediately shook his head. "You can't do that to a kid," he started, expression fierce.

"Relax, Samsquatch!" Gabriel reassured him. "I'm not going to do what Cas did to you. I have different methods. My grace isn't the same as his. I'm more powerful, for one, and the grace I'm reaching for belongs to a friend. I can coax it into joining my own, where I can nurture it until it's strong enough for Cas to use it."

Mulling over that for a moment, Sam finally nodded. "And Claire was okay with that? I can't imagine she's that big of a fan of any of us, especially Cas."

Gabriel shrugged. "She agreed. Sounded to me like she thinks Cas saved her life, so she's returning the favor so she can call it quits on everything supernatural."

Sam huffed a laugh. "Fair enough. Before you get caught up in that, you want to tell me what's next in this grand ritual you got me started on? I've got all the ingredients."

Humming with interest, Gabriel followed Sam over to the table he'd spread everything out on, and began to scribble down mixing instructions. "Once you've got all of this mixed together, this is the incantation you say. This stuff may start smoking, but that's all normal. Then you just take whatever you're using - that medallion thing or whatever - and cover it completely in the mixture. Then you say this incantation," Gabriel scribbled more words onto the paper, shifting it slightly so Sam could read it, "and that's the end of it. I'd rinse the thing pretty well, since this'll smell pretty bad, but after that you'll be good to go. You just need these," he snatched a different sheet of paper and wrote down two phrases, "to activate the thing and shut it off. There's some upgrades we could do if you really wanted, make the whole thing a little more high tech, but this will get you verbal communication." Gabriel set the pen down and straightened up, looking satisfied.

"This seems so simple," Sam mused, looking over the new instructions Gabriel had given him.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me? In the good old days, this would have taken weeks, if not months. You just got the ridiculous handicap of living in a freaking fortress with a stockpile of literally everything. No complaining when things aren't excessively complicated because of your fancy secret house."

Sam snorted and couldn't help grinning at the irritated archangel. "Okay, point taken. I'd better get to work on this. How long is your...whatever...with Claire going to take?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Not sure. No more than a couple hours, probably. I sort of kidnapped her from her legal guardians - sort of!" Gabriel stressed the last bit at the incredulous look Sam gave him. "She was cool with it and I'm taking her back anyway! They'll probably never know she was gone. Speaking of missing people, where's your demon?"

"I think he's in the kitchen," Sam replied, although he hadn't seen Dean in a few hours. "Where's Cas?"

"Heaven, last I checked." Gabriel glanced upward sarcastically, then nodded. "Yep, still there, still with a stick up his ass."

Rolling his eyes, Sam began to gather supplies for mixing. "All right, well good luck with the grace."

"Good luck with the walki-talki," Gabriel offered with a smirk. Pausing before leaving, he added, "Kiddo, if anything happens when you use that thing, or whatever, just...let me know, okay?"

Despite the lack of clarification in the statement, Sam clearly understood what Gabriel was trying to say, and he gave the archangel a warm smile. "Thanks, Gabriel."

"No problem." With that, Gabriel hurried down the hallway back to the room where he'd left Claire.

The teenager was laying back on a bed when the archangel entered. She turned her head towards him and raised an eyebrow. "Can we get this show on the road or do you need to talk to your boyfriend some more?"

Gabriel snorted and dragged a chair over to sit beside the bed, shaking his head at her when she started to sit up. "This is going to be a draining process. Lying down is probably better."

"So how does this work?" Claire asked, looking wary.

"I'm going to let my grace go into you and search out Castiel's grace," Gabriel explained. "I won't actually take you over or anything like what happened to you before. You'll probably feel really warm, but it should hurt or be uncomfortable. When I find Castiel's grace, I'll coax it out with mine, and then you should be fine. It'll be draining, but that's why you're not driving." He smirked at his own joke, but waited to see if Claire would have any objections.

Claire considered the explanation for a moment before nodding. "Okay. If you aren't taking me over though, why do you need my permission?"

"I'm still technically entering you with my grace," Gabriel explained. "It's not something I do lightly, and I technically can't do it at all without consent."

Smirking at him, Claire said, "You know that sounds kinda dirty, right?"

Gabriel glared at her, but without any real heat. "Kids these days!" He said with mock horror. "You ready or what?"

With a sigh, Claire nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."


Sam stared at the medallion in his hands, ignoring the still smoking bowl of abhorrent smelling ritual mixture behind him. The medallion itself was clean, the engraved dove on the design practically sparkling in the light. Everything was ready, but Sam hadn't said the words yet. He wasn't sure he was ready. Part of him wished Dean was there to do this with him, but he knew he needed to do it alone. Plus, no matter how much he tried, Dean wasn't really Dean right now, and Sam didn't want to have more than one thing to worry about while he did this.

Hoping nobody would come across him while he was talking, Sam took a deep breath and spoke the words that would open the channel to the cage, "Ol umd nonci." If Sam had expected the ground below him to crumble away until an abyss, it didn't happen, and he felt more confident. No voices came out either, so Sam decided to try to communicate first. "Hello?" He tried tentatively. He wished his voice sounded more confident, but this was probably as good as it was going to get.

There was a pause, then a voice very nearly like an echo replied, "Sam?"

Sam wasn't entirely sure how to react, but he was fairly sure his blood ran cold at the voice. It was not quite his own, and not quite the voice of the vessel he had known Lucifer in, Nick. It was somewhere inbetween, but undeniably Lucifer.

"Is that you, Sam?" Lucifer asked again, a hint of eagerness apparent now.

"Yes," Sam managed to reply, pleased when his voice didn't shake.

There was a soft sigh, followed by, "Did you miss me?"

"No," was Sam's immediate response, although he wasn't entirely sure if he was lying or not. Everything to do with the cage was muddled in his mind, and the memories of Lucifer were the hardest to reconcile with any kind of absolutes.

"Mmm." Lucifer didn't sound like he believed him, but at least he didn't press the issue. "What brought this on, then? How have you managed to contact me in my prison?"

"I needed some information," Sam replied, relaxing as the conversation came under his control. He couldn't help but feel like that was an illusion, but it didn't really matter. "A friend helped me perform a ritual that would let me contact you."

"A friend." Lucifer sounded skeptical, and Sam could practically see the look in his eyes. "One of my brothers, no doubt, though I question who would have the knowledge to give you such an ability."

"It isn't important," Sam replied, perhaps a little too harshly. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, he didn't want Lucifer to know about Gabriel. Lucifer didn't have a right to know that his brother was alive, not after he'd killed him. Sam wanted to keep that to himself.

"All right," Lucifer allowed, sounding amused. "What did you need to ask me? It must be important, to get you to actually reach out to me." Lucifer sounded sad as he said this, and Sam forced himself to ignore the implications of that.

"I need to know how the Mark of Cain can be permanently removed, or destroyed," Sam stated frankly.

There was a loaded pause, before Lucifer asked, "Who was foolish enough to take that on?" His tone was rich with a dark amusement. "I have far more faith in you, Sam, so I assume this conversation is on Dean's behalf?"

Sam gritted his teeth for a moment before replying. "He thought it was necessary to take down an enemy. A knight of Hell."

Lucifer made a noise of mild interest. "Which one?"

Sighing, Sam replied, "Abaddon." Not that it mattered, and he wasn't sure why he was bothering with the details.

"Impressive," Lucifer offered. "Did Cain volunteer his help willingly, or did your brother strong arm him into passing on his gift?"

"I don't think he considered it a gift," Sam replied without thinking.

Lucifer hummed. "No, I suppose he didn't. Does Dean?"

Sam was quiet, not sure how to answer that. "Yes and no," he finally said. "He knows it's dangerous, and it's going to get him killed if we don't get it off."

Lucifer chuckled to himself quietly. "I'll tell you everything about the Mark," he offered.

When the archangel didn't immediately continue, Sam asked, "In exchange for what?" He knew that there was no way to avoid giving up something. He just hoped the devil wanted something he could actually give.

"Now that you have this ability to contact the cage, I want you to use it," Lucifer informed him. "At least once a week, but more often if you have the time." His tone was almost sardonically polite.

Sam thought his mouth might be hanging open, but he wasn't sure. "That's it?" He checked for clarification.

"Mmm," Lucifer acknowledged. "I'm sure you remember how reluctant Michael is to converse with me. Little has changed. If given the opportunity, Sam, I would prefer a companion."

It was true, in the cage Michael had spared little attention for his brother, except to react with rage whenever Lucifer had pulled Michael away from Sam. Sam was hardly safer in Lucifer's company, and yet somehow he was. The memories were fragmented in Sam's mind, but he pushed them away and took a deep breath before replying, "Deal."

A soft laugh was the reply, and then Lucifer asked, "Well then, we should begin. Do you have a pen, Sam? I have a lot to tell you."