Chapter Ten

"Explain everything."

They nodded and looked at Gabriel.

"You might want to take a seat too."

Snapping his fingers, the man did as bid, plopping down into a bean bag chair as it appeared. Sam glanced at something over their shoulder then hunched in on himself, yet John couldn't help but notice that he never moved from his protective stance in front of Adam.

His heart sank and he knew that after hearing what his boys had to say his views of the world would change forever.

Gabriel had no idea that his were gonna change as well.

*/*

"How far back have you been sent?" Gabriel asked when it seemed that none of the three time-travelers were going to start the conversation. The two youngest ignored him, the elder of them curled around the younger who was trembling fearfully, refusing to even glance in the archangel's direction. The other, was watching them worriedly but turned at his question.

"Six years. Post apocalypse."

The angel raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So, dad sent you back because you started the apocalypse?"

"Started and averted it. Despite everyone, including you, trying to get us to play costume for your big brothers. The time period we're from is two years after that. The angels are in the midst of a civil war because Lucy and Michael are locked in The Cage."

John went to speak, wondering what the hell they were talking about but the "angel" beat him to it, eyes wide in shock.

"Michael is what?!"

Adam flinched violently, clutching Sam tighter, while his middle son tensed, one hand reaching for a weapon.

Dean stared at gabriel head on.

Michael is trapped in the cage with Lucifer." He repeated deliberately, and the angel swallowed thickly, his entire expression full of heartbreak.

"How?"

"We said no. But he had a back up plan for him and Sam veered off of our plan to do his own thing. We killed War and Famine, cut off Pestilence's finger, and asked Death nicely. He only went along because Lucifer tried and failed to bind him."

He paused, taking a deep breath. "Michael possessed Adam because I wouldn't say 'yes' and Sammy said 'yes' to Lucifer hoping he would be able to take over once he was in and jump. We were originally hoping that Michael would end it if Lucifer was sent back to time-out but it didn't work out that way. Sammy got control and jumped in, taking Lucifer, Michael, and Adam with him."

"Where was I?" Gabriel asked and John nodded in agreement.

Where was he? Where had he been when his son's were fighting against their greatest challenges and why hadn't he helped them.

"Dead." Sam whispered. "Dad you made a deal for Dean's life. Gabriel, you were killed by Lucifer. We got the ideas to use the Horsemen's rings from you."

The archangel was silent for a moment, his whiskey-colored eyes solemn.

"Who broke what seals?"

"I broke the first one," Dean admitted, sighing heavily. "Sam was killed,"

John's heart leapt into his throat, and he saw Adam's grip on the aforementioned man tighten. "stabbed in the back by one of YED's special children. So I made a deal to get him back. Was down there for forty years, but only lasted thirty-five before I left the rack."

His heart shattered, the shards lodging themselves firmly in his throat and he could barely remember to breathe.

His son had been in Hell.

The same child that used to sit at his brother's crib at night with Mary and sing "Hey Jude". Who would sleep curled in the chair beside Sam's bed because "Sammy's scared of the monsters, daddy," He's been to Hell and John hadn't been there to stop it.

To save him.

And if he was hearing things correctly, he hadn't been there to save his two youngests either.

It hurt more than anything he'd ever felt.

Taking a shuddered breath he looked at his boys and steeled his nerves. It was time to be a father again, not their Drill Sergeant.

Sam, took over the story, his voice soft and eerily blank. "He was only gone for four months topside, but I went off the rails with him gone. There was a demon named Ruby, who had helped us previously, so when she said she knew of a way to get Dean out of Hell I believed her." A small self-depreciative smile crossed his lips.

"She gave me demon blood, told me it would boost my powers and help me kill Lilith. Said it was the only way to get strong enough to kill her and free Dean from his contract and I believed her, but she failed to tell me how addictive demon blood actually was."

John felt sick, his head spinning as he registered the words coming from his children.

"I kept going, then suddenly Dean was back and had been pulled out of Hell by Angels and I started questioning what I was doing. Angels," His second youngest paused. "Angels, really don't like me. And for good reason, I guess. Anyways, an angel named Castiel," -Dean's twisted into an angered snarl and Gabriel's eyebrow rose- "had freed him, for he purpose of 'protecting' the seals and stopping the apocalypse. Stuff happened and I ended up killing Lilith, inadvertently freeing Lucifer."

"Stuff?" His father deadpanned, but they could all hear the hysteria creeping into his voice.

"Stuff," Dean repeated firmly, knowing that despite the events being years in the past for him and his brothers, there were still issues regarding it that Sam hadn't worked through.

Issues that were a bad idea to rehash with his lover's current emotional state.

Gold eyes scrutinized them, Sam in particular, then seemed to agree with his thoughts for their owner skimmed past the issue completely.

"How long were you in the Cage?"

Sam shrugged, his gaze distant, while Adam swallowed thickly. "Lucifer controls time in the Cage," He whispered. "He can make it go as fast or as slow as he wants, and most of the time he liked to stretch seconds into eons, or force us into alternate versions of our lives. We would live a whole lifetime without our memories, or without remembering we were in the cage, then awake a second after we died, to Lucifer and Michael fighted or more torture." He explained. "If he felt more adventurous than normal, he would force Michael to join us as a human."

The teen shuddered. "Those were the worsts because when we'd return to the Cage, Michael and Lucifer would fight or Michael would hurt Sam in retaliation. Long story short, we lost track of time early on."

"It was over two years topside before Sam's soul was pulled out, but Cas said he pulled his body out a few days after he jumped in."

Gabriel gave a low whistle. "Castiel is only a seraph. He wouldn't have the power to pull Sam out completely, let alone baby Winchester."

"Death pulled us out." Sam interrupted. "He said he'd only come for me, but I wasn't going to leave Adam there. He put up a wall to keep the memories of Hell out."

Dean's lips curled. "Then Cas turned on us and tore it down!"

John's eyes widened, remembering the horrific attack his son had suffered when they were at the Milligan home.

"Sam wasn't attacked at school was he?"

Dean pursed his lips. "He was, actually. But you're right if you're thinking that his breakdown the other night had nothing to do with it." His gaze darkened. "Sammy had a psychotic break when Cas broke the wall, he's been hallucinating about Lucifer ever since."

"His grace should've healed that." Gabriel cut in and the eldest brother frowned.

"Whose Grace?"

"Sam's. His soul is almost eighty-five percent Grace."

TBC...