It was later that night and Dean was sitting at a table for a meeting future Dean was holding. Few were there. Lee and Cas were sitting at the back end of the table, and Lee was leaning her chair back with her feet on the table. Risa sat rigidly across from Dean, sending off heat waves of anger.

Future Dean pulled out an old fashioned gun, intricately designed, and laid it on the table. He stepped back waiting for their response.

Risa sniffed, "So, that's it? That's the Colt?"

"You better watch what your sayin' about my family's gun," Lee quipped from the back.

"If anything can kill Lucifer, this is it." Dean said, flashing a smile to Risa.

"Great." She sighed with a roll of her eyes, "Have we got anything that can find Lucifer?"

Future Dean frowned, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, we were in Jane's cabin. And Risa here, well we and… Risa have a connection." Dean informed him with hasty chuckle.

"You want to shup up?" Future Dean barked and Dean raised his hands in surrender.

"Oh, hush up Dean, it ain't his fault and you know it. And honestly, Risa," Lee chuckled in the background, "I just don't get how you didn't see this coming. There was only one woman ever capable of taming that shrew over there!"

Future Dean slumped his shoulders and threw his head to the side, frowning at Lee. He opened his mouth to cast a snide remark before Risa cut in, tossing her head back in laughter.

"Oh yes, the amazing Lee is the only one capable of reasoning with the almighty Dean Winchester!" Risa shook her head in mock humor. All attention snapped to Lee as her face set into a stony expression. Dean flickered his gaze between a smirking Risa and Lee.

"It wasn't me I was talkin' about," She gritted through a calm voice.

Risa nodded sarcastically and slapped her forehead, "Oh that's right! –"

"Risa." Future Dean warned, but she paid him no attention.

" – you're just his little lap dog, aren't you… Pocahontas." Risa spat, calling her the nickname Dean would use.

The room fell into a thick silence and before anyone could move an inch, Lee hurtled herself over the table. Her chair crashed on the floor with a loud echo followed by a loud slam as Risa was shoved against the wall with an arm on her throat. She yelped with a mix reaction of shock and pain, kicking out her feet as Lee lifted her off the ground.

"Don't. Ever. Use that name." Lee growled into Risa's ear, "I am not your friend. I am not anyone's lap dog. I am in charge, as is Dean, and you will follow my orders. Is that understood?"

Risa struggled to free herself, but Lee was unmoving and tightened her grip more. Lee watched as she struggled and chocked out a fearful cry.

Dean was the first to shake off the shock, but still stunned at her action, "Lee, stop it!"

Castiel ran up, "She isn't worth it." He laid a hand gently on her shoulder, only to pull back as if it were a hot plate when Lee sent a piercing glare. She chewed her bottom lip and squinted back at Risa.

"Fine." Lee released her and she dropped to the floor, gasping for air.

"Crazy bitch…" Risa muttered, caressing her bruising throat.

Hearing her, Lee turned on her heels ready to pounce again, but this time everyone was ready. Castiel gabbed her arms, holding her back as both Dean and his future self blocked her path. Risa frantically scrambled backwards with a stretched and toothy grimace, immediately regretting her choice of words.

"Lee, stop it!" Future Dean said, locking eyes with her and raising his hands in peace, "This isn't you," he reasoned.

"You should be scolding her!" Lee cried, shaking free form Castiel's grip. She walked closer to future Dean. Her arms shook at her sides as she bit her lip to keep it from quivering. "Honestly, Winchester, you make me more pissed off than a damn bull at a rodeo! You always are so ready to scold me for unbelievable shit when all I've done is help you-"

"Lee I know…"

"You wouldn't even be here if I hadn't warned you when Sam…" Lee's voice faltered. She took a deep breath, "I'm just so tired and so done."

Dean watched from the sidelines. Castiel casted Lee a look of pity, and Risa frowned slightly at the sight before her. She looked up, feeling Dean's eyes on her, and ducked her head almost guiltily.

Future Dean held Lee at her shoulders, "Hey, hey, look I'm sorry. But we're gonna get through this, okay? We have the Colt, alright," Dean smiled gently and Lee nodded stiffly in reply. She shrugged his hands off and stalked out the door, bumping Dean's shoulder as she passed him. He sighed and turned his frown to the group, "We leave at midnight."

The moon had risen high in the sky and everyone was getting ready for the mission. Dean sat on a nearby supply crate, watching everyone load their weapons and moving like a well-oiled machine.

While everyone seemed to be focused on their duties, Dean couldn't help but notice the tension between Lee and the other Dean. Ever since the meeting earlier that night, they barely spoke a word to each other. Let alone look each other in the eye. Dean pondered a moment before joining Lee as she was fixing the engine on one of the trucks.

"Hey."

Lee looked up from her position over the engine and knitted her eyebrows, "Oh hi," She said, "Past Dean, right,"

"Yeah" Dean sighed and leaned against the truck, "Hey I wanted to tell you that I know about Sammy."

"I see," She replied, resuming her engine inspection, "Dean told you after the meeting?"

He nodded and let out an empty laugh, "I kind of get why you were so mad that night you guys found me,"

"The thing about Dean – or you actually – " Lee pulled upright to look him in the eye, "is that you know when you've made the wrong mistake. The issue with that is you have a hard time admitting it out loud and trying to fix it."

"Excuse me," Dean frowned.

"Please, Dean," Lee rolled her eyes and slammed the hood shut, "Leaving Sam, letting him go out there by himself, that was one of the biggest mistakes of your life. It doesn't even come close to jumpstarting the apocalypse. He's your brother, and you should have been there!"

"You know what, it takes two to tango!" Dean argued. He expected Lee to let loose another remark, but she merely stood calmly before him.

"But deep down you know you made a mistake, you just can't take it," She said and poked him in the shoulder. Lee slung her gun over her shoulder and stored her knife safely into her boot, "I know Dean wants you to say yes when you go back, and I know he's been telling you that. My advice? If you don't want to do that, then find Sam. Fix this mistake and don't let him give in to Luficer."

She started to walk away but Dean reach out and grabbed her arm. "Why? What if he doesn't want to stick around anymore?" Dean felt his voice shake and coughed it back to normal, "I don't know what to do,"

"You'll know sweet pea," Lee soothed, patting the hand still on her arm, "Your love for each other is so strong that I know, as a team, y'all can find a way to stop this madness. Just find Sam." Dean nodded and gave a small half-smile.

A couple yards away the other Dean hollered out to start hitting the road, "We leave in five, people!" Lee smirked as she left for the lead car. Dean went to find his own ride with Castiel. He had considered the slight possibility of saying yes since talking with Dean, but Lee's words gave him hope he could do the right thing. Or at least what he thought was the right thing.

After a few hours they reached the abandoned sanitarium where Lucifer was supposed to be holed up. Everyone was gathered around as future Dean drew out the game plan in the dirt.

"We're gonna climb on up to that second story window, it's not that far off the ground. It's the perfect spot, "He concluded, braking the stick in two.

"You sure about this?" Risa shot an anxious look toward the looming building ahead. Dean could help but think that it all seemed too easy. Too quiet, too empty.

"They'll never see us coming." Future Dean assured, "You all got five minutes so weapons check and we roll out."

Lee pursed her lips, letting her eyes linger on him for a moment before inspecting her gun. Dean took note and pulled the other Dean off to the side.

"Tell me what's going on."

"What?" He said, blinking innocence.

"I know you're lying, I've seen those lying expressions in the mirror!" Dean felt his face grow hot as future Dean laughed off the accusations, "Well I don't seem to be the only one questioning this plan. Even Lee looked doubtful."

The laughter stopped and future Dean's face hardened, "Look around you man. This place should be white hot with Croats, but it's all empty!" He motioned with his hands to the vast space.

"It's a trap…" Dean realized, "Then we can't go through the front!"

"They are, we aren't. We're going through the back while the others act as decoys."

Dean took a step back, "You mean you're gonna feed your friends into a meat grinder? Cas, too? Even Lee! You want to use their deaths as a diversion!"

Future Dean looked away and the muscles danced along his jaw, "Lee's coming with us. She's good back up… Especially in case things get sticky and we need someone to throw them off…"

"Oh, man, something is broken in you. You're making decisions that I would never make. I wouldn't sacrifice my friends." Dean muttered icily.

"You're right! Which is why we're in the mess we are!" Future Dean shot back, "These people are trusting me to kill the devil, save the world. And that's exactly what I plan to do."

"No," Dean shook his head, "This is wrong and you know it. I'm not gonna let you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

The world was black and echoes of gunfire and shouting pulled Dean to consciousness. Sharp slices of pain ripped across his jaw from where future Dean had slugged him.

More gunfire sounded and Dean ran towards it. Thunder and lighting crash overhead as he rounds a corner to find himself in a decimated garden. Dean's heart lurched in his chest: he saw himself flat on the ground with a foot to his throat. The Colt abandoned on the floor.

From the floor, future Dean opens his eyes and sees him. His eyes lock onto Dean begging him to say yes to Michael, but his eyes widened and focused on something behind him. His lips parted, mouthing something he couldn't read.

Crack!

The deafening sound was drowned out by a shrilling cry from behind Dean. Lee ran past Dean towards the limp body and fell to her knees. "Lee wait!" And he ran up with her. He crouched beside Lee as she cradled Dean's head in her lap, sobbing into her hands. Lee reached out shaky hands to close future Dean's lifeless eyes.

"You stupid son of a…" She whispered waterly, "Why did you cuff me to the truck?" Lee looked up and took in a sharp breath, "I should have been there for him…"

Dean found it difficult to swallow and he fought the urge join Lee as she continued her cries of anguish. There was nothing he could say or do to make the situation better, and he knew that.

"Oh. Hello Dean" They jumped at the sound of the third voice. Dean felt the world melt away as he looked up to see the owner of the foot to be his own brother.

"Sammy?" Dean breathed.

"Aw, Dean, I know you know it's me," He clucked, picking at some nonexistent lint on his pure white suit.

"Lucifer!" Lee choked out between gasps of air.

Lucifer folded his hands neatly and looked down his at her, "Lee," he smiled, "Enjoying yourself?"

Dean felt his own hand twitch to find his gun but Lee beat to the punch. The barrel was aimed for Lucifer's head and shaking from her shallow, rapid breathing. Lucifer snapped his fingers and Lee's eyes widened at her now empty hands.

"Ah-ah!" Lucifer chided and the corners of his mouth twitched up, "But don't worry, you'll be reunited soon enough."

Lee clenched her hands around a tuft of grass and narrowed her eyes, "When I say go, run!" She whispered to Dean as Lucifer stepped forward, raising a hand.

"What-"

"Run!"

Dirt puffed up around Dean as Lee shouldered him to the side. He froze and stared with wide eyes as Lucifer posed ready to land a deadly blow, but his triumphant laugh was cut short as Lee's hand shot up to grab him. Lucifer gritted his teeth and pulled his arm in vain while her grip tightened around his wrist.

"How?" He gasped. "Heaven's powers are gone! It's closed off!"

Steam and a glowing, red vein emanated from Lee's hand and up Lucifer's arm. It grew rapidly, stretching up until it faltered and started to flicker like a dying light

"Dean, I said run," Lee cried, wrinkling her face in pain, "I can't hold him much longer…" But he remained entranced by Lucifer's struggle, "DEAN!"

The last shriek jolted Dean awake. He scrambled backwards trying to find a grip and run. Lucifer let out a shout of rage followed shortly by a wave of hot air that blew across the garden and knocked Dean to the ground. He coughed out dirt and choked when he looked behind him.

Lee was slumped on the ground and Lucifer was gone. Her arm bent at an odd angle and the ground around her was etched with burn marks and stained red as blood poured from a chest wound.

Dean was rooted to the floor, frozen in time as a wave of panic rushed over him. He tried wishing the image of the murderous scene away but the longer he looked the more permanent it became.

"Such a pity, really," A voice spoke behind Dean. His heart skipped as he turned and saw Lucifer grinning down on him, "You were such a fine warrior, and Lee… well she really was something special. But so befitting that they should end like this. Together."

Dean felt anger bubble up inside feeling like a hot iron, but as soon as it was there it left. His body grew cold and he did a double take between Lucifer and the garden where Lee and Dean laid dead.

"Wait – you're saying…"

"Yes, yes," Lucifer waved with closed eyes, dismissing the topic, "Not really the observant one are we Dean?"

Dean clenched his eyes shut with connections forming. He blinked wide open to see Lucifer staring at him in a curious manner as Dean finally realized why Lee was so distraught, "So Lee… and I..?"

"No." Lucifer corrected, "Lee and that Dean, right over there, shared something profound. You? Only time will tell. Minor details change all the time, but the big picture will always stay the same."

Dean remained silent, but Lucifer continued to ramble on, "I say staying apart wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean, that Dean convinced her to become something she never thought she'd be in a million years – you saw what was happening as she tried to stop me. That wasn't normal. I may be the devil, but even I cringe at the sheer blind trust she had in him."

"Enough! Whatever you want just get it over with!" Dean was done beating around the bush. His arms shook as he took a step closer. He saw the evil glinting in Lucifer's eyes but all Dean could see was Sam, "Get it over with and kill me already!" Hot and salty tears threatened to spill out.

"Ooh that'd be a little redundant," Lucifer nodded to the lifeless bodies in the garden. He turned his focus back to Dean and sighed, "I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this – shape. But it had to be your brother. It had to be."

Dean flinched back from Lucifer's hand as he tried to pat his shoulder. Lucifer pouts in mock hurt, "You don't have to be afraid of me, Dean. What do you think I'm going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe deep-fry the planet?" Dean quipped. Lucifer gently caressed a nearby rose before turning away, and Dean saw his opportunity to get away. Every fiber in him was screaming to run, but his legs remained still.

"Why would I want to destroy this stunning thing? Beautiful in a trillion different ways. The last perfect handiwork of God." Lucifer spun on his heels and pointed to Dean, "You ever hear the story of how I fell from grace?"

"Oh, good God, you're not gonna tell me a bedtime story, are you? My stomach's almost out of bile!" Dean grimaced at the sour taste in his mouth.

"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created…" Lucifer smirked and narrowed his eyes before continuing, "You. The little…hairless apes. And then he asked us all to bow down before you – to love you, more than him!" He breathed in shocked awe, "I refused, saying that humans are flawed and murderous, and that is when God had Michael cast me into hell. Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially when I was right? Look at what six billion of you have done to this thing, and how many of you blame me for it."

"You're not fooling me, you know that," Dean laughed and shook his head, "With this sympathy-for-the-devil crap. I know what you are."

"What am I?"

"The same brand of cockroach I've been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap." Dean swallowed a burst of anger, "The only difference between them and you is the size of you ego."

"I like you Dean," Lucifer smiled and waggled a finger in his direction, "I get what the other angels see in you. Goodbye. We'll meet again soon." He turned away, waving his hand.

"You better kill me now!" Dean shouted and followed a few steps forward. Lucifer's hand stopped its motion.

"Pardon?"

"You better kill me now. Or I swear, I will find a way to kill you. And I won't stop." Dean reassured trying to keep his voice steely calm.

"I know you won't. I know you won't say yes to Michael either," Lucifer said, unfazed by Dean's angry threats, "And I know you won't kill Sam. Whatever you so, you will always end up here. Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up here. I win."

"You're wrong." Dean answered defiantly.

Lucifer looked at him, daring him to try, "See you in five years, Dean." And with a crack of thunder and lightning, Lucifer was gone.

Dean turned around coming face-to-face with Zachariah reaching for his forehead with two fingers.

It was early morning the next day and Dean was near an old rusted bring waiting for Sam to arrive. He leaned impatiently against the Impala trying to tune his ears for an approaching engine. After Castiel had pulled him away from Zachariah, Dean decided to head Lee's advice and call his brother.

Dean thought back to what Lucifer had told him about her. How she was different and that he was to blame, "He was lying," He muttered to himself, "She's friggin' blessed anyways, it couldn't have been my doing."

An engine roared in the distance and a car pulled up next to Dean, pulling him from his thoughts. Sam stepped out and they walked towards each other.

"Sam." Dean pulls out the demon knife, handing it to Sam handle first, "If you're serious and you want back in, you should hand on to this. I'm sure you're rusty." Sam grabs it without looking up and Dean struggled to form an apology, "Look man, I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm…whatever I need to be. But I was, uh – wrong."

"What made you change you mind?" Sam asked, finally looking up and seeing Dean struggle to find the right answer.

"Long story," He waved off, "The point is, maybe we are each other's Achilles heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other. I don't know. I just know we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human."

"Thank you, really," Sam felt his voice threaten to break, "Thank you. I won't let you down."

"Oh I know it. I mean, you are the second best hunter on the planet." Sam nodded in reply.

"So, what do we do now?"

Dean walked over and opened the door to the Impala, "We make our own future," He said and slid into the driver's seat.

Sam followed in suit, sliding into the car next to his brother, "Guess we have no choice."