It's Thursday 10th September. Today the last scenes of Supernatural will be shot. I am feeling a lot of things, pride and sadness, gratitude and resentment. I didn't expect it to hit me this hard, but it has.

Supernatural brought some wonderful people, friendships, experiences, joys, and stories into my life. It also brought me all of you that are reading this story.

I've been writing for Supernatural for 8 years and that was an adventure of twists and turns, highs and lows. This story and its sequel will probably be my last SPN works for a while as I continue my Marvel and Twilight series, though I have stories planned which I will come back to. Some of you have been with me since 2012 and Breaking Down The Wall. Some of you are brand new to my stories. I appreciate each and everyone of you. I've not had a chance to talk to you all, but the fact you're reading means a lot to me.

Thank you MaggieMay17 for beta'ing, Ncsupnatfan and VegasGranny for pre-reading, and you all for being part of this SPNFamily which I have loved.

Enjoy this chapter while our wonderful cast and crew kick it in the ass one last time xxx

Chapter Eighteen

"Burgers," Dean suggested.

"Winchester Surprise," Nick countered.

Mary looked up from the laptop she was working on. "You want me to cook?"

Nick smiled innocently. "You're the best cook."

Behind her, Dean lowered the beer he'd been bringing to his mouth to give Nick an incredulous look. Nick winked back at him.

Mary wasn't the best cook; in fact, she was pretty awful, but she had one dish that Nick loved. Dean's burgers were pretty amazing, but Nick loved the hominess of Mary's cooking. He had no memories of eating Winchester Surprise as a child, and the time Dean tried to make it for him had ended with stony silence in the car for two days as John was pissed. But she sometimes made it for them now, and it was like Nick was grabbing at something he'd missed growing up.

Mary smiled indulgently and leaned across the table to pat his cheek. "You're a damn liar, Nick, but I'll make it if that's what you want."

"Thanks, Mom."

Dean watched him a moment and then shrugged and formed his face into enthusiasm as Mary stood to face him. "Yeah, thanks, Mom."

Mary beamed at him and then disappeared through the hall that would lead to the kitchen.

Dean took her place and pulled the laptop round. He considered the screen for a moment and then snapped it closed. "I vote for a night off."

"A night off?" Nick said doubtfully.

Dean nodded decisively. "Yeah. We've been looking for any sign of Michael for a month, and there's nothing. We're finding nothing that's going to help in the lore. Rowena is starting to speak in tongues I'm pretty sure she's learning from the Book of the Damned, and Jack and Cas are burned out working with Jack's little grace. We all need a night off.

Nick knew what he was saying, even Rowena, who was probably the least motivated of them all, had been working her ass off since she got back to the bunker three weeks ago, but what they were doing was important.

Nick help up a finger, "First of all, Rowena isn't speaking in tongues. That's just the accent—"

"Thank you, Nicholas," Rowena said bitingly, looking at him from the second table she'd claimed to set out the books and papers she was studying.

Nick grinned at Rowena and then became serious as he turned back to Dean and said, "Cas and Jack need to work with Jack's grace. Cas says it's like a muscle that needs to be used. And you can bet the moment we stop looking for Michael is the moment he finally makes his move."

Dean held up his hands. "Yeah, all of that's true, but we still need a night off. We're fried. Even if we find Michael, there's nothing we can do apart from avoid him and warn others to do the same. We don't have the magic egg yet, we don't have any weapon, and we don't have Sam on board…"

Nick glowered. He accepted the plan of working with Sam, if that was who it truly was, but he wasn't eager to start yet. He wanted them to have a plan in place first that they could allow him to join, not go to him and ask for help.

"Nicky…" Dean said, his voice consoling the way it was whenever the topic of Sam came up now.

"Not now!" Nick said harshly and then formed his face into enthusiasm. "Sure, we'll take a night off. What are we going to do?"

He could tell Dean was considering pushing the subject, getting it all out in the open once and for all, but his usual reticence to get into difficult topics won out, and he said, "Poker."

"Great," Nick said. "I'll go get Cas and Jack. You in, Rowena?"

"That depends," she said. "Are we playing for hard cash or pretzels?"

Dean pulled out his wallet and checked the contents before sighing and saying, "Pretzels."

Rowena smirked. "Then I'll sit the game out."

"That's probably better," Dean said as Nick got to his feet and made his way out of the room. "We all know you cheat."

Rowena looked affronted. "I do not!"

Nick chuckled and shook his head as he made his way along the halls to the gym.

Maybe a night off was really what they all needed. They'd been working it for weeks with little downtime. He preferred to be working, studying the lore and running over everything they knew about Michael—which was little apart from what Bobby had told them—and Lucifer—which was so much more. The problem was that it probably wasn't Lucifer they were dealing with. Castiel was sure it wasn't, and the others believed him mostly, but Nick had his doubts.

It would be the perfect ruse for Lucifer to pretend to be his vessel, to get them to let their guard down. And if Sam was in charge, did that mean Lucifer was just under the surface waiting to strike again when they least expected it? Or was he somewhere else?

He reached the gym and stopped at the door, watching Jack as he concentrated his attention on the dumbbell he was levitating with a weak pulse of grace. Castiel turned to him and pressed a finger to his lips to indicate that he should stay silent, only speaking when the dumbbell dropped with a thump, and Jack breathed out hard.

"That was good, Jack," Castiel said. "You're doing well."

"You really are," Nick added. "It's coming back even faster than I realized."

Jack smiled though he looked weary. "It's coming back, but I'm nowhere near as strong as I need to be."

"You may not need to be that strong," Castiel said. "If we can use Sam to stop Michael…"

Nick looked away. There was a chance Sam could stop Michael, a good chance even, but who was going to stop him when it was over? Even if it was Sam really, they couldn't leave him running around with Lucifer just under the surface, waiting to take over and wreak hell again. Nick knew for a fact how hard it was to overpower an archangel. The fact that Sam might have done it this long was impressive, but he wouldn't be able to do it forever.

He hadn't discussed that with his family as he wasn't sure they'd agree with him.

"I'd still feel better if I could do it myself instead of Sam," Jack said.

Castiel opened his mouth to answer, and then his brow furrowed and he pressed a hand to the side of his head, his eyes closing. He seemed to be concentrating, and Nick recognized the look of someone tuned into angel radio. He waited expectantly for Castiel's focus to come back to the room, wondering what he was hearing and what it meant for them.

Castiel's hand dropped, and he blinked a moment before saying, "That was Sam. He wants to see us."

Nick's nerves prickled. "Why?"

"I don't know." Castiel walked past Nick, his steps clicking along the hall.

Nick and Jack exchanged a glance before following him into the library, where Dean was leaning against the table and shuffling a pack of cards.

"Cas," Dean said. "We're having a poker night. You up for it?"

"I heard from Sam," Castiel answered.

Dean's fingers loosened, and the cards slipped. He managed to catch them and dropped them into a pile on the table. "He spoke to you?"

"He wants to see us," Castiel said. "There's something he wants to tell us. I told him we wanted to see him, too."

Dean glanced at Nick with an eyebrow raised, and Nick nodded. He was fine. He wasn't happy, he didn't want to do it, but that would still be the case in another month. If Sam had given them the opening to see them now, if he had something to tell them, they needed to go. He could handle it.

"Okay," Dean said. "Have you arranged a place?"

"Glen Elder, at the lake."

Nick was relieved Sam wasn't coming to the bunker, seeing that face in his home was plain wrong, but if Sam had chosen the meeting place, it meant they couldn't get there to lay down protections before him. He would be there in an instant, and they would have to drive.

"Now?" Dean asked.

"Yes."

"I'll get Mom."

Dean started away to the kitchen, and Nick looked at Rowena. "We're going to need you. We can't lay down protections, so you're our only form of defense."

Rowena looked amused. "Dear Nicholas, what makes you think I'm going anywhere near that monster."

"It's not Lucifer," Castiel said. "It's the vessel."

"You think," Rowena pointed out. "You have no proof. I trusted Lucifer once and ended up with my neck snapped. That was unpleasant but nothing compared to being immolated alive. I have no intention of putting myself at risk again. If you're willing to risk your lives on a theory, go ahead. I'll wait here in case you manage to survive and come back."

Castiel stared at her a moment and then turned to Nick. "Are you willing to come?"

"Yes," Nick said quickly.

He wasn't comfortable with the idea, but there was no way he was sending his family off to meet the devil without him being there. He wasn't really a threat at all against an archangel, but he was going to do his best to protect them.

Dean rushed into the library with Mary on his heels. She looked nervous, but Dean was animated. Nick knew his brother better than anyone, he could read him, and he knew Dean was excited. It bothered Nick that he was apparently convinced they were going to Sam and not Lucifer, worried him even. If Dean went with his guard down, he would be easy prey if Lucifer turned on them.

And if it was Lucifer, that was what was going to happen.

"Everyone ready to go talk to Sam?" Dean asked with enthusiasm

Though his eyes moved around the room as he asked, openly addressing the question to them all, when his eyes fell on Nick, it was clear who he was really asking.

"Yes," Nick said, his jaw jutting out.

"No," Rowena said. "I'm definitely not ready to be anywhere near him, so I'm not coming."

Dean's eyes widened. "You have to! Rowena, you're the only one that can hurt him even a little if it is a trap."

"I don't believe it is," Castiel interjected.

"You're right, Dean," Rowena said, ignoring Castiel. "I am the only one. But he can hurt me more than I can hurt him. And I only managed to hurt him when he was already weak."

"He's weak now," Dean said.

"No, he's just not quite at full power yet, but I'd bet he's close," Nick said. "Look how fast Jack's grace is picking up."

Dean shot him a sharp look, perhaps scolding him for adding to Rowena's reasons to stay behind. Nick didn't much care. He wanted them all aware of the risk they were putting themselves at.

"Fine," Dean said. "I can't make you come. I can't make anyone come. All of you, if you're coming, you're doing it of your own free will. This might blow up in our faces."

"It won't," Castiel said confidently. "Nothing he has said or done supports the idea that it's Lucifer in control."

"Apart from him choking me," Nick said.

Dean's face fell. "Nicky…"

Nick cut across him. "I'm coming, but I'm coming armed: holy oil and angel blades."

"That's not going to create an atmosphere of trust," Castiel said.

"I don't care. He's going to be armed, so we are, too." Nick strode out of the library to the storeroom, where they kept a backup stock of holy oil. There was already some in the Impala's trunk and angel blades, he wanted to take more than they could possibly need.

Anything to stack the odds in their favor if this went wrong.

So… We're going to have some proper time with them all, and that means conversation. I've been waiting for this a while, and I'm sure you have, too.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx