"Oh my god. You're beautiful."

River paused and turned as she faced Sam. It was her turn to gasp.

They were standing in a white room she'd never seen before, consisting of clouds. They were genderless forces with no form, only essence. Glowing forms of celestial light, with simple shapes. They had limbs, she concluded as they embraced, but nothing else she could be sure of. It was a pure existence.

And she already felt Raziel vying for control of this form.
"Sam, I don't have long..." River fell over hee words. "I know how to defeat Lucifer, but there's a cost..."
"Slow down, Raziel, what do you mean defeat Lucifer?"

River felt sick then. Sammael. Sam had already lost control. And Raziel''s essence was forcing her out.

In that next second she was a simple observer, but not paying attention. She was looking for Sam. He was there, the trouble was, something was very off.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what just happened. How is your charge?" Raziel inquired, releasing Sammael.
"She nearly made a deal with Lilith. Do we know who turned Adam's first wife into a demon yet...?"

"That would be me. But he doesn't find out for a while." As he spoke, River felt her heart fall. It wasn't Sam spectating with her. He wore a white suit, his hair neat, a smirk on his face, out of place.
"Lucifer." River's fists clenched a he laughed.
"Lose track of time? By the time you wake up, I'll have preformed the ritual and I'll seek out my bride! Sammy boy is almost gone!"

"No, not a clue." Raziel shook her head. "Keep guiding young Petal. Her future...does not look light."
"I suppose not..." Sammael paused. "Raziel...have you heard what the traitor is saying?"
"That he questions God. Why, do you?"
"Just his decision to leave Zachariah in charge while he courts that girl in Nazareth."

"Sam will not disappear!" River snapped.
"Shh..." Lucifer, still wearing Sam, held up a hand. "Its getting good."

"There is that." Raziel's laugh was warm and full of life. "What has the Cherubim done to Anger you?"
"He forbade love among Angels." If they had hands, the Angel's hands became fisrs.
"What?" Raziel's voice changed in an instant. "How..."
"I don't know. Imp and Derriel have already opted to become human so they can be together instead of betray their feelinga." Sammael paused. "Raziel..."

River could feel the pain as Raziel faced him. It had never been a problem before, love. Joined essence as one. The closeness. No sex, no children, no kissing. Love caused no harm.

"Why forbid us love?" The Angel cried out.
"Because, he claims it will divide our loyalty."
"Of course it wouldn't!"
"So if I asked you to follow me to Earth so we could be together as humans, you would remain as a watcher, loyal to God?"

"There it is!" Lucifer jeered as River read Raziel's shock. "The answer to the riddles! Why you're never able to catch up and save him!"

"W-what? Sammael. I..." Raziel stammered, still agast. Sammael's face fell.
"I see. I understand. Good bye, Raziel." And then he was gone.
"No! Wait! Sammael!" Raziel fell to her knees, shaking. "I love you...don't leave me alone..."

"That can't be right!" River cried out. "Sammael joins your rebellion-becomes your vessel in the next life-how-"
"You Summer child. Back then an Angel becoming human kept their memories." Lucifer smirked. "It all adds up in the end."
"How?" River cried out. "Why did she stick to her duties?"
"Who told you that?" He laughed, a cold cruel laugh. "She went back to them in the end, yes. Tell me, little girl. Did you know Sammael was an Angel of Holy Flame?"
"What does that mean?"

"Castiel. I need to become human. Now." Raziel was in another room, with another Angel. But no doubt-it was Castiel.
"Excuse me? Why?"
"I can't let Sammael believe I don't love him."

"What? But why..." River was confused.
"One month on Earth is Ten Years in Hell. Heaven is the opposite. By the time Raziel made that request, Sammael had been on Earth for a year. It wasn't rebirth. He felt the sting of that rejection. Thaylt was how she stole him away the first time."

Human and mortal, Raziel had sought out her lost love. She found him, in the arms of a red headed wirch wearing a black dress. He saw her though as she felt tears burn for the first time. He called to her as she ran away crying.

"But he saw her! How did Ruby hold him?" River cried out, unable to change the history.
"Because I still had friends in high places."

Raziel was sobbing in a stream. Letting the cold water wash over her. Numb her. She jerkes her head, sensin the group of Angels as they approached.
"Azazel? What are you doing here?" She addressed the leader.
"Lucifer is losing his war." He replied.
"So?"
"Lucifer is losing his war, and your presence loosens his grip on plan B."

River gasped as the blade pierced Raziel's gut and she fell in the water.
"As one of the few Angels of Holy Fire, I knew I could pull on Sammael's human form as an escape pod. Just needed him to agree. Convincing him Heaven had you killed was all I needed to do-he didn't realize the deal was eternal then."

"Raziel!" Sammael burst on the scene as the Angels left. He gasped as he picked up her broken body. "No, NO!"
"S-Sammael..." A sad smile crossed Raziel's face. "You came..."
"No...you did. And I was idiotic enough not to wait..." Sammael whispered. "You abandoned your post for me...and they killed you for it."
"No..." Raziel was trying to warn him. But she was fading. Dying.
"I swear I'll make them pay!" Sammael pulled her close. Raziel sobbed because she could no longer speak. And then she went limp as he screamed her name.

River was screaming out. Trying to stop it. Lucifer laughed as it went white.
"Course, Imp and Derriel were none to happy when they found out. They helped Michael seal me. Derriel was furious when he found out that because Sammael made a deal with me, he was going to the Cursed Cycle. He went into the reincarnation river and swore no matter how many times he was reborn, he would never help Heaven or Hell again." The Devil smirked. "So little girl. Your move. Now you know how the endless tag game began. What will you do? Can you stop me?"

River's mind raced as she tried to think, to clear her mind. The trouble was...she knew Azazel's face. She knew the future if Lucifer won. But the worst part was only occuring to her now. Her heart had always felt empty, but there had been no longing. She'd never sought out Sam's next life, or even wound up connected in some way. She'd pondered it many times-why she'd never met him anywhere when their souls were entwined. And now she knew, as she watched Lucifer wear Sam's skin and laugh.

Because in River Tam's lifetime, there was no Sam. Sam was never reborn after Lucifer sealed fhe deal with Ruby. And Earth would fade into Myth.

"Do not dare give up on him!"

Raziel looked up as Vera shouted at her.
"Raziel, you are a watcher and a time keeper! You can be reborn again and again and chase after him, knowing you're in the best time amd place to do so!" She cried out. "So don't you give up like I did on Mud!"

River paused a she identified Mud as a charge of Vera, a man they deemed she got to attached to. They'd removed him from her care and he died three days later. But that didn't matter. Time keeper. Raziel coule manipulate the flow of the stream of time. She could see the world in an instant. River could use those. She knew them now.

"Well. You meddling child. Do you understand?" Lucifer taunted. River turned and faced him.
"Do you?" He was caught off guard as she said this. Then she grabbed his face, looking straight into his eyes, where she knew Sam was trapped in a burning room.
"Sam Winchester! Listen to me!" River shoured and she saw it. In that back room, Sam lifted his head. "The game is not over! Lucifer does not hold all the pieces! I will find you, I will set you free, do you hear me? And then..." Her heart boke because she knew what she had to do. He'd be reborn in her time, and she prayed they'd meet. "...and then if you can forgive me, its your turn, you are it!"

River had heard no yelling to wake hee, but know she had to. But when her eyes opened she was not at all shocked to see the man she once identified as Rance Burgess, a baby stealer. Knowing him now to be Azazel, the Yellow Eyed Demon, it made even more sense. How Petaline happenes to hace the Colt that shot him down, she'd never know. Everyone was in the main room, tied up, Demons aiming guns at them. It was night fall. The red moon rising. Yet River was unafraid. Lucifer had wasted time taunting her. Now she had all the time in the world.

"Any last words, brat?" Azazel growled, aiming his gun. River smiled, her eyes glowing pale blue.
"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."