CHAPTER EIGHT

"What does old Luci have against Lawrence, Kansas?" Dean scoffed, turning to face Castiel.

Castiel furrowed his brows then shook his head, "No, the birthplace of your bloodline. We must stop him. If he succeeds, he will become unstoppable. He won't require a vessel to kill Michael."

Sam and Dean shared a look of worry before Dean chuckled dryly, "Well, I hate to say that you'll be going solo to prom, Sammy."

Sam rolled his eyes then asked the angel, "Where exactly is this birthplace?"

"After the great flood that once cleansed the world of sinners, your ancestors settled at the base of what is now known as Mount Ararat." Explained Castiel as he walked closer to the brothers. "The ship that had saved them was constructed with the wood from a special tree that is now extinct."

"What's so special about a stupid stick?" Dean asked, rolling his eyes.

Castiel glared at him, "The 'stupid stick', referred to as 'gopher wood' in the Bible, was chosen by my father to protect these chosen humans from drowning. The chosen leader constructed a massive ship with the wood from these trees and only those within the ark survived -"

"Wait, 'ark'?" Sam repeated, "You're not talking about Noah's Ark, are you?"

"I thought that was a bedtime story," Dean chuckled, grinning up at Sam.

"I am, Sam." Castiel nodded. "We must leave immediately -"

Dean held up his hands before the tips of Castiel's pointer fingers could touch his and Sam's foreheads, "Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold your horses. Where the hell is this Mount Ararat?"

"It's on the border of Iran, Armenia, and Nakchivan." Sam answered before Castiel could open his mouth.

Dean frowned up at Sam then looked at Castiel, "I didn't pass Geography like this one did," he indicated Sam with his thumb. "But, even I know that's on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Are you serious, Cas?"

"Do we have to do something with the gopher wood, assuming we find it since you said it's extinct?" Sam asked Castiel immediately after Dean was done talking.

Castiel met Sam's hazel eyes, "We will construct a sword from the ark itself and we will drive it through the devil's heart."

The sun was rising over Mount Ararat. Two middle-aged, billionaire hikers were the only apparent guests at the snow-capped campsite not too far from where the almighty ship was said to have been buried over the centuries of changing landscapes. Once the couple rounded a corner and vanished, Castiel contracted his wings and revealed both himself, Dean, and Sam - appearing out of thin air. Dean was sleeping beside his brother. Castiel paced in a circle around the unconscious brothers, whispering an ancient chant underneath his breath.

The angel saw that Dean's eyes were moving rapidly beneath his eyelids and decided to kneel beside the man, trying to make sense of the phenomenon. Little did Castiel know, Dean was having a hell of a nightmare. In his dream, Dean was diving into the deepest depths of the ocean. His lungs were close to bursting from lack of oxygen. But, Dean kept plugging his hands downward towards a dark shape sinking fast below him.

The sunlight broke through the surface of the water and illuminated who Dean was risking drowning to save ... it was Sam. With a touch of Castiel's fingertips, the brothers awoke simultaneously. Sam remained on the ground while Dean sat bolt upright, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his hand.

"Didn't think to bring a tent?" Sam grunted up at Castiel as he heaved himself up to his booted feet.

Sam extended a hand down for Dean to take. Dean blinked up at his brother and Sam could see that Dean's green eyes were reddened.

"What's going on with you?" Sam asked, furrowing his soft brows with concern.

Dean shook his head and got himself to his feet without Sam's help, "So, this is the place? Old Noah picked a great parking spot. Tell him 'thanks' from both of us, Cas."

Sam watched Dean apprehensively. He knew that Dean hated traveling via angel-teleportation. But, something in his older brother's eyes told Sam that something was off. Dean was avoiding looking directly into Sam's eyes and Sam could see sadness etched in the age lines of his brother's face.

"We must walk from here," Castiel ignored Dean's rudeness. "Remove your shoes."

Sam and Dean glanced from their hiking boots to each other to Cas, saying harmoniously, "Hell no!"

Castiel looked at them sternly, "From here on out we are on holy ground. We must show respect -"
"I'd rather keep my feet, thanks." snapped Dean, circling around Castiel but not before bumping his shoulder against the angel's. He grumbled under his breath, "Crazy, stupid son-of-a-bitch."

Sam hung behind and sighed down at the glare Castiel was giving him, "We both have things to apologize to each other for."

"I don't apologize to demons," Castiel growled.

Sam gulped, wondering if Castiel could sense his growing powers, "I am not what you think I am. Castiel, you know better than I do that I did not invite Azazel to bleed into my mouth. How can you blame me for that?"

Castiel took a step forward while Dean looked on from a few ten feet beyond them, "If you had a soul, you'd have assassinated yourself the first chance you were given. You are an abomination of nature, Sam Winchester."

Sam's hazel eyes seemed to grow wider, pleading for the angel to understand. "If this is how you feel, why don't you smite me right now? That'll solve everything."

"Because you are the one to stop Satan," Castiel said quickly. "It must be done by his vessel alone."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Sam said eagerly. "Maybe, I'll earn your trust back after -"

Castiel's eyes actually seemed to show some empathy, "There won't be an 'after', Sam. Your ... 'powers' won't save you this time."

Sam tilted his head, aware of Dean returning to them in his peripheral vision.

He nodded, "I understand. Can I make a dying wish?" Castiel remained silent so Sam plunged on before Dean would be within earshot, "Please, don't tell him. Don't tell Dean."

Sam followed behind Dean and Castiel. He kept glancing from his shoes to Dean's back. A few times, Dean caught Sam's glance and Sam would quickly look away. Sam once tried to smile at Dean but his facial muscles failed to act fast enough. He pulled his sleeve back and decided to practice while walking behind them. Sam wished he had more time to master control over his abilities. But, it was now or never and Dean, not to mention the world, depended on them.

"Please, Dean ... don't hate me." Sam whimpered under his breath as his arm ached because of the black veins moving over his muscles.

Sam aimed his hand at a smooth pebble, finding solace that at least it didn't hurt so bad to position his trembling arm and that he could focus his curse into one part of his body rather than being too weak to stop it from flooding his entire body. The pebble immediately rose into the air and zoomed into his hand. Sam closed his eyes and breathed deeply once. He peaked one eye open when his arm miraculously stopped aching and gasped with a smile that his hand had returned to normal so quickly. Perhaps, if Sam could continue to progress and grow stronger, he won't have to die killing Lucifer.

"What're you smilin' about?" asked Dean, frowning over his shoulder at Sam.

Sam closed his fist over the pebble and stuffed it in his coat pocket, "Nothing. You know, I'm just kind of ... excited to see the Ark?"

Dean looked at Sam a little too long, telling Sam that he had completely failed in tricking Dean, "Sure, Sammy. Sure."

Sam felt ashamed for needing to lie to Dean even though he believed it was necessary if he wanted Dean to still love his little brother. Dean had locked Sam in the Panic Room out of love, sure. But, what would his brother say if he found out that Sam was continuing his powers even without drinking a demon's blood. Sam was too afraid to find out after getting a taste of Dean's fury and despair. Sam then realized that all he wanted before he would die was for Dean to have faith in him even for just a little while.

Sam grinned when he overheard Dean say to Cas, "Shut-up, traitor."

Dean stopped in his tracks to let Sam catch up to him. When Cas turned to see why Dean wasn't by his side, Dean shooed him on with a wave of a hand. Sam felt a little bit of solace in this gesture that Dean was more loyal to his brother, whom had betrayed him too many times, than the two-faced angel.

Dean looked up at Sam, "Damn it, stop being taller than me, sasquatch."

Sam laughed, furrowing his brows at the strangeness of the feeling. The corners of Dean's lips twitch like he was going to pull them into a smile and it saddened Sam that it seemed like his older brother had long forgotten how to grin.

Dean noticed Sam watching Cas leading them through the snow, "Listen, Sammy. When this is all over, no more Cas. Ya' hear? I mean it. No more angel business. It'll be you and me against the world again."

Sam fought against the urge to tell Dean that there was no future for his little brother anymore.

Sam may be on his way back to the 'sasquatch' that Dean had 'lovingly' called him. But, he felt extremely out of shape and was lagging.

Dean noticed this and called up to Cas, "Why didn't you just God-beam us right up to the stupid boat?"

Sam wondered if Cas could see through this impenetrable fog. His head felt a little light and he felt nauseous. Dean coughed every now and then. Both brothers had their arms wrapped around their chests to keep warm. This made their gate very wobbly. Sam's curtains of brown hair slapped his face and whipped his ears with water frozen to the tips.

"It can only be accessed on foot!" Cas called over his shoulder. "It does not matter because we're here!"

Cas stopped and Sam fell to his trembling knees, bringing Dean down with him. While Sam panted where he knelt, Dean patted him roughly on his broad shoulders. The low-hanging clouds cleared and they all stared up at the mass of earth and wood protruding out of the pearly white snow. Sam guessed that more than half of the boat must be buried in the mountain rock for it was only a little over twenty feet high. But, the length must have been over four-hundred feet long.

Dean joked in Sam's ear, "Still don't make a believer out of me." Sam chuckled which triggered an exhaustion-coughing-fit. Dean clapped Sam's back harder but didn't seem too concerned about Sam's wretches, "Another thing we'll do after all this is hit the gym, little brother. Remember you used to brag that you could bench me?"

Sam smiled at Dean while his eyes watered at the pain of his scratchy throat. They watched Cas fly up to the top of the fossilized wood and kneel down to touch the ancient ship. Sam heaved himself to his feet with Dean's hands lifting one of Sam's arms. The brothers watched the angel close his blue eyes and flatten both of his hands on the wood. They waited a few minutes for Cas to explain what he was doing but, unfortunately, Dean's patience was not quite as long as his brother's.

"If you wanna be alone with this thing," Dean called up to Cas, "Just let us know before you start kissing it!"

Cas didn't react in the way Sam had predicted, "It must not be dismantled by a soldier of God."

"You got that from feeling it up?" Dean asked sarcastically.

Cas looked down at Dean while straightening up, "It must be done by the vessel of an archangel."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Isn't there a loop hole? How the hell am I supposed to rip out a chunk of that? It's hard as rock!"

Cas disappeared and reappeared directly in front of Sam, "You won't, Dean."

Dean glanced between the angel and his brother and shook his head fervently, "You're kidding me, right? The kid can barely stand steady!"

"I'm fine, Dean." Sam lied in a whisper, not breaking eye contact with Cas.

Dean staggered over to them in the deep snow, "Sam, listen to me. You're not strong enough. Cas'll do it!"

"It won't work if I do it," said Cas through gritted teeth, glaring up at Sam. "It must be done by the unwilling vessel."

Sam turned to Dean, "Let's just get this over with. I'm freezing my ass off up here."

Dean raised his hands up, palms forward, "Fine. Try. Cas, you'll see it's impossible. Not to be a downer, but, I'll just stand over here and think of more practical ways to smear the devil."

Dean crossed his arms over his chest but the look he was giving Sam wasn't angry. He was concerned about Sam overexerting himself again.

Sam gave him a small smile, "I'll be back in a sec'."

Dean watched Sam and Cas trudge up the steep hill of rock and snow up to the hardened wood, hoping that Cas could zap them to a hospital should Sam pass-out again. Sam felt the wood. It was so smooth, such a contrast to its rugged appearance, like sea glass. He pressed his fingers against it to test how thick it was.

"It has been hardened over the centuries," Cas told Sam. "This is where your curse can come in handy."

"How?" Sam scoffed, "I can only lift stuff."

Cas glanced over his shoulder down at Dean before watching Sam examine the Ark, "Only that?"

"Yeah, it's not like I now spend my free time getting drinks with demons and monsters, Cas. Well, at least not knowingly." Sam retorted, giving a plank of wood an experimental tug.

Dean high-stepped closer to them, watching Sam like a hawk.

Sam tugged again on the plank and groaned in frustration, "I can't do it with Dean watching."

"You're going to have to sever your ties to your brother to save this world," said Cas sternly. "There is no other way. You need to stop feeling."

Sam glared at Cas, "Now you've asked too much. I'll find a way without them."

Sam yanked and jerked on the wood, cutting up his hands in the process. After a few minutes of fruitless pulling, he dropped to his knees, "Cas, please, help me. I can't do it."

Cas knelt down beside Sam and, after glancing at Dean, placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, "An ordinary man cannot, Sam Winchester. Embrace what you really are."

Sam squinted down at Cas as he heaved himself back to his feet, "I'm not a 'what', Cas. I'm human. Don't forget that."

After Sam looked at Dean one more time, his eyes went black as he turned his back on his older brother. With vibrating hands, Sam hid his fingers beneath them so that Dean would not be able to see the black veins. He whimpered as the agonizing ache filled his entire body. Sam gripped the plank of wood and could feel his arm muscles expanding painfully. This long legs punched his boots into the stony ground and Sam fought against the temptation to cry out. Sam hoped he did not break a toe.

His muscles were betraying him, expanding and constricting his bones. Cast took a step forward to hide Sam as much as he could from Dean. Perhaps he was realizing how Sam truly felt about his curse. Sam glared his black eyes at the stubborn plank, grinding his teeth together as he leaned backwards. Dean rushed forward when he heard a loud crack coming from Sam's chest who could not help but yell at the pain. One of Sam's ribs had been squeezed so tightly by his demonized muscles that it broke.

Cas held up a hand to stop Dean, "Stand back, Dean."

"What was that noise?" Dean demanded, assuming Sam was trembling violently because of the cold.

He could not see Sam's black eyes or protruding veins.

Cas lied, "Your brother will be fine. Stay back."

Sam could barely hear Dean arguing with the angel over the sound of the blackened blood pumping through his body. It was amplified in his ears, deafening him to almost everything else once again. After he leaned back one more time, the plank finally broke free and Sam felt an excruciating pain in his lower back. The plank of wood, about five feet long and six inches thick, slid down the snowy bank while Sam's legs buckled underneath him.

"SAM!" Dean roared, scrambling up the bank to where Sam was hunched over on the ground.

Sam's eyes were warm again and he watched the last shadow of his blackened veins fade away. Dean placed a hand on Sam's shoulder, "You okay, man?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded while panting. "I think I threw my back out or something."

Dean laughed humorlessly, "Well, we're gettin' old. Aren't we?"

Sam's throat was too dry to let him laugh so he just smiled up at Dean. Cas watched Dean dote over his little brother. Humans were such strange creatures to him.

Dean twisted around to look up at Cas, "Well, that was unnecessarily dramatic! Where to now, Judas?"

"Alright, geek, how the hell are you planning to carve that with your bare hands?" Dean asked as he plopped down on the gravel floor of the dead forest.

Once they were beyond the distance that Cas wanted from the Ark, the angel had taken them to this nearby wood with the heavy plank torn by Sam from the historic ship. Dean watched Sam analyze that stupid log he nearly killed himself trying to yank out. Cas was standing behind them with his back to them, watching the grey clouds swell and darken above. Dean furrowed his brows when he noticed something strange about his little brother ... he wasn't little anymore.

Sam's face had a healthy albeit dim glow in his skin. His hands did not appear as boney as they had been mere hours ago. Dean saw that his brother's pectoral muscles were distending beneath Sam's shirt. His flopping brown hair didn't have a dull finish to it anymore. When was the last time the kid had taken a shower anyway?

Dean hoped it wasn't wishful thinking, hallucinating what was true. But, this was the best he has seen his brother look in too long. Aesthetically, Sam did appear to be in better health. But, Dean's heart sank when he saw how gingerly Sam was moving his body as though trying very hard not to move his torso.

Sam sighed, "I dunno, Dean. I really don't. How can I make this dull thing into a sharp blade?"

Cas gazed over his shoulder at Sam's back, "It is said that the vessel must 'find the weapon within the material'."

Sam glanced up at Cas then raised his eyebrows at Dean, "I feel like a kid who didn't study for a test and has a teacher breathing down his neck."

Dean gave a small smile, "I feel you, buddy."

Sam chuckled a shivering exhale, his breath curling before his pinked nose like cigarette smoke. It hurt terribly to breathe. He gripped one side of the gopher wood and pressed his fingers as hard as he could into it. The wood was like putty in his hands because his super-charged muscles had gone haywire in that split second. Sam grunted and gasped at the pain in his side.

His muscles around his chest contracted heavily, constricting the broken rib. Dean blinked disbelievingly. He knew it was impossible. Maybe the subzero temperature was messing with his brain ... or maybe he was finally paying for all the head related trauma he had endured throughout his life as a hunter. But, Dean could have sworn that he had seen something black pulsate all over Sam's large hands. What choked his throat from questioning what he had just witnessed was that he had also seen something even more strange than black veins ... there had been a small light blue spark that had ran up each of the black veins protruding beneath the skin of Sam's long fingers.

Sam was so lost in the agony reverberating from his ribs that he had not noticed this new development.

"Sammy?" Dean whispered, watching Sam scrunch his face up in agony.

Sam gasped breathlessly, "I'm fine, Dean."

Dean placed a hand gently on Sam's breastbone and his little brother hissed at Dean's touch, sinking back from his brother's helping hand.

"Like hell," Dean beckoned Cas over with a wave of his hand, "Never thought you'd be useful again but Sam needs Dr. Angel to fix him up."

Cas frowned sadly at Dean who returned that pitiful gaze with a scowl. With great effort, Sam twisted on the spot to see Cas's crystal blue eyes. Sam knew with a painful ache in his stomach that the angel could not help him. Sam was no longer human and, judging by what Cas had said about Sam's metaphysical interference on the highway, his curse gave him strengths that surpassed those that the angel possessed. Sam sighed and cringed at the nauseating stitch that had erupted as a result on his side.

"It's just a sore, Dean." Sam insisted, placing a hand on Dean's shoulder. "I have a higher threshold than you give me credit for."

Sam's hazel eyes nearly welled up at the mere thought of never seeing his brother again. The memories of losing Dean so many times just severed the strings of his heart. Sam didn't fear death, only being left behind and leaving people behind.

Dean met Sam's gaze and nodded reluctantly, "You always were a stubborn ass."

"I wonder where I learned it from," Sam gave Dean another small smile and patted his older brother's shoulder.

Dean clapped Sam on his lower back and Sam choked his pain-induced grunt in his throat, "What are you making, a cane?"

Sam blinked down at the wood from the Ark and saw that something had materialized there miraculously. There was a staff about as long as Dean's body lying in the ashes of the gopher wood.

"A cane for what? A giant?" Sam whispered to Dean as they both leaned in to inspect the unimpressive 'weapon'.

"Hard to believe there are people bigger than you," teased Dean who clapped Sam on the knee.

Cas rushed forward and knelt beside Sam, "How did you carve this? It was not this long -"

Sam shook his head, "I can't explain either one. All I did was break it."

"Well, will it still work?" Dean demanded impatiently. "Sam barely put a dent in it and now it's all fancy-like and raring to go!"

Sam slowly lowered his hand towards the staff, "He said that I'd have to 'find' it 'in the material', Dean."

"I guess this fits the criteria," Dean scoffed, squinting at it.

He held his breath as Sam wrapped his big hand around the staff and lifted it up off the gravel forest floor. The threatening storm clouds curling above them were darkening the earth below, drowning them all in its daunting shadow. The two brothers exhaled in relief that the long stick had not done anything out of the ordinary. Or perhaps this should concern them.

Dean helped lift Sam back to his feet, unable to ignore how much heavier his little brother had abruptly become. Sam could not explain the alarming change in his condition to Dean even if he told him about Lana unleashing his once-caged powers. One of his guesses was that gaining control over his abilities was strengthening his body elsewhere as well. Dean estimated that Sam was close to two-hundred pounds again judging by how much effort he now needed to lift him. Sam swayed on his feet for a moment then steadied himself with the staff.

Dean forced a playful grin while watching Sam inspect the wooden pole that was a tad taller than he was, "Don't ask how I know this, but you look like Gandalf."

Sam tore his gaze from the staff to look down at Dean, "You're just as much of a geek as I am, dude. It's about time you've accepted it."

Contrary to his stab at humor, the last thing Sam felt like doing was laughing. His heart was so heavy with thoughts of leaving Dean forever that he didn't have a single happy thought. Dean sensed a disturbing feeling of distance while looking up into Sam's eyes. Sam was breathing shallowly, wondering why Yellow-Eyes had not included super-healing abilities in Sam's demonic arsenal.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Whatever. You're still the biggest one." He turned to Cas whose eyes were fixed on the staff in Sam's hands, "What's next on your damn list of errands?"

Cas broke his stare to look at Dean, "Now we spread out and wait."

"You know, we do have a piñata for you to practice whacking that thing on," Dean said to Sam, gesturing with his thumb pointing back at Cas.

Sam looked back at Cas and shook his head, "That's okay."

"You sure? I bet it's cathartic," Dean smirked. "Well, I'd do it if I were you."

"There are lots of things that you'd do which I wouldn't touch with this pole," Sam joked humorlessly.

Dean said seriously, "Then there are times we'd pawn our lives to take each other's places."

Sam tilted his head sadly, "Dean, I have to face Lucifer alone."

"Why? Because of what that traitorous son-of-a-bitch said?" growled Dean. "Screw Cas and his stupid rules! He'll have to kill me to keep me away from your side."

Sam didn't have the energy to argue back, "Well, it is you and me against the world."

"And that's how I choose to go out, Sammy." said Dean quietly. "It's my choice and you're dumb to think there is another for me."

Sam sighed, "Dean, sorry to bring this up ... but, if -"

"If what?" Dean asked skeptically with a mild lip curl.

Sam felt like he was shrinking beneath his brother's gaze, "If I die -"

"You won't," interrupted Dean flatly.

Sam watched his brother walk a few yards away and finished under his breath, "It's not your fault."

Dean stopped at the edge of the cliff and dropped to his knees. Sam saw that his shoulders were trembling and decided against going over to try to comfort Dean. While making frequent glances over his shoulder, Sam put about fifty feet between him and his brother before he felt it was safe to practice. He had no choice but to try to get a grip on them without having something to eat first. His stomach was positively roaring.

If he tried to distend his belly, air bubbles would start popping in his stomach. Sam leaned the wooden staff against the trunk of a charred tree and, after taking about ten steps backwards, extended a hand towards it. Dean hung his legs over the edge of the cliff, wishing he had no responsibilities to live for so that he'd not feel guilty about 'accidentally' slipping off this ledge. Suddenly, the ground beneath him quaked so roughly that he bounced up and down twice. All the hairs on Dean's body were straightening up and his hands were clutching the sharp gravel.

He was breathing shallowly, "Careful what you wish for." Dean looked over his shoulder at the place where he had left Sam. "Sam!"

There was no answer. Dean frowned and got to his feet, finding that his legs were trembling from nearly swan diving off the edge of this cliff. But, what he saw on the ground nearly sent him retreating over the cliff. There was a massive indentation in the stones that he definitely would have noticed before. It was over fifty feet wide and about six feet deep in the solid granite of Mount Ararat.

"Sam!" Dean yelled out for his brother as he approached the giant... animal print.

Without warning, he was engulfed in a blinding glare of light. Dean staggered a little and barely kept himself from tottering off the edge of the cliff. An incessant ringing sound erupted in his ears and Dean dropped to the ground, clapping his dirty hands over his ears. It was similar to the first time he heard Castiel's real 'voice' in the abandoned gas station over a year ago when he was rescued from Hell. Only this one was much more powerful and he could feel hot blood pooling in the cavities of his ears.

The ground trembled again and Dean heard a baritone voice as though it was inside his head, "Goodbye, the Michael Sword."

The ground beneath Dean's feet vanished as the ground quaked again. After a moment, Dean wondered if he had already reached maximum velocity because he could no longer feel the stinging cold air slicing through his hair and rippling his inadequate clothes. Dean opened his eyes and saw that he was suspended before the cliff face just ten feet below the ledge. Before he could start to look for what had broken his fall ... he began to rise upward.

"What the hell?" Dean swore but once he was floating above the ledge of the cliff he saw something even more unbelievable than Lucifer's true form. "Sam?"

Sam was staggering toward him with his arm outstretched like he was offering his hand. After closer inspection, Dean noticed that Sam's elbow was completely snapped ... and that his brother's eyes were entirely black. But, there was something strange pulsating in the center of those black eyes. It was like a flickering blue flame struggling to grow in the suffocating darkness.

"Sammy?" Dean whispered, feeling like an invisible boa was coiling around his entire body.

If his body were entirely in his control, Sam would have been crying hysterically over the agony of this broken arm. His bicep was pointed towards Dean but his forearm was dangling downward. He had summoned his strength so suddenly that his arm muscles snapped his elbow. His eyes were cold but there was a new feeling of warmth growing inside of them. Sam could see Dean reacting to this unceremonious and nonverbal confession.

Dean tilted his head and squinted closer at the pulsating blue flame in Sam's black eyes ... it was Sam's soul. He knew it had to be his little brother's spirit battling for control over his demonic curse. Dean realized that he had seen Sam's veins turn black when his brother had shattered the wood from the Ark. Not only that, but the flash of light blue through those veins had been Sam's soul fighting to reclaim dominance.

Dean nodded at his despairing little brother, "Come back to me, Sammy. Focus ... focus on me, kiddo. You can do this ... I believe in you!"

Suddenly, the blue flame flooded Sam's eyes and engulfed the black veins all over his face and body. His broken arm snapped erect again and Sam's body was flooded with warmth. His elbow had a reverberating tingling sensation like the ripples a drop of rain created on a lake. The blue glow lightened till it was nearly white but it did not blind Dean like Lucifer had.

Sam parted his lips, "Pick on someone your own size!"

Sam curled his fingers to his palm and Dean came rocketing into his little brother's broad chest. Dean clutched at Sam's coat and stared up into those shining white eyes.

Dean stuttered, "S-S-Sam? Is that you?" Sam pulled Dean in for a bone-crunching embrace and Dean gasped, "Yep, definitely you! Can't ... breathe!"

Sam set Dean back down on the ground and looked skyward at the 1,300-foot-tall outline of Lucifer. He was like a white shadow. Sam counted six massive heads with elongated necks and twelve looming wings, six on each side.

Dean looked up at Sam, "He's not quite your size, Sammy. For once, I think you've overestimated your giant-ness."

"Sweet mother of -" Sam croaked as his glowing veins and eyes faded back to normal.

"Metallica," Dean finished in a whisper for him.

Sam moved between Dean and the gargantuan creature assembling before them. He recalled Castiel claiming that his true form had similar dimensions to the Chrysler building. Lucifer was quite a bit larger, though it felt unnecessary to the brothers. The fallen archangel, devil, ruler of hell, was looming over a thousand feet above them. It completely escaped their notice that their eyes had not been burned-out like Pamela's had when she saw Castiel.

Lucifer had a single head which morphed between six faces in quick succession at the end of a graceful neck. Sam caught glances of a vicious wolf, a snarling black leopard, the gnashing teeth of a crocodile, the pincers of a hairy tarantula, the hooked beak of a vulture, and lastly the fangs of a King Cobra dripping with potent venom. Lucifer halted at this head, hissing throatily as he lowered his head down to the brothers. The devil's body was comparable to an Arabian stallion except for the lack of a flowing mane and that he had the twitching tail and the hooves of a bull. Dean remembered Zachariah telling them that the devil was aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of those that weren't burnt to a crisp.

Sam flung out his arms to hide Dean whom growled, "Dude, get off of me!"

"For once in your life, trust me!" Sam shot over his shoulder at Dean struggling behind him.

Dean felt something invisible plant his feet into the ground and he scowled up at the back of Sam's head, "Not fair!"

"You little fools," Lucifer hissed thunderously, "you should not have trusted that little angel on your shoulders. Castiel has been tragically misinformed ... no man can defeat me."

Sam glared into those vertical slits of the serpent's golden eyes, "If you touch my brother, I'll scalp you! I'll rip your black heart out!"

Lucifer slit his scaly lips apart and laughed darkly, "Someone's been hitting the gym."

Sam maintained his composure while Dean made another attempt to move in front of him even with his feet stuck to the gravel, "I'd return the compliment but your head is already as big as your waist!"

Sam's eyes glowed instantaneously with his split-second command and Lucifer chuckled again, "Pretty lights don't intimidate me, Sam. You're going to have to do better than that."

Sam felt the shard of the staff he had broken off and stowed in the inside pocket of his coat, "Let's dance."

Lucifer mutated into the snapping jaws of the black wolf and lunged at Sam who quickly wiped out the sharp gopher wood and hooked it in the lip of the demonic canine. A roar of pain exploded from the back of the devil's throat as he recoiled his head with Sam dangling from his slobbering gum. Dean fell backwards with his boots still planted on the ground, screaming Sam's name.

"SAM!" he wailed as he felt someone else kneel at his side. "Cas?"

Castiel placed one hand on the toe of Dean's boots, "It took longer than normal to reconstitute my vessel."

"He killed you?" Dean's feet flopped on the ground in freedom. He had taken his eyes of Sam for one moment and now both the devil and his brother had vanished. "Lucifer! He's here! He took Sam!"

"To the Black Sea," Castiel nodded as he helped lift Dean to his feet. "We must make haste." Dean grasped Castiel's shoulder and the angel shook his head, "I wish we were taught the forgiveness my Father expects of his most precious creation."

Dean nodded, "Hope you packed our swim shorts."

Sam's hands were slick with the saliva and black blood dripping from Lucifer's lip. He redoubled his grip and yelped when the blade of the Ark ripped further down. Lucifer was growling ferociously, snapping his teeth together, rearing and bucking to unsettle Sam.

"I can taste your fear, Samuel Winchester." sneered the devil. "I am inside of you, my child ... I am you!"

The shoreline surrounding the Black Sea was filling with potential casualties transfixed upon the titanic creature thrashing in the salty waves. Sam reached up and with a mighty tug he ripped a fang out with its root gushing blood. He was disturbed by how Lucifer did not react and decided to try ripping out the wooden stake pierced in the devil's curling lip.

Castiel and Dean pushed through the spectators pooling on the shoreline. Dean was clutching his father's journal to his chest and wadded out into the shallow water.

He flipped hungrily to the folded page and yelled aloud, "Exorcizo te, creatura aquæ, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nomine Jesu Christi, Filii ejus Domini nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti: ut fias aqua exorcizata ad effugandam omnem potestatem inimici, et ipsum inimicum eradicare et explantare valeas cum angelis suis apostaticis, per virtutem ejusdem Domini nostri Jesu Christ: qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos et sæculum per ignem!

Deus, qui ad salutem humani generis maxima quæque sacramenta in aquarum substantia condidisti: adesto propitius invocationibus nostris, et elemento huic, multimodis purificationibus præparato, virtutem tuæ benedictionis infunde; ut creatura tua, mysteriis tuis serviens, ad abigendos dæmones morbosque pellendos divinæ gratiæ sumat effectum; ut quidquid in domibus vel in locis fidelium hæc unda resperserit careat omni immunditia, liberetur a noxa. Non illic resideat spiritus pestilens, non aura corrumpens: discedant omnes insidiæ latentis inimici; et si quid est quod aut incolumitati habitantium invidet aut quieti, aspersione hujus aquæ effugiat: ut salubritas, per invocationem sancti tui nominis expetita, ab omnibus sit impugnationibus defensa! Per Dominum, amen!"

Sam heard his brother's voice over Lucifer's taunts and smiled as steam rose around Lucifer, "Holy water. You're a genius, Dean."

Lucifer wheezed in the agony of the boiling sea, "That's the best of what the greatest hunters in all of history can come up with? A hot tub?"

Sam's muscles were straining painfully to maintain his slippery grip on the wooden blade, "Some like it hot, you son-of-a-bitch!"

Sam yanked out the blade and, as he tumbled through the air, he threw it with all his remaining strength towards Lucifer's barrel chest. The blade sliced through his coat like there was nothing there and struck at the devil's heart. Dean dove into the water when he saw his little brother fall. Lucifer reared up and fanned out his six pairs of wings. He flapped them uselessly as he sank beneath the water.

Sam gazed one more time up at the sun bursting through the agitated clouds, "Take care of my brother for me."

The last thing Sam heard was his brother's voice crying out his name before his body collided with the merciless waves.