Author's note: Thanks a lot to Ghastly Eternity for beta-reading and to Maknatuna, Mello18, Maddy Love Castiel, midnight0211, , Kid'sDarkWolf, keacdragon and Larkafree for last chapter's reviews!
We're getting closer to the end of this story. There will be forty chapters all in all... consider yourself warned ;-)
36
Locating Death with the help of a spell and the scythe had been rather easy. So easy that Castiel and Gabriel had come to the conclusion that he wanted to be found by them at this point in time. If they were right, then he might have monitored their progress and waited for the right time to get into the game himself.
Dean, of course, had insisted on driving to Chicago and Sam had asked Gabriel to grab Castiel and meet them there. The younger Winchester wasn't exactly looking forward to having some hours to talk things over with his brother, but he knew they needed to do it all the same.
They had been on the road for nearly two hours before the older Winchester felt up to having a conversation.
"You're putting your life in the hands of Death," Dean spoke, surprisingly not accusing, but simply stating facts, "Please, tell me you realize why that's fucked up!"
He was still mad at Gabriel for not even trying to talk Sam out of this and he clearly thought his younger brother was being stupid, but for the moment being they could have a civilized talk about the matter. They'd yell at each other soon enough, the older Winchester was sure.
"Of course, I do," Sam replied immediately, "But you've got to understand that I'll do it, anyway."
Yes, they would tell Death about the plan they had and if the Grim Reaper would take it then the younger Winchester would go through with it.
Dean just snorted. They both knew that meant he knew that all too well.
"Dean, if our roles were reversed, you'd do the same and you wouldn't let me stop you, either," Sam sighed.
"And you'd bitch about it the entire time," his older brother shot back, "So just be glad I don't do bitching."
Different label, same content, but Sam wasn't going to call his brother out on that as things were. He understood that he was putting his loved ones through a lot with the decision he had made. Hell, a picture of him and Dean might be in a lexicon next to the definition of co-dependant. But they both had proven just how selfish they could be when it came to the question which one of them would be the one to be left behind alone, too.
Sam didn't even want to think of what exactly he might be doing to Gabriel, so he kept those thoughts at bay as much as he could, for the moment being.
"I just want you to know that you, or all of you really, can be mad at me and curse me however much you want, I'll still stick to my decision," the younger Winchester stated after a short silence, "I don't care if you'll hate me for this, because you'll be alive and Lucifer will be gone."
While that might not be the only thing he wanted for his family, it was the one thing he knew he could give them.
The older Winchester knew that there was no way he was going to win this argument. He also knew that they still needed Death's ring and that everything they quarreled about now might be null and void as soon as they got to speak to the Horseman. Dean didn't put any hopes into the possibility that Death might not like the part of the plan where Sam was going to be Lucifer's vessel after all, though.
"Like I'd ever really hate you," the older Winchester murmured before he added a not completely heartfelt, "Bitch."
"Don't know, I think you came pretty close a couple of times," the younger Winchester replied with a small, fake smile.
"Only because you keep forgetting the pie," Dean retorted. He was unwilling and unable to talk or even think about any times when he might really have come close to disowning his brother for good. Hell, like any of that mattered anymore, looking at what might be happening all too soon.
As it looked, two out of four Horsemen had a thing for fast-food.
Surprisingly enough the pizzeria was still occupied by a couple of other guests, as well. The really surprising part was that the other customers were still very much alive and breathing, though. This actually counted as a promising start without being sarcastic about it for once.
"I thought you were joking about the pizza," Sam whispered to Gabriel as their little group approached Death.
Out of the four Horsemen, Death was obviously the one that really looked his part, too. Strangely enough, he didn't look extraordinarily scary or dislikable, though.
The archangel shrugged lightly, "I had heard rumors. Apparently, at least some were true."
Dean had the scythe Michael had given to them hidden under his jacket, even though they didn't intend to take the ring by force. It surely couldn't hurt to be prepared for the worst, though.
"You are bringing my property back to me, how courteous," Death suddenly spoke, clearly looking at the older Winchester, even though he didn't stop cutting his pizza into pieces.
Dean gave his companions a doubting look, but finally took the scythe and placed it on the table next to the Horseman. They were hoping to have a civil conversation and keeping the scythe surely wouldn't have helped with that, at least not when Death already knew that they had it.
Death nodded slightly and made the weapon disappear. He then gestured for the other four men to sit down. They hadn't really paid attention to it before, but he was seated at a table for a bigger group. Clearly, they hadn't surprised the Horseman with anything they had done, yet.
The entire situation felt perfectly surreal the moment the waitress appeared to ask for their orders. It didn't help that Death asked for a few extra-plates so they could share the pizza.
Sam wasn't completely convinced that he wasn't just dreaming, at that point.
In the meantime, Dean contemplated if eating or not eating the offered food was more likely to get them killed. The archangel didn't seem to have such qualms and just took a bite. Of course, out of all of them – not counting Death – Gabriel was the hardest to kill, so that didn't necessarily mean that Dean felt safe to eat, too.
"I know what you want," Death stated matter-of-factly after he had thoroughly chewed and swallowed a piece of his pizza.
The older Winchester didn't like how well informed the Horseman seemed to be. He didn't like having to put all his cards on the table to begin with, but realizing that they had already been put on the table without his knowledge was even worse.
"Then you surely know why giving us the ring would be favorable for you, as well," Sam replied in a very respectful voice.
If there was one entity he really didn't want to upset, it was Death. That was a fight they just could not win.
"So it seems," Death answered without changing his tone in the slightest.
Sam couldn't help wondering what they would look like to the other guests of the restaurant. They surely would make a strange picture to everyone who bothered to take a closer look. Then again it wasn't completely unlikely that either Death or Gabriel had done something to keep the public eye off of them.
"Alright, so you hand the ring over, we put Lucifer back into his box and everyone's happy," Dean summarized in a tone that sounded by far more confident than he actually felt. If it had been that easy, Death would have given them the item they needed already.
"I've got the say, the leash Luci put on you doesn't fit you, anyway," Gabriel quipped in nearly cheerfully, "I bet you are dying to get rid of it. Pun totally intended."
Not that the leash was an actual object, but the archangel could see the binding magic at work. As little as he liked his brother's general plans, he had to admit that Lucifer must have balls of steel to dare to work a spell like that on Death. Either that or enough self-confidence for three. It was probably a mixture of both.
The Horseman took the ring off his finger and looked at it for a little while, completely ignoring the bad joke Gabriel had made. If you asked Death, they all were insolent children who knew next to nothing about the bigger picture, but at least this bunch of children was playing by rules the Horseman could more or less approve of.
"I want you all to take a moment to consider what you are willing to do to entrap Lucifer again," Death spoke in his usual stoic tone, but giving every single one of the group a piercing look. There was absolutely no use handing them a weapon, if they weren't absolutely willing to take the recoil that came with it.
"Anything," Sam answered before any of the others could say something.
As well informed as the Horseman was, telling him about the plan was most surely not needed, but he clearly wanted to know how serious they were about it. Well, the younger Winchester was dead serious.
Death nodded seemingly satisfied before he gave the other three men another look.
"I believe Sam can go through with his plan," Castiel stated gravely, "And I am willing to assist in any way I can."
The angel knew that he was not the one who needed to declare his intentions the most, but the other two seemed unusually tongue-tied for both their standards.
Dean nodded his agreement with what Cas had said curtly. He had had a couple of hours to think these things through and he knew his brother would not be deterred. Of course, he didn't like the plan any more than he had at the start, but it still was the only one they had.
There were a couple of moments where it looked like Death and Gabriel were having a staring contest before the archangel nodded tightly.
In a way they all felt like they had just signed Sam's death warrant. It didn't make any of them feel better that Death put the ring on the table for them to take right afterward.
Bobby had informed Ellen and Jo of their changed plans and the two women had taken off toward the salvage yard while the others had had their meeting with Death. They all arrived back at Bobby's nearly at the same time.
Jo had her arms around Sam's neck before the younger Winchester even knew what was happening to him.
"You're being so stupid and reckless and…" the younger Harvelle trailed off, "Sam, how are we ever going to get you back out of this?"
The younger Winchester sighed and brought a little distance between himself and Jo.
"Not at all," he answered very seriously, "You won't get me back out of the cage. I want every single one of you to promise that you won't do anything to open that damn thing again, even if you think you are completely sure that you'll get me out alone!"
The silence that ensued was very telling. They all had thought that they somehow would be able to find a way to get Sam back. It was a hope especially Dean and Gabriel surely had clung to and the younger Winchester was nearly sorry to take that from them, but he had to make sure that everyone understood that this had to be the end.
"Hell no!" his brother exclaimed not yet furiously but getting there, "You can't ask that of us on top of everything!"
Yes, he had thought that there had to be some loophole and that they would somehow get Sam back out with time. It wasn't ideal, but better than just accepting that he would be gone forever.
"I have to ask that of you on top of everything," the younger Winchester insisted with a sigh, "Look at where not letting go got us! It's the freaking Apocalypse! What will it be next time?"
Knowing their luck it could only get worse. The instant annihilation of all life on Earth came to mind.
"If that's what you really want," Gabriel managed to say before his voice broke. It wasn't like they had much of a choice anymore, anyway. They could barely back out on a deal they had made with Death himself.
Dean didn't say anything and just opted to punch the archangel right in the face with all his might. That probably hurt his hand more than it did to Gabriel, but it felt satisfying, anyway.
The older Winchester turned around and marched toward the house without saying another word to anyone. He was done with stupid conversations that were only getting worse and worse by the day.
Sam had moved to Gabriel's side and gently checked the archangel's cheek and nose immediately. No wounds were visible and the younger Winchester doubted that his partner had even felt the blow all too much, but it had come as a shock to basically all of them.
Castiel excused himself and went after Dean pretty much instantly and Ellen and Jo said that they would get their things inside.
All in all, the situation was awkward and uncomfortable for all of them, but Sam knew that there wasn't anything he could do about that now.
"He'll come around and accept it, eventually," the younger Winchester mumbled, still holding his boyfriend close.
"We're talking about the same person here, aren't we?" Gabriel shot back, but sneaked his arm around Sam in a reassuring manner, anyway.