I know I said this would be the last chapter, but it won't! I think there's still room for a chapter or two after this one. I don't post on this story until I've at least started the new chapter, to be sure I like where the current one went. Eternal thanks to all you oddballs!! (Oh, and I really hope you all enjoy being in Sam's head.)

Chapter Twenty-seven

Dean seethed just under the surface. Finally, finally, he knew what had been after Sam, eating his brother from the inside all these years, and he had been able to destroy it. Now this had to happen. Archangels were a royal pain the in ass.

Dean felt his brother's hand on his shoulder, showing confidence. He wished he felt as confident. Did he get it all? The last thing he remembered was blackness, but he had hoped it was just because he passed out. Dean cast a sideways glance at his brother. Well, maybe better safe than sorry. Besides, Mike was coming too.

How big of a hypocrite did that make him, to feel relieved that Mike was going into his little brother's head? A month ago he would have cheerfully unloaded every weapon he had into Mike to prevent exactly that, not that any of it would have done any good except maybe register as a protest with the archangel. Maybe. Mike was pretty stubborn.

"Let's do this," Dean grumbled, shooting a knowing look at Mike.

Mike nodded, fingers digging into Dean's arm. "Gabriel?" Mike's smooth, deep voice echoed in his ears as Mike's hand reached for the other archangel. She took it, her other hand grasping Sam's arm, completing the circle.

Dean felt the world around them swirl away, making him dizzy and lightheaded. Everyone was holding on to someone except him. Now Dean's arms flung out, grasping the first thing they made contact with in an effort to keep him on his feet. Trees merged with sky, rotating around him like they were caught in a crazy blender. It definitely didn't feel like this last time.

In one hand he had a fistful of fabric. Deciding it had to be Sam's shirt, Dean pulled his little brother in closer. His other hand held on to an arm, Mike's judging by the size and location. He tried to control his breathing, but the world around him spun faster and faster, draining beneath his feet like water in the toilet.

"Easy, Dean," Mike's voice sounded close, as if the guy were speaking directly into his ear, "we're almost there."

Dean nodded, certain no one could see it, and clung tighter. Once the swirling colors disappeared he felt solid ground under his feet. All around him was blankness, like a giant clean whiteboard. No, not totally blank, Dean realized. On one side were notes written in different colors. In blue it said 'Dean prefers his own movies, but will watch mine and act like he enjoys it'. In red it said 'Don't push too hard! Dean's still tired!'

With a scowl, Dean reached up to erase the one in red. A strong hand on his arm stopped him. He pulled against it, but could not move even a fraction out of the iron grip. When he looked back, thoroughly annoyed, he found Sam holding him.

"Those are my notes, Dean. Leave them alone." Sam did appear serious. Dean scowled. Sam smiled. "Please?"

Dean did not think his brother was really asking, not for a second. He grudgingly lowered his hand, Sam's grip relaxing.

"Yeah, this looks really suspicious," Mike said, voice heavy with sarcasm. "All that concern for his brother."

Gabriel glared at the whiteboards. "He's hiding it. No one's mind is like this."

Sam beamed. "I haven't had a chance to redecorate yet."

"Redecorate?" Gabriel spun around to face Sam. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sam motioned to all the whiteboards. "This is my room. It used to be totally dark, so there really wasn't a point in decorating. You should see Dean's room, though. He has all these movie posters." Sam's head tilted to one side. "Now, that's a thought."

A few small posters appeared over one of the blank whiteboards. Dean stepped closer to check them out. One was for The Importance of Being Earnest, one for the new remake of Godzilla, and one for some porn movie. Dean reached out and tried to subtly remove that one.

"What's that?" Gabriel demanded, at Dean's side in an instant. How did she move so fast? "Why are you trying to hide this?"

"Yeah, Dean," there was laughter in Sam's voice, "why are you trying to hide that? It's my room." The poster expanded in size until it covered the entire whiteboard.

"What kind of movie is that?" Gabriel asked Mike.

Mike coughed hard into one hand. "Uh, Sam? Could we see what's outside your room, too?" Oh, bless the big guy for changing the subject.

Sam frowned for a moment before his face brightened. "Oh, you want to go in the attic? Sure, all the good stuff is in there. Come on!" Sam's face turned upward and a rope ladder fell in front of him. His little brother scampered up, as sure as some stupid squirrel.

Dean stepped closer to Mike. "You're sure this euphoria thing will wear off?"

"Hasn't it already started?" Mike asked.

"I'm really not sure," Dean admitted, but he was distracted by Gabriel following Sam. Not wanting her to be alone with his brother, Dean reached for the ladder.

"Hey Dean?" Mike asked from below him as he climbed.

"What?" Dean told himself not to look down. It wasn't like they were actually going up in the air anyway, this was all inside Sam's head. Yeah. As if that were comforting.

"It's pretty bright in here," Mike said. "Did you notice?"

Dean paused in his efforts to take a really good look around. The walls had an ethereal glow to them, like they doubled as lighting panels. "What's that mean?" he asked, glancing down at Mike.

Mike grinned up at him. "I'm pretty sure it means Gabriel won't find what she's looking for. Speaking of which…"

Right. Up. Dean concentrated on moving up the rope ladder quickly. Why the heck would Sam have a rope ladder in his head anyway? Well, at least there weren't images of Dean flying around everywhere now. Just above him was a wooden attic opening. Dean pushed up through it, finding Sam pointing out shelves of books to Gabriel. Yeah, that figured. The attic extended farther than Dean could see and was filled with rows and rows of bookshelves.

"And this is where I keep all the stuff about school. Here are my favorite memories." Sam looked around then, a smile lighting his face. "Dean, come here! I wanted you to see this!" His little brother motioned him closer, holding out a thick book. Sam thrust it into his hands.

It felt solid and heavy, bound in good leather like all the books Sam admired. Dean opened it. The first page had a picture of him with a beer bottle superglued to his fingers. He laughed, glancing over into Sam's eyes. That twinkle was there, the one Dean had never seen before today.

"It gets better," Sam promised, eyes alight with mischief.

Dean shook his head. "You're scaring me, Sam," he teased.

Sam's face blossomed into a broad grin. Yep, Sam was still stoned-happy. His brother pointed out a shelf. "I have all of these, too."

"Crap."

Sam laughed and it reached his eyes. "I like it better with the lights on, Dean. In my room, I mean." He spun around. "The attic has always been like this."

"Always?" Mike asked, looking suspiciously at the shelves. "The attic has always been like this? Wasn't it dark, too?"

Sam shook his head, hair flopping around. "Nope. I had to have someplace to read."

Dean chuckled. Now that sounded like Sammy. Gabriel investigated other shelves, peering intently at different titles.

"Those are about hunting," Sam called out. "Don't go too far, you might get lost!"

Gabriel made a sound that might be a snort before walking deliberately further away. Sam shrugged, turning around. "Anything you want to see, Dean?"

Dean flipped through a few more pages. This book was filled of all the times Sam got the best of him, or at least thought he did. He closed it with a snap. "Nah," Dean replied with a shake of his head, "I'm good." He tossed the book back to Sam.

Sam caught it and put it in its spot on one of the shelves.

"You don't have something like that…about…Dad?" Dean asked hesitantly.

Sam glanced down, scuffing one foot along the floor. "Yeah, but…it's not as big."

Dean shrugged, relieved. "At least you have one."

Sam looked up in surprise, then that stoned grin came back. "Yeah, I have one. Hey, you want to see the one I have about us?"

"Us?" Dean echoed. He felt a shove from behind. When Dean glanced back, he found Mike pretending to study the books in front of him intently. Then one of Mike's hands reached out to shove him again. "Yeah, yeah," Dean grumbled softly, glaring daggers at Mike as he moved toward Sam.

"What about us?" Dean asked as he followed his little brother.

Sam rounded a couple of corners until he reached a bookcase with glass doors. Sam opened one door and pulled out another heavy book with a shiny black cover. His eyes twinkled again as he opened the book. "Check it out," Sam pointed out a picture. "This is where you taught me how to drive. And here," Sam flipped easily to another spot in the book, "where you tried to explain the facts of life to me."

"I really shouldn't have done that," Dean admitted. "Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was to have my little brother correct me on the one little detail I had wrong?"

"Little?" Sam looked at him in amazement, turning the page. "You thought the stork brought babies and left them in the mother's stomach!"

Dean shrugged helplessly. "That's what Mom and Dad told me."

Sam froze, staring at him. "Are you okay?"

Dean glanced around. What made Sam switch gears that fast? "Yeah. You?"

Sam blew out a breath. "Yeah, I'm good. Just checking." He turned to another spot in the book. "This is where you used to read to me at night."

"Checking what?" Dean asked, still confused.

Sam paused, glancing at him guiltily. "Well, sometimes when you, you know, mention Mom…" He bit his lip, shrugging. "You're not always okay."

"Oh." He considered that. Nah, easier to brush that one off. "Whatever," he replied with a shrug. "What do you keep in here?" Dean motioned to the fancy bookcase.

Sam beamed at him. "Important stuff."

Dean's eyes took in some of the titles: Jessica, Stanford, Riding with Dean, Soccer, Rules of the Road, Best Motels, How to Keep Dean from Getting Beat Up. He stopped there. There was no need to really dig into Sam's head any deeper. Hell, he shouldn't have even looked at any of this stuff, really.

"Dean." Sam shook him by the shoulder, making Dean realize he was staring at the floor. "You didn't see this one." He pointed out the next shelf in the fancy bookcase. Grudgingly, Dean looked. It was filled with books all bound alike and bearing the same title: The Encyclopedia of Dean.

"Can we go now?" Dean demanded loudly, backing away.

"Damn it," Sam hissed and the words were like a spike in Dean's head. He kept backing away until his back hit another bookshelf. Sam anxiously pulled out a volume of those stupid encyclopedias. He pawed quickly through the pages. Dean watched in horrified fascination as Sam apparently found the entry he wanted. Then Sam closed the book with a loud breath. After slamming it against his head, Sam put it back.

"Dean." Sam approached him slowly, as if he might spook and take off. The irony being, of course, that Dean was considering just that. "I just wanted you to see how important I think my big brother is." Those big damned puppy dog eyes leveled on him with more punch than a shotgun. Sam's voice dropped to a whisper. "Please don't freak out just because you're important to me."

Dean cleared his throat, looking all around, anywhere that was not Sam. Eventually he had to, though. Sam's eyes pleaded with him.

"You're such a girl," Dean scoffed, trying to sound like none of Sam's special cabinet bothered him.

Sam smiled, closing the glass doors. "Maybe we should go check on my guests?"

Dean cocked his head to the side, leading the way away from Sam's 'important' shelves to go find Mike and Gabriel. Mike was easy to find, still inspecting the front bookshelves.

"Hey Sam?" Mike asked, flipping through a thick book. "Why isn't this with your important books?"

Sam's face split into another grin. "It's a copy."

Suspicious, Dean snatched it from Mike's hands. Yep, it was Dean's Most Embarrassing Moments. Like he really needed Mike to see that.

"Come on," Dean shoved the book on top of a shelf, "let's find Gabe and get out of here."

Mike laughed as he fell in step beside Dean.

"What?" Dean demanded. "What's so funny?"

"Gabe," Mike replied, grinning. "I like it."

Dean shook his head at the archangel. Sam was not on his other side, though. He glanced back to see Sam carefully replacing his book. "Sam! Let's go!"

"Coming!" Sam called out, big feet pounding the wooden floorboards. "Coming." Sam raced to his side.

"Get rid of that stupid grin," Dean barked. "Now, where would a chick hide out in your head, Sam? Any ideas?"

"Well, what exactly is she looking for?" Sam asked.

"Dark stuff," he and Mike replied simultaneously. Why was Sam being so hard-headed about this?

"Well," Sam paused, running a hand through his hair as he looked around, "I guess the darkest stuff would be in the hunting section. This way." Sam walked away from them. Dean followed with Mike right beside him.

"You know," Mike said conversationally, "you and Sam are one of the best teams I've ever seen." Dean shot him an incredulous look. "No, seriously, Dean. I've been thinking about it. If there was a hall of fame for it, you two would be in there."

Dean snorted. "You been sniffing harp polish again, Mike?"

Mike sighed. "You know, you don't have to have a comeback every time someone says something nice to you."

"Don't let it bug you, Mike," Sam said, suddenly beside them again. "Dean doesn't have a whole lot of experience with people saying nice things."

"Sa-a-am," Dean warned.

"It's in my encyclopedia if you want to check it out," Sam offered. Dean gave his brother a glare that Sam could not possibly misinterpret.

"Uh, maybe another time," Mike said. "Hey, is that Gabriel over there? I think I'll check."

Sam watched Mike walk away. "What is up with him lately? He hasn't been acting like himself."

Dean could only stare at his brother over that one. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

"What, Dean?" Sam asked, spreading his hands wide. "What?"

Dean shook his head. If Sam didn't know, he had no intention of telling him. Let the kid stew over it, if Sam was still capable of stewing. Where was that chick anyway?

"Dean? Have you heard back from Bobby since Mike went to see him?" Sam asked.

Dean started. That came out of the blue. "Uh, no. Guess maybe I need to call him, huh?"

Sam shook his head, long bangs bouncing around. Since this was the way Sam looked in his head, Dean guessed that was exactly how Sam wanted to look. He tried not to laugh at it. "We should pay him a visit, Dean. So we can explain in person."

Dean let out a long sigh. "Yeah, you're probably right." He swallowed hard, catching Sam's eye. "Think he'll still let us in the door?"

Sam smiled. "Of course he will, Dean. It's Bobby."

Dean nodded back, but he didn't feel as sure as Sam appeared to be. Not at all.

"I'm sure he's hiding something," Gabriel's voice reached them from a couple of rows over, "I just have to find it."

Dean tilted his head in that direction with both eyebrows up. Sam made a face at him before leading the way to Gabriel. "If you'd just tell me what you're looking for, I know I can help you find it." Sam's voice was so loud in here it created a dull echo.

Gabriel darted out from behind a bookshelf, eyes blazing again. "Where is the darkness? The part Dean couldn't destroy?"

Sam frowned at her. "It's gone. Sure I have stuff I don't want you to see, but it isn't dark like my room used to be." He shot Dean an apologetic look. "I just don't want to take it out."

"Go on, Sam," Dean replied, looking Gabriel right in those blazing eyes. "Show her. I'm getting real tired of this crap."

Gabriel glared back, until Mike stepped between them. He motioned with a hand behind his back to Dean. Dean could take a hint, really, but this time he didn't want to. If he and Gabriel had it out now, no matter how it ended Gabriel would stop harassing them.

"Dean!" Sam hissed, dragging him away. "Come on!"

"I don't want to, Sammy," Dean replied with a snarl. "Just let me get it over with."

"No, Dean!" Sam pulled harder, forcing Dean around another row of books. "We'll show her what she wants to see and then we can go back."

"Right." Dean glanced around at Sam's attic. They didn't need to be inside his brother's head for that. "Fine. So, where do you keep all the crap you don't want to remember?" Sam gave him a puzzled look. "Well, that is what you're planning to show her, right?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Over here, against the wall. Where the light is out."

One section of wall was darker than the rest. Dean followed his brother over, aware of the fact they were being followed. Sam produced a key from his pocket to unlock this cabinet. There were no glass doors in this cabinet, nothing to indicate that it was anything other than storage. The books inside were covered with a thick layer of dust and the spines were cracked and tattered. Sam looked away as Gabriel kneeled down in front of the books and started pulling them out. Dean stepped between his brother and the others as Gabriel frantically tore the books out of the cabinet, glancing through each one briefly before grabbing another.

"It has to be here," she muttered, books flying around her. "Has to be."

Dean exchanged a long look with Mike. Mike nodded, waving Dean and Sam away. Dean led his brother back towards the entrance. "Almost done, Sammy. Mike'll make sure she puts everything back and locks up."

"Dean?" Sam turned to face him, face streaked with tears. "She really doesn't like me, does she?"

Dean blew out a long breath, looking at the shelves around them. "So where do you keep the embarrassing stuff about Dad?"