Thank you so much SamGirlDeanCurious for beta'ing and VegasGranny and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading xxx

Chapter Thirteen

Sam sucked in a breath and Dean's head snapped up. He recognized the gleam in Sam's eyes and the high curve of his lips that meant he'd just found something that excited him. Before he could ask what it was, he heard a soft gasp and he turned to see Jessica watching Sam with wet eyes. He looked past her to see John and the other Dean were also fixated on Sam with strange expressions.

Sam looked up, his smile wide and then he frowned as he saw their scrutiny. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," John said gruffly as Dean crossed a hand over his face and cleared his throat.

Jessica wiped her eyes and said, "Did you find something?"

Sam looked puzzled still, but Dean thought he understood. He had seen the moment he was used to in his brother, the excitement of revelation, and they had seen it, too. But for them, it was so much more than just a familiar quirk of his brother. For them, it was seeing their Sam in him. Even Dean and John were affected.

"Sammy," Dean prompted.

"Yeah, I think we can summon a reaper," Sam said. "It's similar to the spell to summon an angel—which makes sense, I guess since they're both divine—but the ingredients are a little different. We have them in our lab so they should be in the lab here, too."

"Where's the lab?" John asked, getting to his feet, his eyes intense.

"I'll go," Dean said. "What do we need, Sam?"

Sam ran his finger down the page and said, "Sands of time, gold ore, hemlock, mace, and… I'll bring the book."

They stood and Sam picked up the book and strode out. Dean followed him through the halls to the working area of the bunker where the lab was located. He pushed open the door and flipped on the light and sniffed at the strange-smelling air. He was never sure it was healthy breathing in the funk of this place. Some of the ingredients the Men of Letters had kept were pretty out there—he'd seen one marked Anthrax and he was only hoping it was code for something else.

Smell aside, he was glad to get away from the crowd for a moment. It was weird enough looking at the mirror—and only slightly more built—version of himself. Seeing his father's face but the wrong man behind the eyes, the Castiel that was pretty much the same as theirs physically but still a different man, and Jessica, but he wasn't being stared back at the way Sam was.

Sam put the book down on the table and said, "Okay, we need a… What?"

Dean realized he was staring and quickly looked away. "Nothing."

"No, really. They were all staring, too. What's going on?" He grinned. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Is it weird for you?" Dean asked. "Having them all looking at you like that? Before, when you found the spell, it was pretty intense."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You really want to talk feelings?"

Dean shrugged. "This is me trying to help and understand." He laid his hand on Sam's arm and softened his face, not able to hide the mocking in his eyes. "I'm here for you, Sammy."

Sam pushed him away and laughed. "Yeah, it's weird, but it's weird for all of us right now. Things are crazy. We're in a different, crazy-ass world."

"But it's not more than that?" Dean pressed. "You're not thinking about after."

He saw when Sam understood the question as his face fell. "You mean saying goodbye to Jess?"

"Yeah."

"It's going to be hard," Sam said, his eyes fixing on a point above Dean's left ear and his fingers drumming on his crossed arms. "But what I had in our world was amazing. She gave me something incredible. We're giving her what she needs with her Sam. She's going to be happy with him, and that's what matters."

Dean couldn't agree. To him, in this situation Sam was what mattered. Jessica was a great girl, and Dean felt good about the fact they were leaving her in a better world with the man she loved when they left. It was the man he was taking home with him that worried him.

Sam drew a deep breath and said, "Grab the gold ore and sands of time. They're in the locked cupboard"

Dean knew Sam was done talking and he accepted it easily, saying, "They lock the good stuff down, sure, but they left some pretty damn dangerous stuff hanging around on the shelves."

Sam chuckled, "Yeah, but I think the anthrax is a joke one of the old Men of Letters was playing on his buddies." He paused and then said, "Don't go sniffing it though."

"Yeah, because sniffing it was my first thought. Right after that, I was going to lick it."

Sam huffed a laugh and took a bowl from the cupboard and started to fill it with various jars and envelopes of ingredients.

Dean took the key for the cupboard from the drawer and unlocked it. There were small envelopes and jars in here, but it was the black velvet bag he wanted. That was where the chunks of gold ore were kept. He had joked once that they could make a decent bit of money selling them off. Sam had disagreed, citing the fact they might need them for a hunt and they could sell Dean's antique porn if they needed money, Dean hadn't been sure he was kidding—he better be kidding—so he'd changed the subject.

Dean took the vial of Sands of Time and dropped them into the bowl with Sam's ingredients. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yep," Sam said cheerfully.

Dean eyed him for a moment and said, "You do realize that finding a reaper means finding a way into Purgatory and Hell, right? It's going to be rough, Sammy."

"I know," Sam said. "I remember. But I'm not doing it alone this time. We'll all be together, all of us fighting. We'll be fine."

Dean shrugged. He wasn't feeling that good about going back to Hell. Maybe it was because their Hells were so different. Sam was in the Cage with Lucifer and Michael. Dean didn't know if that meant he smelled the sulfur, heard the screams, saw the racks of people. That was the Hell they were headed into, and Dean had forty years of memories of that place to back up his discomfort.

Sam checked the book once more, picked it up and took the lead back to the library where the others were waiting, Dean and John on their feet and Jessica, Jack and the angels surveying them.

"Do you have it all?" John asked.

"Yeah," Sam said. "We just need to add a little blood."

"Are you trapping it?" the Dean of this world asked. "Dad's got the symbol copied in his journal. We took it down after that Alastair went after that seal."

Dean considered a moment and said, "No, I don't think we need to. If they're not willing to help us without being trapped, they're definitely not going to be once we've done it. What do you think, Sammy?

"No," Sam said firmly. "We're asking for them to do something for us. We've got to treat them with respect."

John crossed his arms over his chest. "Or we could skip the respect and just threaten them. You brought angel blades with you. They'll kill a reaper, right?"

"Yes," the other Castiel replied. "But if you kill one, you're going to find it hard to have any others help you. Reapers are brethren the way angels are."

John shrugged. "We'll try your way then."

Sam took the bowl and began to shake in ingredients. "When they come, we need to be careful," he said. "The reapers we've met have all been…"

"Proud?" Castiel of their world suggested. "Difficult?"

Sam nodded. "Maybe let me handle it."

John glowered and his son crossed his arms over his chest. "We know how to talk to monsters, thanks."

"Yes," Sam said patiently. "But reapers aren't monsters. Look, I get that you want this done, so do we. The sooner we get a door, the sooner we can get Sam back. Pissing off the being that's going to get us that door is going to slow us down."

"If you say so," John grumbled.

Jessica and the angels got to their feet and looked expectant as Sam threw a pinch of powder into the bowl and said, "Blood," thoughtfully as he took the switchblade from his pocket and opened it. He cut across his palm and dripped it into the bowl. Castiel rounded the table and healed Sam's hand as Sam stared at the page and said, "Be ready," before taking a book of matches and dropping a lit match down into the bowl reciting the Latin. "O theristis, kaleo se kai deo."

Flames roared up and Sam stepped back.

Dean's eyes darted around and then widened as he saw the reaper appear. "Tessa?"

She looked from face to face, settling on Sam and them flickering to Jack. "How is this possible?" she asked. "What is that child."

"That's Jack," Dean said, carefully controlling his annoyance so as not to anger her and put her off helping them. "Me, Sam, Castiel and him are from another world. Jack brought us here."

"He's a Nephilim," the Castiel of this world said.

Tess looked stunned. "A Nephilim lives? How can you allow it, Castiel?"

Jack's brows lowered over his eyes and his jaw clenched.

"We didn't call you here to talk about Jack," John said. "We need you to open a door to Hell."

Tess took a step back. "You bring me here, to a Nephilim, and then expect me to do that! Castiel, you know how many rules that breaks. Heaven will not allow it. Death will not."

"Please," Jessica begged. "We can get Sam back if we have a way in."

"No," Tessa said. "I won't do it. I'm not going to…"

"It's okay, Tessa," a smooth voice that Dean recognized said. "I'm here."

They all spun to see the newcomer and Dean sighed and said, "Billie."

"Are you a reaper or angel?" John asked.

"Neither," Billie said. "I am Death."

"You are?" Sam asked. "But we're not in…"

"All worlds, one God, Sam," she said. "All worlds, one Death. Tessa, you can go."

With a look of exquisite relief, Tessa disappeared, and Billie came towards them, her dark eyes narrowed. She drew a deep breath and said, "I warned you against doing this, Dean. A house of cards. Punching holes through worlds is dangerous. And yet you did it anyway."

"I did it," Jack said. "I had to. This world needed us."

Billie stared at Jack for a moment and then her eyes moved back to Dean. "I could drag you home now, you know. Your Nephilim is not strong against me. I should drag you home. You have no business here."

Dean swallowed hard. She really could do it, and she would find a way to stop them from coming back. This world would be left in the chaos it was now, and Sam would stay trapped in Hell. Dean didn't want that, he wanted to help them all, but he wanted to help his brother more and he knew he would never forgive himself if he didn't get Jessica's Sam back to her.

"Please don't," Jessica said. "We're going to save the world because they're here."

Billie nodded slowly and fixed her eyes on John. "Yes, the trials, I can see the damage already." She looked back at Sam who was trying to hide his fisted hands behind his back. "I won't take you back… yet. I will give you seven days to finish what you started here. In that time, you can get Sam Winchester out of hell and finish the trials. I warn you, though, I won't give more time. If you haven't succeeded before the time is up, I will take you and leave these versions of yourselves to save their world alone."

"We'll get it done," Sam said. "I promise."

"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "I think you will. But have you considered the cost of doing it?"

"Yes," John said. "I die. We know. That's not an issue."

Dean glanced at his counterpart of this world to gauge his reaction and was surprised to see that he was nodding his agreement. He kept being hit by the differences in their worlds, but this was the greatest. He couldn't imagine himself ever being so hard when faced with his father's imminent death.

"It's good to see you're so accepting," Billie said. "Most people fight the inevitable. Now, this door. I will open one, but you're not all going through."

Jessica gasped. "What? No!"

Billie nodded. "This world relies on the Winchesters, extended included, more than you know. John is going to die for the trials, you've all accepted that and the world can suffer the loss, but if you all go to Hell and become trapped there, your people will be left without their greatest protectors."

"No," the Dean of this world growled. "We're just hunters. There are more of us that matter. We're going to Hell."

Billie raised an eyebrow and surveyed him for a moment and then seemed to decide to ignore him. She turned to Sam and Dean and said, "You can go. Your world is finally in a place of something close to peace. You, Dean, and John can have your chance."

"What about us?" Jack asked, indicating himself and the two angels.

"Heaven has no place in Hell," Billie said. "And you… with one mistimed sneeze, you could break open the Cage. You might not like to be reminded of who your father is but—"

"Okay," Sam cut in loudly. "We get it. Me, Dean and John will go. No problem."

Billie stared at him for a moment, a wry smile on her face, and then said, "I see. Well, if we're doing this, we should do it now. I don't like being in this world much. Have you got everything you need?"

Sam hurried to the table where the bags of weapons they'd brought with them had been left. He grabbed one and handed it to John and Dean collected his own.

"John…" Jessica said, her eyes full of need.

John looked from her to his son and said, "I'm bringing him back, I promise." He looked at Billie. "We're ready."

Billie walked away and Dean and Sam hurried after her, leaving the others watching from the table they surrounded. They came to the end of the room where the door that would eventually lead to the garage was and Billie held out her hand to Dean. "Link hands, all of you, and be prepared."

Dean felt a thrill of trepidation as he shouldered his bag and reached for Sam. "Prepared for what?" he asked.

"Nausea," Sam said, gripping Dean's hand and John's.

"Awesome," Dean muttered.

Billie grabbed his hand and held it tight as she fixed her eyes on the door.

The color of the wood seemed to bleed and melt as white light emerged around the edge. It grew brighter, making Dean's eyes squint, and then it was touching him. He felt a wave of heat, a roll of nausea, and then his feet slammed into dirt and twigs.

He looked around as Sam dropped his hand and took a breath.

He was back in Purgatory.

So… They're on their way. I enjoyed writing the next chapter as—apart from the obvious heroics—I got to delve into Purgatory and Hell again.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx