Thank you so much Jenjoremy for absolutely everything. Since 2015 she has been working on one of my stories at all times. This is the first time since then that I've not had a story for her to work on. Thank you so much Jenjoremy for everything you've done for me and the stories, and I hope this won't be the last time I'm thanking you in an author's note.

If you're looking for a real ending to the story, this is the one for you. There is an alternate ending posted which will lead into a sequel I might write. Choose wisely ;-)

Chapter Forty

Dean grabbed the spear from the back of the car and slammed the door closed. He had barely gotten a dozen paces when it was yanked from his hand by Kaia's twin.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice weak with shock.

"I made a deal," she said.

"It's okay, Dean," Jack said. "Kaia is going to help us."

Dean didn't stop to consider; he put his trust in Jack and the woman and sprinted after Castiel who was running ahead. He fell into step with him, Jack falling in on Dean's other side, and they raced together along a well-worn trail.

Dean saw Michael and Sam up ahead, but he had barely gone a dozen more paces before what he already knew deep down was confirmed; it was Jo, not Sam. The way she held Sam's body was wrong, and when he was close enough to see her face, he saw there was none of Sam in there either. She looked almost scathing, and Michael gave her an approving look.

"Hello," Dean," Michael said when they were only a dozen feet from him.

The woman Jack had called Kaia, the name of her twin, ran forward faster than Dean could possibly have moved, and charged at him with the spear held out in front of her.

Michael waved a lazy hand as they were all thrown back, Kaia included, coming to a stop as they landed in the rock formations behind them. The only one that kept his feet was Jack, still standing with the archangel blade gripped tightly in his hand. They all scrambled to their feet, but none of them could get any closer to Jo or Michael. It was as if there was an invisible wall in front of them.

Michael sauntered towards them, smiling widely. "I thought you were smarter than this, Dean. You seemed it when you were fighting against the tide inside your head." He fixed his eyes on Bobby. "You I do know. You were in the resistance in our world, weren't you? Why would you come to me again when you could run away? Did you not learn from all your dead comrades?"

"I'm here to see you die," Bobby growled. "I'm here for Daniel."

"How?" Michael asked. "The child with the knife in his hand? You know it won't hurt me while you wield it, Jack. You're not an archangel. You're an abomination. Your father had more sense. Before I killed him anyway."

"He was not my father," Jack snarled.

"No, perhaps not, but he was my world's version of him."

Jack's hands were fisted as he stalked forward. "Lucifer was never my father!"

Michael shrugged. "If you say so. The fact remains, that blade is nothing in your hands."

Jack stopped for a moment and then nodded. "You're right. I don't need it."

He dropped it, not flinching as Castiel shouted his name, and held up a hand instead. He thrust it out towards Michael and blasted him with the golden light of his power. Michael staggered back a step, but his body wasn't crushed as it had been last time.

Jack had been wrong; he wasn't strong enough after all.

Jo watched him, her face devoid of expression, and Dean cursed her mentally. She had lied to them, betrayed them as surely as they had her when they trapped her the second time, and he understood why and hated it. She might hate him, but what did she have against the world? Was she just that scared?

"You're too weak," Michael said, his eyes fixed on Jack. "You lost too much to regain it so soon. And the spear is useless."

"I remember it hurting last time," Dean said bitterly.

"Pain is nothing!" Michael said. He looked Dean up and down. "I don't need you anymore. I don't need any of you. Jo, would you like to do the honors?"

Jo came forward, her face dark with anger, and lifted a hand. Dean saw the power building in her eyes, and he knew his death, all of their deaths but Jack's, were coming, and he shouted to the person he trusted above all others as Jack ran to Kaia and grabbed her hand.

"Stop her, Sam!" he shouted at the exact same moment Jack said, "Now, Kaia!"

Jo ran forward, picking up the spear from where it had fallen and ran at Michael with it as a rift opened behind him.

He looked startled for a moment, seeing Jo coming for him, and Dean realized he didn't know the rift was there. He was expecting pain, pain that he said was nothing, but he didn't know what was really coming.

"What are you doing, Jo?" he asked, still sounding calm, as if he knew she would never do it.

In answer, Jo roared, a roar that sounded a lot like Sam, and charged at him. The spear drove into his stomach, in the exact spot Sam bore a scar, and thrust him back toward the rift. In that moment, Dean knew it was Sam at the helm, not Jo, and he was doing this as his one last, great act, knowing what it would cost.

The wall in front of Dean disappeared and he ran forward, towards his brother, as Sam rammed Michael back towards the rift. He was crying out with pain, pain that meant something, with Billie's name combined as the spear in his side drove him back and through the rift. Billie appeared, a golden thread of a binding spell connecting her wrists.

Dean caught Sam's shoulders as the impetus of his attack almost drove him through too.

"Close it!" Castiel yelled.

Dean dragged Sam back just in time, falling onto the ground with Sam landing on top of him, and he heard a strange whooshing sound as the rift shrunk to nothing and closed.

Sam rolled off of Dean and stood, then reached down and hauled Dean to his feet.

"Sammy?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head, and Dean realized it was Jo looking back out at him.

"Jo? You did that!"

She nodded. "You can thank me now."

"Thank you," Castiel said fervently.

"Yes," Billie said, raising her hands as the golden tether between her wrist broke. "Thank you."

"What about Sam?" Mary asked. "Is he okay?"

"Michael healed him," Jo said. "At least as much as he was able."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, his voice a growl. "I thought healed was healed."

"The brain is intricate," Jo said. "The damaged tissue is alive, but there is no way to know how it has wired itself."

She tilted her head to the side and appeared to be listening to something. Dean thought he knew what.

"Wait, Sam! Let's find out for sure first. It could be as bad as before." As much as he wanted Sam free of Jo, he wanted him to be able to really live, too.

Jo sighed and nodded and then her head flew back and the blue-white light of her true self flew from Sam's mouth and into the air. As the last of it left him, Sam bowed over, his hands on his knees and his breaths panting, and Jo drifted away.

"Sammy!" Dean said, gripping his shoulders and dragging him upright. "Talk to me."

"I'm okay," Sam said weakly. "It worked."

Dean pulled Sam into a tight embrace and cradled the back of his head. He could feel Sam's heart pounding in separate rhythm to his own, and their chests moving equally unsteadily. Then other arms curled around him, and Dean heard Mary's voice murmuring. "Sam… Dean…"

They clung to each other for a long moment and then a throat clearing drew them apart and Dean became aware of the eyes on them. Jack and Kaia still stood side by side and Castiel was a few paces away, their eyes showing the same happiness and relief that Dean felt. The only one separate to them was Bobby, looking tired and pale close to the wall where he'd hit.

"Where did he end up?" he asked Jack.

"My world," Kaia said.

"Is it nasty?" Bobby asked.

"Very," she replied then turned to Jack. "It's time for you to keep your promise."

Jack linked hands with her and they both looked distant for a moment.

"Don't do it," Billie said, and all eyes fell on her. "Moving between worlds is dangerous. You have already pushed the limits. I'm grateful that you stopped Michael as it freed me, but you're risking too much to do it again."

"I promised," Jack said.

"Break it," Billie said in a warning voice.

Jack's brow furrowed. "I can't."

Kaia picked up the spear from where Jo had dropped it when Dean pulled her back and went to Jack's side to link hands with him again. Jack looked strained and then a line of light appeared and spread down to the ground. Kaia dropped Jack's hand and ran at it. She disappeared through and the rift closed behind her.

"That was a mistake," Billie said.

"We owed her," Dean said. "And so do you. Without her spear and helping Jack, Michael would still be here."

"Yes, but each time you do that, the walls between worlds are weakened." She narrowed her eyes. "There are consequences for actions, Dean."

Dean looked around, searching for a sign of what she meant and found nothing.

"I think we dodged a bullet," he said, his relief apparent at what had happened, that Sam was okay and Michael was gone.

Billie stared at him with something like anger and then she disappeared.

Sam stared at the spot she'd been for a moment and then sighed. "You think we really dodged a bullet?"

"Yes," Dean said, his voice filled with conviction. "We're good." He clapped Sam on the shoulder. "Come on, Sammy. Let's get home. You look exhausted."

"I'm not," Sam said, an obvious lie. "I want a beer."

"You know you can't…"

Dean trailed off as Sam grinned.

"What?"

"Michael healed me, Dean. I don't know if that's fixed everything, but I'm sure as hell going to find out. I want real food and real beer."

Dean stared at him, warning and reprimands on the tip of his tongue, and then he sighed. Sam was going to test himself and Dean was going to have to let him. Sam had his body to himself again, he was free, and he was obviously going to be exploring that freedom. And if it went wrong, Dean would be there to pick up the pieces after.

He would do it and be happy because it was Sam.

So… That is the—hopefully satisfying ending to the story. It was an adventure to write and a lot of fun with Ncsupnatfan and VegasGranny on the crazy train with me. I hope you enjoyed it.

I posted a new story this week. It's called Heart's Desire and was my entry for the Sam Winchester Big Bang 2020.

Summary: Jack is trying to help Sam which results in a rift being opened. Jessica is brought from a world in which Lilith was never killed and now she and the demons reign while they work to break Sam down. Unable to leave Jessica to that life and pain, Sam and his family go to her world to save it.

Until the next story…

Clowns or Midgets xxx