Thank you so much Jenjoremy for all your work on this for me. Thank you also Gredelina1 for your help. Thank you all for reading xxx

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lucifer was on the back porch. He had come out for some peace and time to think but Castiel had followed him out, and he didn't want to send him away. Castiel was still grieving Gabriel, even though it had now been two weeks since his 'death', and he wanted his remaining older brother's company. Lucifer understood it. If he hadn't known the truth, he would have been grieving, too.

He stared up at the starry sky and thought of Sam. They had loved the stars in Membata. Their number seemed endless and their spread infinite. Perfect works of God in the sky. He wondered what Sam was doing and then pushed the thought away. It was probably better if he didn't know.

There was a breath of wings on the air and then an angel he recognized settled in front of them. Bethiah took a moment to look around her, as if searching for someone following, and then she burst into speech.

"Lucifer, Sam has Marius trapped. I believe he is going to kill him!"

"Where?" Lucifer asked.

"The rest of us escaped," she babbled. "But Marius was bound. He did something to our wings and minds. We couldn't fly or call for help. We had to leave our vessels—I managed to find a new one—and…"

"Where?" Lucifer barked, grabbing her arms and holding them tight.

She winced. "Pima Point, the south side of the Grand Canyon. Please hurry."

Lucifer released her. He had heard that some angels had taken to congregating around natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon in their time reacclimating to earth again. How Sam had found out, he didn't know, but he would have to tell the others to protect themselves. Until Sam was saved, it might be better that they all remain in Heaven, out of his reach.

He took flight and arrived in an instant at the scene of horror. There was a dead human body on the ground that had bled out from a deep slash across the back of the legs. Marius was lying on the ground, too, but he was alive—perhaps unfortunately, as he was suffering terribly. His eyes were gone, and his body was covered in slashes that were deep enough to hurt terribly, but not deep enough to kill. He was crying out as Sam carefully carved into his chest.

At Lucifer's arrival, Sam looked up. "Satan," he said happily. "I'll be right with you."

Lucifer reached for him, to catch the Blade and stop him making the killing blow, but Sam was too fast. He plunged it into Marius' chest, slicing his heart in two. Light burgeoned from his mouth and eye sockets, and then he stilled, ashy wings spread out beneath him.

Sam wiped the blade on the angel's pants leg and then turned to Lucifer. "Hey."

"Why, Sam?" Lucifer asked sadly, looking at the body of his fallen brother.

"Why not?" Sam countered. "I have to entertain myself, and since I took out your brother, the souls have been disappointing. I thought angels would be more satisfying to work with." He toed the corpse. "They are. I would have had more, but they disappeared on me. If you see them again, tell them I'll be in touch."

Lucifer knew it was no good trying to talk to Sam as a man, he was too far gone from that now, but he had to try to reach him on some level. "Do you really find angels more challenging?"

"I didn't say challenging; I said satisfying. I suppose they are more challenging than souls, though. They can at least try to fight back. I think maybe I could grow to like, even love, them. I'm not a monster though. I let the vessels go. Well most of them." He pointed at the female corpse with its slashed legs. "This one let her vessel die when she escaped. Not very angelic, you know."

Lucifer looked around him and saw humans stumbling a mile or so away. He would have to get them back to civilization. He was pleased Sam had spared them, though he knew it meant nothing in the grand scheme of Sam. Not killing humans was just another way Sam held himself apart from lesser demons.

"Better go," Sam said. "Lots to do. Angels to kill."

"Sam…" Lucifer started, but Sam was already gone.

He sighed and bent to remove the restraints from around Marius' body. He would have closed his eyes, too, but they were on the dirty ground beside him. He must have suffered immeasurably in his time with Sam. He needed to be returned to Heaven to be laid to rest, but Lucifer couldn't leave earth. He called on angel radio for someone to come, and Bethiah appeared. She looked down at her brother's body with a look of misery.

"He needs to be taken home," Lucifer said. "See that he is laid to rest."

She nodded. "Yes, Lucifer."

"And there are still living humans here, the vessels, your vessel. You must see them to safety."

"I will. I am sorry, Lucifer. Perhaps if I had stayed…"

"You would have died, too. The fault is Sam's and therefore mine. I am the one that failed you."

He could not bear to hear argument or agreement, so he left her with Marius' body and her assigned task and went back to Bobby's house.

Dean and Bobby were still at the table, the debris of the meal they had been eating when Bethiah arrived still in front of them. Castiel was standing by the counter.

Lucifer dropped the bloodied restraints onto table and said, "Marius is dead, Castiel."

"I heard," he said.

"And it was Sam?" Dean asked, clearly hoping, foolishly, that it wasn't.

"It was Sam," Lucifer confirmed, looking away so he would not see his sadness.

"What did he do?" Bobby asked.

"Something horrific," Lucifer answered. "Truly horrific. Thankfully, upon my arrival, he killed him."

Bobby frowned. "Thankfully?"

"Death was better than what Sam was doing to him. I think we need to recall all angels to Heaven," Lucifer said. "It's not safe for them on earth right now. They are serving no purpose here. The demons will do what they wish regardless now. We are no deterrent with Sam in charge."

"I am not leaving," Castiel said determinedly.

"No," Lucifer said with a rueful smile. "I didn't think you would. But the others must be told."

"I will take care of it," Castiel said.

Lucifer nodded as Castiel walked outside, and then he heard Castiel's voice booming through his mind, filled with power and certainty. 'We must leave. We must go home. Earth is not safe for us now. It is Lucifer's order.'

There was a clamor of voices and questions and Lucifer forced them away from himself as the noise was crowding him.

Bobby and Dean watched him silently as he tried to think what to do next. The angels would be safe when they were in Heaven, and the earth protected a little longer when Sam was unable to kill them and create his paradise, but they needed Chuck. He held the thought in his mind—'Chuck'—knowing Gabriel would be listening silently and understanding that they needed something, anything.

The quiet in the room was cut through by the ringing of a phone. Dean took it from his pocket and sucked in a breath. "It's Chuck!"

'Thank you,' Lucifer thought fervently.

Dean answered the phone, "Chuck! Hold on. I'm putting you on speaker. Lucifer and Bobby are here, too." He pressed a button and Chuck's voice came over the line.

"Where's Cas?"

"He's here, too," Dean said. "He's just outside, putting something out on angel radio."

"That's what it was," Chuck said. "I knew something felt wrong. Anyway, I might have something for you. I haven't worked out all the kinks, because I was doing that when the feeling came, but I may have found something."

Lucifer stepped closer to the phone. "What is it?"

There was silence for a moment as Chuck hesitated, but then he said. "It's called a trial. I need to read it through a few more times, and I'm really not sure, but I think it will take care of Sam."

"How?" Dean asked excitedly.

"It will close the Gates of Hell."

"Close them?" Lucifer asked quietly.

"It banishes all demons from the face of the earth and returns them to Hell forever. I think they'll literally be sucked back in and the gates will close for good."

"How do we do it?" Bobby asked.

"It looks like there's three trials. The first is to kill a hellhound and bathe in its blood. I haven't worked out the others yet, but it's a start, right?"

Castiel came back into the room and gave Lucifer a nod to indicate it was done. He had obviously heard the conversation outside, as he leaned close to the phone and said. "Who does the trials, Chuck?"

"Little loud there, Cas," Chuck said as Dean pulled Castiel back from the phone.

"I apologize. Who does them though?"

"A human," Lucifer said. "The tablet was written to enable humans to protect themselves from the threat of my demons. It must be a human."

"That's my thinking, too," Chuck said. "It says some pretty heavy stuff about the person doing the trials, but you guys are badass, so I'm thinking you can work it. For each trial there is some Enochian you have to say."

"And this will actually rid the world of demons?" Bobby said.

"Yeah. They will all be trapped forever. Kinda like the angels would have been had we not popped them out of the box again."

"Sam included," Lucifer said mildly.

"Uh, yeah," Chuck said. "That's kinda the point. Look, I know what you're thinking, but I don't think we're going to find anything else that's going to work on here."

Lucifer doubted he really knew what he was thinking, because if he did, he would be afraid. The fact that Chuck seemed excited at this development was wrong, let alone Bobby and Castiel's reaction. The only one that didn't seem satisfied by the solution was Dean, but he did look thoughtful, as if he was considering it.

"I'm sorry, Lucifer, but I have scoured this tablet, and I know every heading. There's all kinds of stuff, but nothing about saving a demon. I am on the trials at the moment, and I know there's three, but that's all I know. Unless one of these trials is a way to make someone human again, I really think this is our only option."

"Our only option is to lock Sam away forever?" Dean asked quietly.

"Yeah," Chuck said apologetically.

Lucifer closed his eyes and summoned patience as they fell into conversation of the horrifying plan.

"I think it'll work," Bobby said. "It's not so bad as the Cage. He won't be alone at least. He will be with the other demons."

"That's not a life though," Dean said.

"That's the point," Bobby said. "To him, it would be. He would be able to indulge what he wants to do forever. He would be safe, and the world would be safe from him. That Blade needs to be buried, and with him it will be."

"It's not just the Blade though," Dean said. "It's my brother."

"Except it isn't anymore," Castiel said. "He has proved that again and again. Chuck said it's the only solution on the tablet, and if there is nothing there that will do it, it means there is nothing."

"We don't know that," Dean said quietly.

"We kinda do," Chuck said through the crackling speaker.

Dean looked desperately at Lucifer, as if waiting for him to come up with a solution, and when Lucifer didn't react, he nodded slowly.

"Okay. I'll do it."

Lucifer took a breath and then roared as a thunderclap crashed directly overhead. "You will not!"

Castiel and Bobby flinched, but Dean just stared at him with sad eyes.

"I don't think we have a choice," he said miserably. "If there's nothing on the tablet to save him, we have to make him safe."

"That is not safe!" Lucifer shouted. "That is trapping him."

"It's better than the Cage," Bobby said in a reasonable tone. "He won't be alone. He might even be happy."

Lucifer drew a sharp breath and a lightning strike hit a junker outside, making sparks fly. "How can you even think this, Bobby? Sam is supposed to be your son. And Dean! He is your brother. How can you give up on him?"

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but Bobby spoke over him. "There is giving up and there's being defeated, and we have been defeated. Sam is gone. We know that because we watched him go. He fought and clawed for you, and it ruined him. He has done terrible things to us and other people, and we've lost him."

Lucifer turned blazing eyes on Dean. "And you? Do you think you're defeated, too?"

Dean looked devastated as he nodded. "Yes. Bobby's right. We have seen him do terrible things. I never wanted to reach this point, I have fought against it all the way, but it's over. If there's nothing on that tablet to save, we have to let him go instead. It's the only way to save everyone else." He blinked and a tear slipped down his cheek.

"I will not let this happen," Lucifer snarled. "I will kill any one of you that tries."

"And what then?" Bobby asked. "If Sam succeeds and conquers the world, how will you make peace within yourself with that?"

Lucifer understood what Bobby was saying, but the older hunter just didn't understand. He didn't have any peace now. He was tortured. That wouldn't change with the end of the world. "I can't believe you're giving up, Dean," he said angrily. "It's Sam."

Though tears slipped down his cheeks, Dean looked furious as he said, "Yes, it's Sam. It's my brother and it is your fault. You gave the Mark to Cain, and he passed it on. You didn't know what Metatron was planning, so you went away, leaving him to die without you! You find a way to fix this if you can, and if you can't, stop him. You cannot let him end the world. That can't be Sam's legacy. Stop him before he succeeds and then kill me."

Castiel gasped. "Dean, no!"

"Yes! I will not live knowing he's gone. I can't. Sam can be happy in the Pit, but I cannot be happy without him, so kill me and make sure no son of a bitch brings me back this time."

"No," Lucifer snapped. "There has to be another way! He picked up the phone and growled into it, "Chuck find me something. Anything."

"I can't," Chuck said. "I've looked…"

Lucifer closed his eyes and let the words rush over him as he sent a plea to the one being left he thought could help. 'Father, please help me. You know what's happened, I am sure, so help me save him. If You truly love me still, help me save Sam. I am begging You.'

He wasn't sure what he expected to come in return, but there was nothing for a long moment before Chuck spoke excitedly. "Wait! I have something!"

"What?" Dean's face was slack with shock.

"Yeah. It's one of the trials. The third one. It says, hang on, it says the last trial is to cleanse the black soul's taint of Hell."

"What does that mean?" Bobby asked.

"I think it literally means to cure a demon," Chuck said. "Make them human again."

"How do you know this?" Castiel asked. "It has taken you weeks to translate the little you have so far. How can you see this?"

Lucifer felt a twinge of anger and suspicion. "Did you know all along? Have you been trying to make us trap Sam in some form of revenge?"

"No!" Chuck gasped. "I swear. I see it now because it's in English. The tablet language is like reading through the wrong glasses while it's being shaken. This is English words and letters. It's never been like this before."

Lucifer believed him, and he thought he knew how it had happened.

"It could be a trap," Castiel said. "Sam manipulating it somehow."

"Not possible," Lucifer said.

"Then why did it suddenly decrypt itself?" Bobby asked. "Seems a little too easy to me."

Lucifer looked at Castiel. "It was Father.

"Why would He intervene now?" Castiel asked.

"Because I finally asked," Lucifer said. "This time He answered me." He laughed shakily. "We have a way to save Sam. I'm getting him back!"

Dean choked a sob and Lucifer saw the tears were streaming down his now smiling face. "We can do it?"

"I am certain," Lucifer said. "My Father wouldn't give me false hope, not now." He drew a breath. "He would not let me down."

He closed his eyes and just let the relief flood through him. He was getting Sam back.

So… Finally some good news. About damn time, right? Some good stuff coming up.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx