Chapter 38

Sam never realized what it was like to watch a loved one possessed. Sure, he'd seen Lucifer!Charlie, but that was different. No matter how much he cared about, even loved, his little sister. No matter how much Sam could relate, Charlie would never be Dean.

Michael looked like Dean, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Dean's walk was casual, confident; Michael walked like he was in a straight jacket. Even if Sam hadn't known what his brother was going off to do one look at Michael!Dean and he would have known. This was not his brother.

"Sam. Castiel," Michael greeted curtly. "I believe this belongs to you."

Sam watched as Cas gingerly took the small silver vile that contained his grace and slid it into his pocket. Michael chuckled while Cas whispered a small thank you meant for Dean. Where ever his mind was.

"You look pained Sam," Michael noted as he stepped towards the wall where a picture of Sari and Lucifer!Charlie hung. "Is something the matter?"

"It's nothing. It's just weird. Seeing Dean like this I mean. When I jumped into the Cage, and pulled you with me, the one good thought as we fell was that at least Dean would be free," Sam confessed.

Michael didn't seem to find it that touching. "That's the one thing Dean is enjoying about this experience. Now you can imagine what it must have been like for him to watch you as a vessel all those times. At least I'm not evil."

"The jury's still out on that one," Cas mumbled.

"I'd watch your mouth Castiel," Michael's eyes flared gold in anger. "You're lucky I didn't smite you the minute I heard what you'd done to Heaven."

"Of don't pretend you didn't out of the goodness of your heart." There was a time when Cas was very, very afraid of his brother. But that time had long since passed. "We both know Dean would never have said yes if you'd killed me."

Michael snorted in reply before turning away from the picture trying to hide the look of guilt on his face. He stepped over to where Cas had prepared the summoning and looked over the supplies. With a nod he turned to the humans.

"For the sake of Dean, I don't think he'd enjoy watching you die. I'd suggest stepping out of the room and covering your ears. There will be a moment when I summon my brother that his true form is visible over Charlotte's vessel and you don't want to be around to see that. Unless you want to regain your grace and help me Castiel," Michael offered. "It would be like old times again then wouldn't it?"

"I'll pass," Cas mumbled stepping from the room. Sam shot a distrustful look at the angel who possessed his brother before stepping into the hallway with a nod. He didn't trust Michael, but he trusted Dean to have set his terms so Michael couldn't stab them in the back, or the neck, or anywhere for that matter.

As Sam covered his ears he could just make out the echoing of Michael's Enochian and the buzzing that came from an angel's true voice. Light spilled from beneath the door and when it finally dissipated Sam, with an encouraging nod from Cas, re-entered.

Lucifer!Charlie stood trapped between two bindings of human, angel and demon origin. Lucifer's greatest advantage in Charlie was also his greatest weakness. Charlie wasn't all angel, or demon, or human. She was Charlotte Morganstern.

"So this was your brilliant plan?" Lucifer asked Sam as he slid in the door. "Have Dean say yes to Michael so he could summon me here? Hello brother, so good to see you again. I say I do like your dress. This prom is going to be SO fun."

"There will be no fight, so just make this easy on yourself. I'm done with doing this just because our father tells us to." No! If Michael wasn't going to fight Lucifer… if he wasn't going to obey God…. "However, I will fight you. I will kill you for what it right. And if you're just going to tell me that 'you don't know what right means' I'm sure Charlotte would gladly tell you."

"Brother you're right we are going to fight." Lucifer told them. "I offered last time for us to resolve this peacefully and you said no. YOU SAID NO!"

"And for that I am sorry brother. But please, let this time go differently. Release Charlotte as your vessel and step down. You can go back to Hell; it's chaos without you. Our father is gone, but we can make things right. You can rule Hell and your demons while I keep Heaven and my angels. We can leave earth in peace. Let this be the Switzerland between our nations. Please. I do not want to fight you."

"Ha!" Lucifer scoffed. "You think that song is going to work on me? You're just scared because you know I'm stronger than you. I'm not going to tempt Sam like I did those fools Adam and Eve. And when little Sammy can't open Eden Dean's time limit will run out. What is it 12 hours? 24? We're going to fight, and when we do I'm going to stab a knife through your heart killing you slowly. And I'm going to make sure Sam is there watching every second of it as his brother dies along with his beloved world. And then I'm not going to kill him. I'm going to lock him up and occasionally, when I'm bored, Charlie and I can come in for a visit." Lucifer stared right at Sam as he continued to threaten. "And you can watch what your sister has become. And then someday when Charlotte's vessel has been drained and you're hopeless I'll turn to you and you can watch as your sister's body explodes from the inside. That will be your fate. Let this be the new prophecy."

"NO!" Sam yelled backing from the shadows and into the moonlight. "You're not going to kill Dean, or Charlie, or Michael, or anybody ever again. Because you failed Lucifer." Ruby's blade, the symbol of Sam's many mistakes, cut across his skin. As the blood slowly spilled on the floor where his cradle once laid Sam finished speaking, "I've been inside your mind. I know your fatal flaw. It's arrogance. You thought you'd won because you never asked me to sin, but you're wrong just as you've always been wrong. Just by standing there you tempt me, you temp me to kill you. And you know what, I guess I get to do just that Lucifer because my sister is strong, and Eden open. Sayonara!"

The floor where Sam's blood had fallen ripped open and a burning light came through. Lucifer's laughter turned to a scream as Charlotte Morganstern, no Mary Winchester, took control over the devil and jumped into Eden.