Dean doesn't remember running to the edge of the crater. He doesn't even remember leaving the car- or driving here, for that matter. All he knows is that the omens they followed led them here.

Dean's only thought the whole drive up had been - whatever shape Sam's in, we'll deal with it. It hadn't occurred to Dean that Sam wouldn't be here.

"What in the Hell?" Bobby says from behind him. Dean looks up and sees what Bobby sees. Above them, heading right for them is a huge swirling mass of black demon smoke. They hadn't noticed it at first because there were such heavy storm clouds. Now that he's looking straight up at it though, he can see the black shot through with purple electricity.

The smoke is moving down towards them, and just as Dean's brain tells him he should be moving out of the way, the demon-cloud goes right past him and disappears in the middle of the crater. Dean and Bobby watch the cloud go past for several minutes before Bobby says again, "What in the Hell!"

Hell is a far more accomodating place than most people realize. Souls go there to be tortured, and they are. When the torture needs to be physical, it is. When the torture needs to be spiritual, it is. Hell makes itself whatever it needs to be. When Sam comes crashing down and plummets towards the very heart of Hell, Hell does its best to please its new Ruler.

The demons Sam brought with him are stripped of their host bodies. The souls of the humans they'd possessed have long since been sent on their own paths. Their flesh burns on the way down. Human bodies aren't made for Hell. Sam's is though. Sam's body stays impossibly intact. This fact alone makes him unique.

Hell reaches out and guides Sam gently down the rest of the way. He lands directly beneath the part of Hell he knows best, Lucifer's Cage. The Cage isn't visible, but Sam wants it to be - and Hell does what Sam wants. He looks up and is filled with an almost childlike giddiness as Hell reveals the Cage to him.

Time in Hell moves faster than on Earth. Time in the Cage moves faster still. This is a particularly brilliant form of torture for the angels, Sam thinks as he watches them flit around like two overgrown fireflies.

The nature of the Cage had given Sam a very, very long time with Lucifer. His soul may have been gone for a year and a half, but in the Cage...he'd had eons. Lucifer had tortured Sam, yes, but he'd also taught him so much - and he'd taught him so well.

Sam looks up at the Cage and concentrates. "See me." He smirks as the angels stop moving and press themselves against the now transparent wall. Sam sees Lucifer's light flare magnificently in his fury. "Hello again. Hope you don't mind if I redecorate a bit."

Sam's throne forms itself out of bone. It rises up and up until it's the same height as the Cage. As Sam leans back and watches Lucifer and Michael resume their fighting, the throne places a circlet of bone on his head.

Dean and Bobby are still staring at the demon-smoke streaming down into the ground when Castiel appears behind them and announces,"It's working."

"Cas? You wanna explain what's going on?" Dean asks, standing and turning to face the angel.

"The demons- all of them are returning to Hell." Castiel answers, looking skyward at the last of the black cloud.

"Because...?" Bobby asks, moving to stand next to Dean.

Castiel looks down, "Because Sam called them home."

Dean takes a second as he feels his brain restart, "Cas. What the Hell are you talking about?" he steps closer and tries to catch Castiel's gaze, but the angel won't meet his eyes. "Did you - did you know about what those hunters were doing to Sam? See...I figured you were too busy with your war to come help him, but now it kinda sounds to me like you knew this was going to happen!"

"Dean. This war isn't just being fought on one front. My brothers and sisters are being slaughtered by Raphael's forces. Heaven is in chaos. Demons know this. They aren't afraid of us anymore. They attack us anytime we set foot on Earth. Since Eve's return, Purgatory's forces are attacking us. I have seen too many futures where Heaven falls. What Sam is doing now - this is what saves us." With his last words, Castiel looks at Dean.

Dean turns his back on Castiel, "Get the Hell away from me Cas."

"Dean-" Castiel touches Dean's shoulder.

"Get your hand off of me, and leave." Dean growls.

Castiel disappears and Bobby says softly,"We'll figure out something Dean."

Sam hadn't realized the extent of his brilliance at revealing the Cage until the first group of demons approach.

Lucifer and Michael, in their natural state, are a pleasing soft light to Sam, but to the demons they're painful. The demons want to be near Sam, but have to look down to avoid the angelic light. They prostrate themselves because they have no other choice. Some of the weaker ones - eager to please, but stupid - start to smolder when they get too close. Sam chuckles and lets the walls of the Cage become opaque again.

It takes time for all the demons in Hell to respond to his summons. They all feel his call, but Hell is so very vast.

When Sam sees all of them assembled around him, he stands and speaks.

"Welcome home."

Like a shockwave, all the demons who had still been standing fall to their knees. Sam's voice pulls on their insides and their attention is wholly focused on their King.

I have a job for you. For all of you. You're going to return to Earth, but you're not going to possess any humans. Any of you who do will cease to exist.

You will however possess everything else. Monsters. Werewolves, vampires, shifters, and everything in between. Every human that becomes a monster is one less soul for us, and one more for Purgatory. That ends now.

Sam looks down at his legions and smiles.

I'm going to teach you all some new tricks.