A/N: Special thanks to ncsupnatfan for helping me work through a segment of this story. You rock, NC!

Chapter 5: Familiarize

"Are you… Are you scared of me?" Sam asked, frowning at Lilith. She seemed too wary of him, nothing like she had been the first time he met her, when she tried to seduce him and make a deal. Come to think about it, it didn't make sense. She knew the endgame, she knew what she needed to do, so why play around? Why offer to make a deal when she was clearly heading in the opposite direction? Was it a ruse? Reverse psychology, mind games?

Lilith kept silent, staring at him with a cautious expression on her face.

"Answer me!" Sam demanded and Lilith gasped, as if his mere voice slapped her.

"You… You're not… You're… You're him. But you can't be." She replied as if that explained it.

"Who? Who are you talking about?"

"Him. The big guy, up in the sky or wherever. You have some of His… Mojo. I can feel it." Lilith finally spat out, and Sam frowned. He felt the connection to Chuck, the bullet wound still thobbed, and he had suspicions, but this was a clear confirmation. Somehow, he was tapping into Chuck's powers.

"What do you mean?" He played dumb, wanting to see just how Lilith could see it. She was a powerful demon, sure, but there had to be more than that. And as if she knew exactly what he was fishing for, she huffed, her huge mouth spreading into a long smile.

"You and I both know what I mean, Samuel. I was made to know Him, to see Him, to serve Him. I know His every thought, His every desire, His every frustration. I know Him. And I see Him in you." She replied, reminding Sam of her reappearance in their lives mere days before he got sucked back in time. Chuck woke her and sent her after them, for the Equalizer. "I see You." She added with a wavering tone.

Sam didn't know what that meant, but whatever Lilith was doing, he wasn't going to let himself be fooled. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What happened to Dean? Where is my brother?" He asked again, this time more calmly, but with a commanding edge to his voice.

"I don't know. Someone took him. Wasn't a demon. Whatever it was, scared the most vicious demons away." She said, obviously hiding something. Sam had no idea how he could tell just by looking at her, but he felt it. It was almost as if he had some sort of a connection to her.

"Who. Took. Him?" He asked, still sounding calm, but was anything but. Lilith gasped and started choking as if some unseen force had it's hands down her throat.

"I… I…"

"What aren't you telling me, Lilith?!?!" Sam demanded, and as if he yanked an invisible chain, Lilith stumbled forward, falling on her knees before him as tears started rolling down her face and her breaths hitched with every intake of air.

"A… A… Angel." She finally managed to say, and Sam released the pull he realized he had over her. It took him a moment to process her words as he contemplated what was this sudden power he had over her, feeling too similar to the powers he had before, similar to the rage that powered them back then. That couldn't be good.

Lilith finally caught her breath, and looked up at Sam. "I think it was an angel, but I am not sure. Nothing else could scare my demons away. But that shouldn't be possible…" She said, realizing too late that perhaps she gave out too much information.

"It shouldn't be possible, because the first seal hasn't been broken yet? The angels are supposed to come for the Righteous Man. And Dean hadn't spilled any blood yet." Sam spoke, squinting down at the demon, as if he was reading her mind. "Somebody screwed Heaven over." He huffed a laugh. There was only one person he could think of that would do that, but that wasn't possible. Cas didn't have his wings, he couldn't go back in time and even if he found another way, a spell or something, he wouldn't have lasted five minutes, the whole of Heaven would have sensed him, sensed the disturbance in time, like they did when the boys accidentally brought John back.

That did beg the question of why they haven't reacted to his arrival, but the answer was right there - Chuck's powers. All of this, everything that Sam managed to do here, alter this timeline, was because he could access Chuck's powers through their bond. Through the bullet.

But either way, Dean wasn't here, he wasn't in Hell. And Sam needed to find him, everything else be damned. Turning back to the door which he busted through, Sam saw the ghost of his father, observing everything. He completely forgot John was there. "Come on. Let's go find Dean." He said, motioning for his old man to follow him. John frowned, looking back at Lilith.

"Are you just going to leave her here, like this?" He questioned.

"I can't kill her without possibly jump-starting the apocalypse in the process. But don't worry, she knows her place. And she knows there are far worse things I can do to her, things that not even Lucifer himself has thought of." Sam said that last part more to Lilith, as a threat, and he meant it. The worst thing one could do to a demon is not to torture them, not to hurt them, but to save them.Heal them. Cure them. Then the pain of their own actions is worse than any sharp instrument ever driven into their flesh.

Besides, now that he knew he had some sort of a control over her, it would be best to let her sleep the demons down in hell, should he ever need their armies. The power of all hell's souls could put a nice dent into Chuck, just like it hurt Amara before, so Sam let them be, for now.

Crowley was still lurking in the shadows, so Sam called him forth. "Be available when I call you. Now send us both up." He said, offering three blood filled syringes. John frowned at the exchange but said nothing as Crowley took the blood and snapped his fingers.

Sam found himself in a small closet, frowning at the door. He was pretty sure his father would be breathing down his neck if he had an actual breath, but since he was a ghost, he was just left hovering behind him. Sam huffed a frustrated sigh, and reached for the knob.

They stepped into a familiar motel room, and it was a really absurd notion. Sam spent his entire life bouncing from one motel room to another, each nothing special, the same as the next one, plain, half clean, unmemorable. So what was different about this one? Why did he have a feeling he had seen it before, and more then once?

Two queen beds, a small table under the window with two simple chairs next to it, vomit yellow-green curtains with matching sheets on the ruffled beds. Nothing particularly interesting. But then, something caught Sam's eye. A radio clock on one of the night stands, with a needle clock in the center, a speaker on the left and a dial on the right. The seconds thicked, the minute moving from 07:29 to 07:30.

Sam's mind made the connection a millisecond before the clock struck 07:30 and the alarm set off, turning the radio on, the speaker blaring Asia's Heat of the moment and making Sam gasp so forcefully, his lungs felt like they were on fire. The song still gets to him.

"Sam?" his father spoke, the single word containing more curiosity than worry, and Sam took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. Yes, this was scary. This place and this song still haunted his nightmares from time to time, but he knew they were never really intended to hurt him, just teach him a lesson. Though if Gabriel was to appear before him right now, he would certainly get a punch in the face. For all time's sake.

"I'm alright." He told his father over the shoulder, then turned to the empty room. "Look, I don't have time for any of your stupid games right now. Come find us when you decide to grow up." And with that, he turned to the front door, swung it open and left the room. Broward County, Florida still looked the same as it did last time, except his brother wasn't by his side this time. Sam walked down the pavement, avoiding the two guys carrying a piano up on the second floor, and stopped for a speeding car to pass right before him before moving forward.

He could feel John's spirit following him, but he could not see him, and he had no idea if that was his doing or John's or simply the presence of the sunlight, and he didn't really care. He didn't need to draw attention to himself, because he was about to steal a car. No other way of getting back to Sioux Falls, other than taking a two day long car trip. Damn it, Gabriel.

10 hours later, in the middle of the night, Sam was still speeding down the highway. On the passenger seat, the ghost of John kept throwing him worried and curious glances, frowning and tsk-ing from time to time, until, finally, Sam snapped.

"What!?"

He remembered a little too late that he hadn't explained everything to Dad, and that the man had been strangely quiet, not just over that, but in general.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. It's been a long day." He apologized and John sighed.

"Been a long life too, hasn't it?"

To that, Sam huffed a laugh. "How's you know?"

"Wasn't sure until you mentioned Lucifer. I've been to 2019, I know what went on. You and Dean told me." Huh. So all this time, John knew the future. Sam wondered if it was some sort of a ripple effect or had he always known, and made decisions based on the information they shared. "You are not my Sam. The now Sam. You are the older one."

"Yeah."

"So if you are here, where is my Sam?"

"In here too. Sort of. I am still him, but with all my memories. It's complicated." Sam replied, not looking back at his father.

"Okay, so how do we fix it?" John asked.

"We don't." Sam replied and the car filled with some sort of an awkward silence. It lasted for almost half an hour before John sighed deeply, defeatedly.

"Look, son, I know we had our differences, but I want to help, I want to…"

"What? No, dad! I didn't mean we don't. I meant we don't. There is nothing to fix, the whole timeline is changed…" Sam said, giving his dad a sideways glance and a small smile. "... But… I do think you'll be better off in Heaven with mom where you belong."

John made an unimpressed grunt, and Sam swore he saw a small pout before John turned to gaze out of the window. It was kind of funny, how small and insecure John actually seemed, nothing like the strong, silent type Sam remembered. But it was just the difference in perception. John was still the same, it was Sam who had changed, grown, understood the world a little better. Back then, they would have argued, and Sam would be stubborn and eventually get his way, like he did when he left for Stanford. But now, he didn't need to argue with John. He could simply and calmly explain.

"You know, I would gladly have you fighting on our side, dad. But you and me both know this isn't where you belong. Besides… Mom misses you." Sam added with a teasing tone of his voice, and John turned, giving him a small smile. He missed her too.

"Alright." He eventually said, "But I'm not leaving until we find Dean." Sam huffed a laugh, knowing his dad won't give up that easily. But he was just worried, and honestly? Sam didn't really want to be alone.

"That stupid son of a bitch!!!" Sam heard as he entered Bobby's house, Dean's voice booming, his brother clearly pissed off. Sam was glad to somehow find him here, safe and sound, but he had no idea what was going on. He was just about to call out, when he heard Dean again.

"Can you believe it, Bobby? That winged dick told me it wasn't safe and he just zapped me here. How the hell are we supposed to find Sam now?!"

"Somebody looking for me?" Sam said, peering around the corner with a goofy smile, so unbecoming of his current age. Yet it felt like a perfect thing and way to say it.

"Sam!" Dean yelled, running towards him and tackling him into a tight, brotherly hug. And then he smacked him on the back of the head.

"The hell?"

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Dean all but yelled. Ah, yes, this was the time when they didn't expect one to save the other, but where they still said to stay away, move on, yaddi-yadda. But then Dean pulled him into another tight hug, making Sam smile. He missed this. He missed these long, warm hugs. He didn't get those anymore. Last one he got was when Dean planned on committing suicide, diving into the ocean inside a box. That hug was one of the worst ones ever.

"I was thinking of saving you, ya jerk!"

"Quit being a little bitch." Dean replied easily, and yeah, wow. He hadn't heard that one in a while either. He huffed a laugh, shaking his head. One thing he didn't miss was his way too short hair flying everywhere in the process.

"Good to see you make it back, kid." Bobby stepped up, finally getting a chance at a greeting. He gave Sam a pointed look, telling him his secret was still safe, but that he needed to tell Dean about it.

"Good to see you too, Bobby."

"Is it just me, or did it suddenly get really cold in here… what the?!?!" Dean said, his breath coming out visible as if the temperature of the room really did drop big time.

"Oh, yeah, about that…" Sam began when John materialized next to him. Dean's eyes went wide, and he gasped, then just stood there, dumbstruck, with his mouth hanging open.

A gunshot fired, salt flying everywhere, dispersing John.

"Bobby!" Sam yelled, and the old coot just shrugged. Sam thought that perhaps, secretly, Bobby always wanted to shoot John.

"What… wha… wh… how… is… the… what?" Dean put it eloquently.

"Long story. Once he gets himself back together, we should find a way to get him up to Heaven." Sam commented.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem with her brother's new bbf." Bobby commented and the two brothers frowned at him, confused by the abbreviation he used.

"Um, it is BFF, Bobby." Dean said.

"Whatever."

"Who is he talking about, Dean?" Sam asked, turning serious. He had an idea who it could be, but with all the shifts in the timeline, Dean could have stumbled upon Gadreel as far as Sam knew.

"Um… You're not gonna believe this, Sammy."

"Try me."

"He's name is Castiel and get this - he says he is an angel. A real freaking angel. He has the wings, the harp, the works, I saw. Well, the wings." Dean sounded equally excited and reserved with a hint of fear, not like he was when he originally told Sam about Castiel. There was much more fear and disbelief, no excitement.

"I am sure he doesn't really have a harp." Sam commented. The news was… Well, not here nor there. Cas wasn't supposed to get involved at all, yet somehow, he managed to beat Sam to Dean much faster than the previous four months. And it was sort of good that it was him, because Sam knew he could be swayed, but it is going to take forever to do so and… Shit, with the angel's involved, they were going to have to get enochian tattoos and ward the place and… Maybe they should just move to the bunker?

John materialized next to them again, and Dean stood there, tears filling his eyes watching him, and John smiled and nodded, both of them clearly wishing they could at least hug. No matter what they always said, Winchester men were always very physical and needed a comfort of a hug, a pat on the back from time to time.

"Dad…"

"It's okay, kiddo. We got him. We got the yellow-eyes."

"You… what… you did?" Dean's eyes went wide, looking from John to Sam. Sam nodded in confirmation.

"Your brother killed him, with the Colt." John said, smiling proudly at Sam.

"Whoa, really?" Dean's eyes were filled with wonder, and also that pride, because he was, after all, his big brother.

"Yeah, yeah…" Sam waved it off like it was no big deal. Truth was, they dealt with four Princes of Hell, what is one?

"No, Sam… I am really proud of you." John said, setting his hand on Sam's shoulder, and nobody noticed it didn't go through. "You really were amazing down there. Breaking into hell, tricking the demons. Killing the yellow-eyes, threatening Lilith with a cure. That guy in a black suit, that English guy, he said you killed a hellhound. And you saved me, freed me out of hell."

They were all wearing big smiles on their faces, looking back at Sam as if he was some badass, but Sam couldn't stop thinking about what John said, about the things he had done.

It was not possible. Was it?

Was he that strong now that he didn't feel a thing?

Saving an innocent soul from hell, bathing in the blood of a hellhound, and curing a demon, like he almost did with Crowley now, it was close, just as close as he was back then, all three trials almost complete. Back then, they nearly killed him. The trials to close the gates of Hell permanently. Yet this time, he felt fine. How was that possible?

Was it Chuck's power? Or was it because Chuck wasn't writing this story anymore?