Chapter 22

Alpha and omega

"You're the one, Sam. You're my vessel. My true vessel... It had to be you. It always had to be you... I wanna give you a gift. I wanna give you everything..."

"I don't want anything from you!"

"You will, believe me. I made that gift especially for you..."

Sam closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. The gift Lucifer had offered him in his dream all those months ago... Mia. No. Sam didn't want to believe it, but he knew it was true. She had literally been made for him. That sounded nothing but wrong. She was a real person, not an object. He didn't want her only because he was Lucifer's vessel.

Didn't he really? No. He had genuine feelings for her. He did. It was true that he had never wanted any woman, not even Jess, like he wanted Mia, but that wasn't just because of Lucifer. He simply refused to believe that. Mia certainly deserved more. He needed to save her. He needed her. He wanted her. He, not Lucifer. These feelings were his own. They had to be. He took a deep breath before heading back to the living room.

"Have you lost your freaking mind?!" he heard Dean snapping.

"Hey, I told you my plan isn't perfect," Gabriel replied.

"No kidding? How about we just ask Lucifer to dinner and try to appeal to his humanitarian side?"

"That doesn't sound like a very good idea," Castiel pointed out. "Lucifer doesn't have a humanitarian..."

"I know that!" Dean snapped. "I was just pointing out how ridiculous Gabriel's plan is."

"What plan?" Sam asked.

Dean turned quickly to look at him.

"Nothing, forget it."

Sam frowned.

"What is it?"

"You need to say yes to Lucifer," Gabriel stated.

Sam's eyes widened.

"What?"

"No!" Dean snapped. "We're not gonna talk about your crappy "plan""

"Really?" Gabriel huffed. "You have a better one?"

"Any plan is better than yours!"

"Tell me," Sam asked.

"Dean's right, Sam," Bobby stated. "Forget it."

"Let's be realistic here, shall we?" Gabriel snorted. "Let's say we find Lucifer. Then what? Have any of you thought about that at all?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Dean replied tensely.

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure you can just improvise. It's not like you're fighting the devil or anything."

"Look..."

"Or let me guess, you expect me to do all the heavy lifting for you? Is that it?"

"No," Sam replied.

"Good, cause I'm not dying for you bozos."

"You don't think you could beat him," Sam stated.

Gabriel let out a joyless laughter.

"I prefer not to try."

"That's great," Dean snorted. "What a hero you are."

Gabriel shook his head.

"I'm no hero. Those guys end up dead. I prefer staying alive."

"You said you would help us..."

"Yes, but I never said I would risk my life for your little mission."

He paused and looked at Sam

"You on the other hand..."

"No," Dean snapped. "Forget it."

"Dean," Sam sighed. "Let him speak."

"Smart choice," Gabriel hummed. "I always knew you were the brains of the operation. Anyway, let's get to the point. You're planning to put Lucifer back into his cage, right?"

"How do you know about that?" Dean asked suspiciously.

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, you weren't exactly subtle with the horsemen. I know you have the rings. My question is, even if you could open the cage, how were you planning to get Lucifer in?"

"We were working on that when Castiel told us about... Mia," Sam replied tensely.

"Right. I take it you have no plan then?"

"Not really," Sam admitted.

"Hmm, shocking. I assume you know there's no way you can force Lucifer into that cage. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Sam asked.

"Unless you let him in and make him jump into that pit."

"No!" Dean and Bobby protested in unison.

"That's not going to happen."

"He won't be able to control Lucifer," Castiel stated.

"He might, if he gets a little help."

"From who?" Dean asked tensely.

Gabriel smiled.

"From me."

"Didn't you just say that you don't want to get your hands dirty?" Dean snorted.

"I'm not planning to," Gabriel replied. "But I could give him enough juice to control Lucifer long enough. Assuming you don't mess this up."

"What about Mia?" Sam asked.

"Well... Obviously you need to get Lucifer into the cage before he becomes supercharged."

"That's not what I meant. What'll happen to her after... Lucifer is gone."

"Nothing. She has a human body, so there's no reason why she couldn't live a normal human life."

"She's not a normal human," Castiel stated. "She's something no one has ever seen before; we have no idea does she age like a human or..."

"For heaven's sake, Castiel, read the room," Gabriel huffed. "I was trying to be nice."

"By sugar coding?"

"Sugar what?"

"Alright, enough," Dean stated firmly. "This isn't going to happen, we're gonna think of something else."

"I think this might be our best chance," Sam murmured.

"Sam, no."

"It's my choice, Dean. We need to stop him. But..." He paused and looked at Gabriel. "Can you keep Mia safe?"

Gabriel was clearly surprised.

"Why are you asking me..."

"The angels might come after her. You're the only one strong enough to keep her hidden."

"Look, Sam, I told you I'm no hero..."

"I can't do this if I don't know that she's safe."

"Fine," Gabriel sighed. "I'll keep her safe. You have my word."

Sam nodded.

"Thank you."

"Sam..." Bobby started.

"I started this," Sam cut in. "I let him out. Now I need to end this."