Thank you so much Jenjoremy for the wonderful beta job. Thank you also Ncsupnatfan and VegasGranny for being pre-reading champions.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sam was fixing a plate of scrambled eggs in the kitchen for yet another of his endless meals.

Now that he knew Jo was in there, it seemed pointless to stick to the diet when she could deal with any complications that came up, but he knew Dean would throw a bitch fit if he pointed that out, so he didn't change his patterns.

It wasn't just that though. Deep down, Sam was petty enough to not want to rely on her for anything more than he had to. She kept him functioning, and that was great, but she had tricked him, betrayed his trust, and for that, he had genuine hate for her.

"I saved your life, Sam."

Sam cursed as he tipped the eggs onto a plate and then slammed the pan back on the stove. He hated it when she did this, and she knew it. It was bad enough knowing she was in there, but when she started talking, he couldn't even pretend he was alone.

"At least you can talk to other people."

Sam grabbed a fork from the drawer and sat down with his plate to eat. He tried to concentrate on eating only, wishing he could wash the bland eggs down with juice but knowing he still had an hour before he could drink even water, but Jo continued to murmur until he finally broke and engaged.

"You're in there because you put yourself in there! You wanted a place to hide. You tricked me."

"But I healed you, too!"

"Yes!" Sam said impatiently. "And I'm grateful, but was that about me or you? I used an angel blade on Dean. Were you just saving me or were you worried about yourself, too? You were hurt, too."

There was silence for a moment as she considered and then she spoke, the words grudging. "I was doing both. I could have healed myself and left you straight away. You would have been back to being trapped in that dark room, fighting to get free. I didn't, though. I stayed."

Sam ate another mouthful of eggs and processed what she was saying. She had stayed. He didn't know exactly how much time had passed when he'd been unconscious after stabbing Dean and injuring them both, but he supposed there had probably been enough for her to escape before the sigil was replaced. She hadn't, which did count for something as Sam didn't want to be taken out of the game yet, not until Michael was stopped, but did that mean he had to give her something in return? He hated talking to her as it reminded him he wasn't alone within himself, but perhaps he should. Maybe she deserved better from him for her help. He could talk at least.

"I'd appreciate that," she said.

"Can you please get out of my head? I'll talk to you, but I don't want you rooting around in my mind."

"I can't. I am not just in here, Sam. I am everywhere. I am in each muscle and inch of skin, in each organ. I see what you see. I hear what you hear. I know what you're thinking because it's a voice to me."

Sam shuddered. That was an even bigger violation than he'd thought. But what could he do? He was trapped in this situation for the foreseeable future. They had a plan for Michael—Jack or a rift—but there was no knowing when they would be able to put that into action, or if Jack was even ready to face him. They could get to him and Jack could be unable to open the rift at all. What would happen then? Would he kill them all but Dean, or would he kill Dean, too, now that he had a new vessel? How could they find out without risking everything?

"I don't know," Jo said quietly. "But I think it needs to happen soon. Michael's monster army is only going to spread and grow, and then we will be overwhelmed."

"I thought you were scared of Michael. Do you really want to face him?"

"No, but I don't want the world to end either. It might not seem like it, but I like it and want to live in it a little longer. My only other option is to go to Heaven and help them keep the lights on there. Heaven wasn't good to me, Sam. It was my punishment."

"For what?" Sam asked. He knew why Gadreel had been imprisoned, and he wondered what Jo had done wrong.

"I was Joshua's right hand. I loved my work. I was powerful and important. I was sent to earth for a while for a task, and I saw so much… The pain and suffering here were unimaginable. I had no idea before. Heaven is an insular place. After I saw earth, Heaven seemed different. When Joshua offered me more responsibilities, I refused. I wanted to help humanity more than I wanted to serve him. Because of that, I was cast aside. Joshua found me a new task, to count souls as they entered Heaven, and I languished for centuries."

"If you cared so much about humanity, why did you charge them for help when you came to earth? You could have done so much more for so many."

He felt her sigh deep within him and then she said, "I was angry. I was bitter. I wanted more. I made a life for myself—one that took money—and I lived it. But I didn't forget what I had seen before. I do care about humanity. I don't want to die, but I don't want humanity to suffer more than they already are either. Michael has plans…"

"He has to be stopped," Sam said angrily.

"I agree, and I will do what I can to help, but I have no plan."

Sam sat in thoughtful silence, feeling Jo's presence close and thoughtful, too, as he ate the last of his small portion of eggs.

"The person that killed Kaia wounded Michael when he was in Dean," he said. "She had a spear. Perhaps that could do it."

"Yeah, but Dean said she wouldn't hand it over."

"True… but maybe Dean didn't ask in the right way."

"Are you thinking of hurting her?"

"No. I think she's too strong to be hurt, but I think perhaps we can persuade her if we find what she wants."

"What if she doesn't want anything?"

"Everyone wants something, Jo, you just have to find out what."

"What do you want, Sam?"

Sam set down his fork and got to his feet, dumping the plate in the sink and making his way out of the kitchen towards the library.

"Sam?" she prompted.

"I just want to be alone again."

"At whatever cost?"

Sam didn't answer. If she knew his thoughts, she knew the answer. He wouldn't sacrifice anyone else for his own peace, but he would give up himself and the life he had now for it. Perhaps, knowing the alternative, he could go back to the dark room and listen to the muffled voices peacefully.

He heard Dean and Castiel talking before he reached the library, and Jack's occasional interjections, but they all fell silent when he walked in. He figured they'd been talking about him again. He supposed it didn't matter. There was no one in the bunker to hear them apart from him, as Mary had gone on a hunt with Bobby, Maggie and some of their people. They would never have spoken about him if they'd been there.

Before they'd left Texas, Sam had extracted a promise from Jack that he wouldn't tell anyone else about Jo. The kid had seemed insulted when Sam had pressed him until he swore it, but he hadn't let that stop him. He didn't want any more of them to know what was in him than already knew. He didn't want them looking at him differently, wondering who was listening when they spoke.

As Jo had said, she was always listening.

Dean smiled at him, though it seemed forced, and said, "Hey, Sammy, you okay?"

"Yeah," Sam said, pleased that his voice sounded normal. "I need something."

"Sure. Anything," Dean said without hesitation.

"I want to speak to the woman that killed Kaia."

Dean sat up straighter in his chair. "Okay… Why?"

Sam's brows contracted. "Because we need her. We can use her. She has the weapon that hurt Michael before, and, if she is Kaia's mirrored half, she is a dream walker. She can help Jack open a rift, and if she gives up the spear, we can maybe kill him."

"She won't give it up, Sam," Dean said. "We already tried. It's the only defense she's got against the monsters Michael sends after her."

"Then we give her something else to defend her," Sam said. "We bring her here. It's the safest place on earth."

"Michael got in once," Jack said, sounding almost embarrassed.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but she doesn't have to know that."

"Good point," Jo said. "Sneaky, too. I'm impressed."

Castiel looked strained and it was clear he was choosing every word carefully as he said, "Perhaps that will work, but we still don't know if Jack is ready to face Michael. Neither Billie nor the reaper, Jessica, are answering us. We can't be sure."

That wasn't a problem, Sam thought, Jack wasn't going to be the one using the spear.

"It's going to be you." Jo sighed. "You kept that close to the chest."

"I only just decided," Sam said. "But I'm the one that makes sense. He can't kill me."

"No, but he can blast you to atoms. You still wouldn't die, but you'd be wiped off the face of the earth. You'd just be drifting consciousness. There will be no hope for recovery at all. If Dean and Cas find something else to fix you, it will be useless without a body."

"Wouldn't it be worth it?" Sam asked.

"No."

Sam tuned out her continued, panicked argument and looked at Dean again. He knew her concern was for herself. If Sam was destroyed by an archangel, she would die, too, the same way Castiel had when Raphael and Lucifer each attacked him. He would sacrifice her for the world the same way he would sacrifice himself.

Dean looked cautious, as if he knew what Sam was doing when he spoke to Jo. Sam chose not to comment, to confirm or deny, he just pressed on with his need. "We get the spear as backup. It's her ability to dreamwalk we need more than anything. That way we can test Jack. The spear will just be enough to scare Michael. He won't want to be hurt again."

Dean and Castiel exchanged a long look laden with meaning.

"I am ready," Jack said confidently. "I can feel it. I am at my full strength again."

"Then you'll be able to open a rift," Sam said.

He was aware he sounded a little callous, but as he had no intention of letting Jack face Michael, he could handle the judgment he felt in Castiel's wide stare.

"Where in Sioux Falls is she?" he asked.

"Just north of town in the woods Bobby took us maple tapping in that one time," Dean said. "There's a cabin she's using. She was anyway. She's probably moved on since."

Sam shrugged. "It's somewhere to start. Can I take the Impala?"

Dean looked startled, and for a moment Sam thought he was going to get protective about his beloved car, but then he said, "You're not going alone," and Sam understood.

"Then come with me."

He would prefer it if Dean came. It was easier for him to be with Dean than it was alone. Jo didn't talk so much usually—occupied with listening—and he felt better when it was just the two of them, physically at least. He could pretend things were the way they used to be before Jo.

Dean got to his feet and said, "Okay. But don't get your hopes up, Sam. She might not be there, and even if she is, she's probably not going to help us."

Sam shrugged. "She might."

"Shall we come?" Castiel asked, gesturing between himself and Jack.

Dean looked thoughtful but Sam spoke before he could answer. "No. You guys stay here and keep working on Jack's powers. The more he masters them, the better it will be. We'll be back tonight."

"Sam's right," Dean said. "And she's already going to be jumpy. Going in with an angel and a Nephilim isn't going to help our cause, especially after what we did to her last time."

Jack looked disappointed but Castiel's expression was neutral as he said, "Okay. Call if you need us."

"Sure," Sam said, starting away from them toward his bedroom to grab his jacket and gun.

"This could be a bad idea, Sam," Jo said. "Even if she does give you the spear, how are you going to find Michael?"

Sam didn't answer, but she heard his plan in his mind anyway and groaned.

It was simple. Sam was going to pray.

Contrary to Dean's obvious tension, Sam felt better on the drive to Sioux Falls. Jo was quiet, processing what Sam had said to her, and it was only her stirring at the back of his mind that stopped him believing he might be alone again.

On the opposite end of the scale, Dean gripped the steering wheel hard and changed cassettes after only a couple songs from each. Sam knew that he was struggling, and he wondered what was getting to him. He didn't think it was just Jo. He had a feeling it was Michael, and not just the threat he posed.

Sam understood ignoring things to make it easier to deal with them, but he also knew it was possible to drown under those things without knowing you were even doing it. He just wished Dean would talk. What Michael had done to him was more than just sticking him in a dream, Sam knew. Michael said he was distracted, and a being that had turned a world to ash and destruction wasn't going to be as kind as Gadreel had been when he put Sam in that dream of a hunt with his brother.

He couldn't push him to talk about it though, as there were things he wasn't talking about either. They both had their secrets.

They pulled over on an area of dirt that served as a parking lot for the trail, and they climbed out and met at the trunk. Sam adjusted his gun in the back of his pants and grabbed an angel blade which he tucked in his jacket's inner pocket. Dean did the same.

Dean slammed the trunk and said, "Stay close and watch out for monsters. We weren't that deep before the werewolves appeared last time, and if she's still here, he's probably still sending them after her."

"Got it."

"You might want to get that blade in your hand then," Jo said. "They're going to be faster than you."

Sam knew she was probably right, but they'd agreed not to go in openly armed as they didn't want to put her on guard straight away or for her to see them as a threat.

"This way," Dean said, setting off along the trail.

Sam walked with him, looking around and alert for danger coming. He could feel Jo's presence close to the forefront of his mind, also alert for trouble. He knew her senses were much keener than his, and he trusted her to tell him if something was coming.

They were about five minutes along the trail when Jo said, "She's still here."

"How do you know?"

"The monsters are still being sent. Look ahead."

Sam squinted and saw strange shapes that looked like stunted trees with strange clusters of branches. As they drew closer, he saw that they were branches driven into the ground like spikes with heads mounted on them.

When they reached then, Dean cursed and said, "That's a damn wendigo. She's even faster than I thought if she's taken one of them down."

Sam nodded. Even before being turbo-charged by Michael as this one probably had been, they could move faster than anything Sam had ever seen. This woman they were looking for was incredibly fast and could be incredibly dangerous to them.

"Come on," Sam said. "She's still here."

They set off again but had only gone a dozen paces when Jo came to life in Sam's mind, crying out in shock, and Sam's heart began to race.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What is it?"

"Michael! He's coming."

Sam grabbed Dean's arm and snapped, "It's Michael! Run!"

Without question, Dean started sprinting back toward the road, Sam at his side. They hadn't gone far before Jo made a sound that was almost a scream that tore at Sam's mind. "He's here!"

A woman appeared in front of them, walking slowly in their direction, and Sam pushed Dean back and moved in front of him, his arms spread. Dean tried to move forward again, and Sam shoved him back only for Dean to come again. When Dean stepped up to his side and said, "Jessica! Thank God. You've got to help us. Michael is on his way."

"That is Michael!" Jo cried.

Sam didn't have a chance to pass on the message before Jessica's eyes glowed with grace and the shape of wings spread out behind her, putting the trunks of the trees in shadow.

"Hello, Dean," Michael said. "Good to see you again. And Sam… I'm surprised to see you alive still. How did you…" He frowned and peered closely at Sam then laughed softly. "Anael, what did you do?"

Jo didn't speak, but Sam felt her wordless horror in his mind, ramping up his own. There was nothing he could do though. There was no way to run from this. All he could do was hope that Dean was spared.

Michael came forward towards Sam, and Dean lurched to stand between them. "Don't you dare lay a hand on him!" he snarled.

With a lazy movement, Michael pressed his fingers to Dean's forehead, and he collapsed. Sam caught him and lowered him gently to the ground. His breaths were steady and his color good, but he was unconscious.

"He's just sleeping," Michael said. "I won't damage the goods. Now, Anael, we need to talk." He placed a hand on Sam's chest, leaving burning pain in its wake, and Sam felt himself being thrust back in his own body and Jo coming to the front.

"How did you end up trapped in there?" Michael asked.

"I was betrayed," Jo said. Her voice was Sam's, but the inflection was wrong, impossible to confuse with Sam speaking. "I answered a prayer from Dean to save Sam's life after your… meeting… and I took the vessel to heal."

Michael scrutinized him. "You haven't healed much."

"It was too much. I could only support him enough to keep him functioning."

Michael chuckled. "I see. And how were you betrayed?"

"Castiel trapped me inside him. I lost all control and freedom but my voice."

Michael considered for a moment and then said, "I have an offer for you, Anael. I wanted Dean, he was a good vessel, but I want you more. You and Castiel are the only angels left on earth. As you said, Castiel is a betrayer and I have no use for him, but you… I can use you. Would you like to join me?"

"To do what?" Jo asked.

"To create a brand-new world. If you've been inside the Winchester since I stabbed him, you must know about the army I am building. I could use you at my right hand. What do you think?"

"Yes," Jo said. "Of course."

"No!" Sam bellowed. "You can't"

She ignored him as completely as he often tried to do her. "I would be happy to. But what about Dean? Are you going to take him, too?"

Michael considered. "No, I don't think so. I have a strong vessel now, and he might fight me again. I trapped him in a drowning dream when I had him before, but he was still difficult. I could feel him in there. Jessica is much more compliant since I broke her." He smiled. "Even something as strong as a reaper has its limitations for suffering."

Jo smiled. "I would have liked to see it happen."

"Perhaps you will have the chance yourself," he said. "Angels may be almost extinct, but the reapers are still out there, and I plan for them to be at my side, too. You can help me persuade them."

Sam couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He'd believed Jo when she said she cared for the world, but it had all been an act. She was just as twisted as Michael. And there was only one thing he could do. Cast her out…

He started to struggle, to get a grip on her and kick her out of his body, but she pushed him down and spoke in a growl. "Stop, Sam! If I'm not here, you will be useless. You won't be able to help anyone, including Dean."

"I won't help you destroy the world either! I would rather die than that."

"I'm not destroying the world. I am helping. I have a plan."

"What is it?"

"Shall we go?" Michael asked. "There is so much we need to talk about, and the woman that lives in these woods can be a… problem."

"I'm ready," Jo said.

Michael reached for her, and as his hand touched down on her arm and Sam felt the almost forgotten sensation of flight, she whispered to him, "You have to trust me, Sam."

Sam gave her no answer, there was none to give. He knew she was right. He had no choice. His only other option was to give himself up to the dark room again, and there he would be helpless when Dean needed him most.

All he could do was trust the angel that had never given him a single reason to.

So… Jo has a plan and it's coming down to the wire at last. This was a long story and so there was a lot of build-up. I'm hoping the payoff of what remains is worth the wait.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx