Thank you MaggieMay17 for beta'ing, Ncsupnatfan and VegasGranny for pre-reading, and you all for reading.

Thank you all for being so patient with the longer wait between updates. I plan to come back to this story as soon as I've done with my Marvel series, so hopefully it'll be seamless updates.

Chapter Fifteen

The rugaru cowered at Sam's feet, a small trickle of blood running down its throat from the cut Sam made to draw the grace.

This was the last of Michael's monsters left to be killed, and Sam felt torn about the moment. He was glad it was over, but there was also reluctance. When this was done, his reasons to stay away were over.

Sam had been back to the bunker a few times a week in the two months it had been since he'd saved them from Magnus' house, but the rest of the time, he'd kept himself busy hunting. It had been good to see Dean, Mary, and Jack, but Nick was a constant presence, too, and that made it tough. He was so eager to talk, to form a connection, and Sam didn't know how to handle that when he was so uncomfortable.

Logically, he knew Nick wasn't really Lucifer; he had none of those cruel drives or that same twist to his nature. If Sam could have chosen someone to take his place, to love and protect his family, Nick would have been perfect. It was just the fact he used to be Lucifer that made it impossible to see who he was now.

The only thing Nick shared with Lucifer now, apart from the face, was the vague memories he'd received from his nightmares. Sam hadn't witnessed more of them as he'd not been there at night, and he'd not been called by anyone else to help with them since Castiel had taken his place there to shield the others from them, but they were still happening. Sam wondered how much Nick had seen, how much he rationalized as just residue from being a vessel once.

You killing that thing anytime soon? Gabriel asked. Because, you know, anticipation sucks.

Sam hauled the rugaru up by the throat and then pressed his hand to its head. Its eyes blazed, and its skin charred. There was a rushing sound, and then its ashy remains dropped from Sam's hands. He brushed them off, then turned and left the small cabin, going into the Norwegian tundra. It was beautiful, with reindeer grazing in the distance and the sun shining overhead, but Sam couldn't enjoy it.

So, what's next? Gabriel asked.

"I've got to see the Brits and let them know Michael's creations all are accounted for so they can call off their foreign chapter houses' hunters. I should tell Dean and Mom it's done, too."

Absolutely, that's important stuff, but I was wondering what came after that. I mean, your big mission is over. You've got to deliver Violet to Billie for punishment, so I guess you can waste some time doing that before deciding what to do, but that's only going to last so long. You and Cas planning a trip to that volcano, maybe?

"I don't know."

I think you do. You have options, after all. Backpacking across the Himalayas, maybe; you enjoyed your last visit. You could walk the Oregon Trail, or fly it if you're in a hurry. Or you could, you know, do something useful.

"What else is there to do?"

Gabriel huffed a laugh. You still haven't figured that out? I thought you were the smart one. Think about it, Sam, who can you help?

"I could hunt."

Yeah, why not? I know! You can team up with the rest of the family business. That'll be fun. You'll have ample time to bond with them all, and they'll be safer with an archangel onside. Sound good?

Instead of answering, Sam spread his wings and took flight. He came to rest at the peak of Mount McKinley and looked up at the stars that were still in evidence in the dark sky, unlike in Norway's morning light.

Just because you've changed location, it doesn't mean I'll shut up.

"What do you want from me, Gabriel?" Sam asked.

I want you here. There's no world there to save for you any more, and we both know you need a mission. Sure, you've got to be there to save your family from their kamikaze mission to kill Magnus, but you could deal with that easily enough. They're waiting for Rowena to come out of hiding and track him, right? When they find him, you can put in a little blade action, and he'll be out of the picture. But after that… You know you've been thinking about it. That's why you took the Seal of Solomon, after all.

Sam shifted from foot to foot. He had taken the Seal to check if it had been used, at least that was what he'd told them, but he'd not gone to Billie with it. He'd really taken it as an emergency pullcord. If it got too bad for him, too hard, he could escape. But he'd not reached that point. There was still a big enough part of him that that wanted to be with his family to make it possible for him to deal with Nick's presence to be there.

"I'm not leaving them."

That's kinda selfish, Gabriel said. I could use your help here. I'm one archangel trying to save a post-apocalyptic world, and the people that managed to survive are all suffering some pretty extreme trauma. You only took a couple dozen through the rift when you left. There are so many others left here, barely hanging on in the nightmare world, that need you.

Sam bit his lip. He didn't want to think about this too much as his decision would stop being his own to make. It would be made for him. He would have to go.

Yep, now you're getting it, Gabriel said, satisfaction in every word. You need a mission.

"What about Dean? I can't give him up."

Do you really have him now, though?

Sam squeezed his eyes shut.

I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm just asking. You're not happy, Sam. You won't get to be happy living the way you are. If you can't embrace Nick as a brother, all it's going to do is hurt you.

"He's not my brother," Sam growled.

I know, Sam. But he is Dean's. "

"Shut up, Gabriel!"

Is that what you really want?

"If you don't stop, I will kick you out. I can block you, and I will."

Gabriel was silent a long time, and then he said, Okay. I'll leave you to your thoughts. But, Sam, when you're ready to talk about this, I will be here.

Sam wanted to say he would never be ready to talk about it, that he would never make that choice, but he couldn't do it with absolute honesty.

The truth was that he wasn't sure he could stay.

Nick was shuffling the cards, and Dean was handing around the beers to Jack and Mary, when the flutter on the air came, and they all turned to see Castiel.

"Hey, Cas," Dean said happily. "Nick's dealing. Poker. You want in?"

"No," Castiel said. "And neither do you. We've found Rowena."

Nick set down the cards and got to his feet. "Where?"

"Dallas. Sam traced her to The Joule Hotel a few minutes ago."

Nick frowned. "Sam traced her? You mean you couldn't?"

"No, whatever warding she had, it's limited in scope but powerful. I have been trying to find her since the Magnus… episode." A shadow of pain crossed Castiel's face.

Nick knew he was struggling with what had happened. They'd all wiped the slate almost as soon as Sam arrived and eliminated Magnus' influence, stopping Castiel wanting to kill them, but Castiel hadn't been able to move past it. If he hadn't fought it so hard, they'd have been dead in seconds, all of them. It was only Castiel's force of will that had saved their lives. And if he hadn't been able to get through to Sam on angel radio, it would have ended for them there.

"It's fine, Cas," Dean said. "Most of us have tried to kill each other at one point or another. It's a rite of passage. Anyway, back to Rowena."

The guilt and pain passed from Castiel's face and became intensity. "Yes. Sam is watching her now. I have come to take you to her."

"Uh… Sam is watching her?" Mary said doubtfully. "She's going to bolt if she sees him."

"He's concealed from sight," Castiel said. "She won't see him. But we do need to hurry. She's in a restaurant but might not stay."

"Okay. Take us," Nick said.

He was eager. They'd been trying to find Rowena for a week, and she was the only one they thought had a chance of being able to find Magnus since he left his house. Sam had gone back to look after he'd gotten them out of there, but he'd not found him. He'd not been able to sense anything but the monsters that had been left in the cages, and he'd killed them all.

Though he hadn't seemed at all invested in Magnus before they'd faced him, Sam had committed a lot of time to him after he'd cast the spell on Castiel. Nick was pretty sure Sam still didn't believe Magnus had anything to do with the spell that had wiped him from their memories—he thought it was Chuck—but the fact Magnus put them at risk had brought Sam on board with killing him.

"Mom, you and Jack stay here," Nick said. "If we go in as a force, Rowena's going to be defensive. We want her calm to do the spell."

"But you will come back for us before going after Magnus," Mary said, a statement not a question.

"We will," Dean promised. "Cas?"

Castiel didn't answer, but Nick felt the sensation of flight in his stomach, and then they were standing in an empty men's room.

"Nice landing site, Cas," Dean said, looking pointedly at the wall of urinals.

"I thought it was better to arrive somewhere unnoticed," Castiel replied. "We don't want to cause a scene."

"It's fine," Dean said, making for the door. "Let's go."

Nick followed him out to a large and ornate lobby with a long marble-topped desk where people were queuing with bags and suitcases.

"This way," Castiel instructed.

He led them across the lobby to open double doors that led into a dimly lit restaurant with candles on the tables and white cloths. He nodded towards a spot in the corner, indicating, Nick guessed, to where Sam was concealed, and then they crossed the room to where Rowena sat at a corner table, toying with the stem of her wine glass.

She looked up as they approached, and her face fell. "Oh, bollocks."

"Hello, Rowena," Nick said pleasantly. "We've been looking for you."

"I thought you might. That's why I have been careful. I didn't want you sending your lapdog after me, or your brother. What do you want?"

"We need a spell," Dean said. "We're looking for a warlock, the one that wiped our memories. We had him, but he was…"

"He was powerful and dangerous," Castiel stated.

Rowena nodded. "He must be to do a spell of that magnitude." Her eyes moved past them, and she scowled briefly. "My date is here. I will speak to you later."

A man approached the table, his brow furrowed, "Um, Rowena?"

Her face morphed into a smile, and she stood and held out her hand to him. "Charles."

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Oh, no. These are just some… acquaintances of mine. They're leaving now."

"Rowena," Nick growled.

Rowena shot him a look that wished him nothing but pain and then forced a smile. "I am in the Dove Suite on the sixth floor. I will see you there later." She smiled at her date. "Much later."

The man looked awkward, and Dean shot him a smile and tugged Nick's arm to get him away. They walked out of the restaurant toward the elevators.

"I don't think that went well," Castiel said.

"No, not really," Dean said with a chuckle. "She's going to be pissed, but hopefully she'll help, even if it's just to get rid of us."

They got into the elevator and rode up to the sixth floor. The hall they stepped out into was decorated in deep blue with plush carpets.

"Okay, are we saying she's paying for this, or is she just killing the staff again?" Nick asked. "Because we should probably do something about that."

"We should pay?" Castiel asked, brow furrowed.

Nick laughed, "No, Cas, but we should do something about the murder part."

When they reached the room with a brass sign declaring it as The Dove Suite, Nick leaned against the wall and said, "Wonder how long it'll take for her to get done."

"Not long," Sam said, appearing behind them. "She's just leaving the restaurant."

Dean beamed at the sight of his brother and said, "Hey, Sammy."

Sam smiled at him and then said, "She's not happy. Her date didn't even stay to order a drink. I'd brace yourselves for a seriously pissed witch."

There was the ding of an elevator down the hall, and Sam disappeared again.

Nick marveled at the surreal nature of his brother's new life for a moment, appearing and disappearing at will, and then pasted on a smile as Rowena strode towards them along the hall.

Sam was right: she was pissed. She scowled as she reached them and then brushed Dean aside to access the door. She swiped a card, and it clicked open. She entered and let it swing back in their faces. Dean caught it before it could close and went in after her.

It was a nicer room than Nick had ever been in. It wasn't even one room. The space they were in had a couch and two chairs, a large television, a small bar area and a dining table with four chairs under the window. Through a door, Nick could see the corner of a bed with white bedding.

"Uh, Rowena, how are you paying for this?" Dean asked, turning and taking it all in.

"Charles was paying," Rowena said bitterly. "That's all gone to hell, thanks to you three." She threw her purse down onto the couch and then dropped beside down it and pressed her fingers to her temples as if warding off pain. "I have been courting him for two months; we were close to a proposal."

"We're sorry," Dean said, managing to sound sincere. "But we really do need your help."

"You could have tried calling!" Rowena said stridently. "Instead, you blunder up, looking like a male model, a goon, and bad private investigator. He thought I was cheating on him with Dean and having Castiel examine his finances before I committed to marriage."

"What did she think Nick was doing?" Dean asked, shooting Nick an amused look.

"He thought he was your bodyguard," she said. "You could have sent him alone, and I could have said he was there for my personal protection, but no, you had to come en masse and destroy everything I've been working for."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Working?"

Rowena scowled. "Save your judgment for someone who cares, Dean."

"Okay," Castiel said. "Can we move on to the spell? I am very uncomfortable. These sigils…"

Nick turned and saw that Castiel was hovering near the door, his brow furrowed.

Rowena smiled slightly and said, "Well, at least I know they work."

"What have you done to him?" Nick asked, a bite of anger in his tone.

"It's just some warding magic," Rowena said dismissively. "He's just powered down. I imagine it stings a little, too. I wanted to go unseen, obviously, but I also wanted to make sure I had the upper hand if an angel came calling."

Dean crossed his arms over his chest. "Sam and Cas are the only angels on earth right now, and neither of them are a threat to you."

"I remember when you had a very different opinion about that, Dean," she said. "And you, Nicholas. You didn't believe he was tame when you thought he was the vessel. Wasn't that why you made your plot to send him to the Cage?"

Castiel glanced to the side, and Nick realized Sam must be in there, too, concealed still. He felt guilty at the reminder of what he had done, and he was sure Sam was struggling with it, too. That spell hadn't worked, thankfully, but the intent had been there. How it must have felt for Sam to know that his own brother wanted him in Hell? Nick couldn't imagine.

"Enough!" Dean snapped. "Rowena, we're looking for a dangerous warlock. He is powerful enough to wipe a lifetime of memories, which means he's a big threat to us all, you included."

Rowena raised an eyebrow. "Since Nicholas is the one that's destined to kill me, I'm not exactly quaking in fear."

Nick was disappointed that she was acting like this when she'd been close to a friend before Sam's real identity had been revealed. Maybe not a real friend, but she had definitely been an ally.

"We'll pay," Dean offered. "You've lost Mr. Mega Bucks, so you're going to have to pay for this room somehow."

Rowena snorted. "You couldn't afford one night in this place."

"What do you want then?" Castiel asked impatiently.

"The Book of the Damned," she said.

Nick frowned. "You already have it."

"I do, but I want full access to it. The codex and code Charlie created are the only things that can give me that."

Castiel flinched and then said, "You can't have that. It's too dangerous."

"Don't you trust me, Castiel?" she asked.

Castiel flinched again, and Nick guessed he was listening to Sam, who was probably feeling quite passionate about the subject. "I trust you," he said. "But that kind of magic would be a powerful temptation."

"We all trust you," Dean said. "And you can have it if you do the spell."

"No!" Castiel said, his voice strained, possibly from the voice Nick was pretty sure was shouting at him right now.

Nick was torn. He trusted Rowena to an extent, but the Book of the Damned held the most powerful magic they'd ever seen. If she reverted to her old ways, she could wreak havoc with it. Ultimately, it was about what was more pressing—finding Magnus and stopping him or risking Rowena becoming even more powerful.

Nick knew which he wanted more.

"You can have it," he said. "But I warn you now, if you use it to harm us or anyone else, I will stop you."

Rowena quirked an eyebrow. "You'll kill me?"

"I'll stop you," Nick said, his tone making the words a threat. "It's at the bunker. We'll bring it to you when we find Magnus."

"You'll bring it to me when I've done the spell," Rowena said.

"When we find Magnus," Nick said again. "When we have him, you can take it."

Rowena considered a moment and then nodded. "I can make that deal." She got to her feet and walked towards Nick. She held out a hand, her eyes staring into Nick's with intensity. "The moment you find the warlock, you will hand it over, agreed?"

"As soon as we can," Nick corrected. "When we find him, we're going after him. We get that done, we'll bring it to you. You'll have to start answering your phone, though."

"Don't do this," Castiel said, his brow tight with pain. An archangel's anger blaring in your head was probably pretty hard to deal with.

"We're doing it, Castiel," Rowena said, then nodded and shook Nick's hand. "And we're doing it now."

She strode into the bedroom and came back with a large bag and rolled-up piece of paper. She set the bag down on a chair and unrolled the paper that turned out to be a map of the states.

"Weigh it down, Dean," she commanded.

Dean set glasses from the bar down on each corner as Rowena tipped some red powder on the map and spread it out with her hands to it was dusted all over.

"Is that all it takes?" Dean asked. "Did we seriously give over the most powerful book in the world for a spell we can do ourselves?"

Rowena smirked. "Perhaps."

Dean cursed, but Nick didn't care. They were getting the spell they needed, and that was what mattered. They were going to have to deal with anger next time they were with Sam able to talk, so they might as well go with the reprieve now.

"What is the powder?" Nick asked.

"Gorgoth Horn," Rowena said idly. She waved her hands over the map and muttered, "Monstrant potentiam."

The map glowed with light all over, and they shrank into smaller points of red light. Some were brighter than others, like candle flames, while others were just pinpricks.

"Look," Rowena said cheerfully, pointing to the brightest dot of light. "It's me."

"Yeah, that's great," Nick said. "But where's Magnus."

Rowena frowned. "Well, this map shows all practitioners of a certain level, the brighter the light, the more power they hold. And…" she peered closer, "he's not on it."

"What!" Dean shouted.

Rowena glared at him. "There's no need to raise your voice, Dean. See, if this Magnus has enough power to create the spell that wiped your memories, he would be as bright as me, if not brighter." Her lips turned down for a moment, and then she brightened. "Perhaps not brighter. I at least have the potential for greatness, thanks to our deal. But he would be showing if he was here. It's possible he's not in the United States, but it's also possible he's warded."

"Then what do we do?" Nick asked.

Rowena shrugged. "I suppose you can hope he peeks out from behind the warding long enough for you to trace him; I did after all. Or you can chalk it up to bad luck and get on with your lives."

"We're not letting him get away with what he did," Nick growled. "He took our brother away from us."

Rowena threw up her hands. "So? You got him back, didn't you?"

"Enough," Castiel snapped. "We didn't find Magnus, so you don't get the codex." He strode into the room, grabbed Dean and Nick, said, "Goodbye, Rowena," and then Nick felt them being moved. They came to rest in the library of the bunker.

Jack looked up, and Mary jumped to her feet and looked from face to face, "Did you find him?"

"No," Nick said bitterly.

"But you made a stupid deal to try," Sam said, his voice harsh with anger as he appeared at the end of the table.

"Sam!" Mary said happily, seeming not to notice his obvious rage.

"Hey, Mom," he said, his voice softening slightly, and then he turned back to Dean and Nick. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"We were thinking about taking out a powerful threat," Nick said, his own anger rising.

"You were thinking about revenge," Sam snapped. "Are you forgetting what happened last time you went after Magnus? He was able to control an angel! What chance do you think any of you have against him? And it's all a load of crap anyway! Magnus didn't do this spell. He is just a prop. It was Chuck."

Dean shifted from foot to foot. "Look, Sammy, I know you…"

Sam held up a hand. "No! I get that you can't see the truth because he made it that way, but you could try listening to me. Magnus isn't a threat to you unless you go after him. All you're doing hunting him is setting yourselves up to be killed."

Mary looked shocked. She'd not seen Sam like this before with them. She'd seen him facing off with Michael, but that had been directed at a threat, and he'd been more controlled then. Nick hadn't seen Sam like this since immediately after Lucifer had been freed. He was enraged now, and he wasn't hiding it.

Sam raked his hands through his hair. "Okay, here's the thing. You can keep trying to find Magnus, risking your lives like idiots, and I can keep stopping you, or you can get over this and move on with your lives. You've got a chance for something good now. Michael is gone. Lucifer is gone. Chuck's cut the strings. You get to live, so stop trying to throw that away!" His eyes fell on Nick, and there was a strange look in them that made his next words even more compelling and confusing. "Take advantage of what you've been given!"

"Sam…" Castiel said softly.

Sam shook his head. "No! I will find a way to stop you from doing this."

Dean's expression of anger intensified for a moment but was then quickly concealed, and he nodded. "Okay. You're right. We'll stop, Sam."

Nick cast Dean an incredulous look, but Dean avoided his eyes.

"Sam's right," Dean said. He looked from Mary to Nick, then quickly back to Sam. "Magnus is too dangerous. We've already lost too much because of him. We'd be stupid to risk more." He fixed his eyes on Sam. "We'll give it up, Sammy, I swear."

Sam stared at him for a moment, searching for a lie that even Nick didn't see, and then he sighed with relief. "Thank you, Dean." He pushed his hair back and smiled. "I've got something to do right now, but call me if you need me. I'll come back. Cas, you coming?"

Castiel nodded. There were two ripples of flight, one louder than the other, as Sam and Castiel disappeared.

Nick waited a moment and then rounded on Dean. "We'll stop! You're kidding, right?"

Dean frowned, his eyes sad. "Yeah, I was lying." He rubbed at his temple, fingers digging into his skin. "We're not giving up."

"You swore you'd stop," Mary reminded him, seeming stunned. "You swore to Sam!"

Nick was pretty shocked, too. Dean had done more than lie to Sam; this betrayal was going deeper than that. It was what had to happen, though. They couldn't let Magnus go free after what he did. When it was over, Dean would have a chance to make it right with Sam.

Nick was pleased Dean had been able to convince him, impressed. He didn't think he would have dared to make a promise like that to Sam, knowing he was going to break it.

"We're not letting Sam or Castiel know what we're doing," Dean went on. "Sam will find a way to stop us, and Cas will definitely tell him if he knows. We find some of that powder Rowena used and do it ourselves."

"It was Gorgoth Horn," Nick said. "We've got it in the stores."

"Good," Dean said. "We grab some of that and a map and do it, but first we've got to find a place and ward it to the hilt. I don't want Sam or Cas getting in there."

"Yes, but…" Mary sighed. "As much as I want Magnus dead, how are we going to do that without Sam's help? He was right: Magus controlled Castiel. What chance do we have?"

Dean looked disheartened, but Nick smiled cruelly and said, "I think we go with Dean's idea."

Dean frowned. "My idea?"

Nick grinned. "Rocket launcher."

So… To their mind, Magnus did the worst possible thing to them, and they will do what it takes to punish him. That said, Dean just set himself up for a big fall by betraying Sam. The only thing that can stop the fallout for that is for something even bigger to happen. Don't worry, though, I've got a plan.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx