yoo so finally got my laptop back lol. Anyway, thank you alias093001, ScaryMary54, and caseylu for fav'ing and following, welcome to the story~ Reviews would be very much appreciated.

I had to split this chapter, since it was too long haha.

This chapter includes the episodes: The Man who knew Too Much, Meet the New Boss, Hello Cruel World

I do not own Supernatural

Sam realized long ago that she was in some sort of dreamscape, exploring through the memories she had lost because of the wall that Death had put up.

Currently, she was searching through the woods with her shotgun aimed. At least, until someone who looked exactly like her showed up. "What are you?" She asked defiantly, after the woman made a few snide remarks. She had actually seen her before, in fact she had been shot at before she made a run for it.

The woman had already disarmed her, making her powerless. "I'm not handicapped. I'm not saddled with a soul. In fact, I used to skipper this meatboat for a while. It was smooth sailing. I was sharp, strong. That is, 'til they crammed your soul back in. Now look at you. Same misty-eyed milksop you always were. That's because souls are weak. They're a liability. Now, nothing personal, but run the numbers. Someone's got to take charge around here, before it's too late."

The woman, who was actually the soulless version of herself, shot at her. Sam ducked, and ran, the bullets missing her by an inch. She had always been a better shot than her brother, and now that she was facing her soulless self, she supposed she wasn't going to make it out alive without a miracle.

She decided to create a diversion using her jacket, and it worked. She was able to trick herself, and shoot her in the chest.

"You think I'm bad? Wait until you meet the other one." She writhed.

A bright light came out of the woman, and Sam was engulfed by it.

She felt pain, so much pain. However, suddenly everything was warm, and she saw a man in front of her. "Hello, Samantha."

She recognized him immediately, but became confused. What was Gabriel doing in her dreamscape? Was this some horrid joke that she was pulling on herself? Some trick?

Gabriel smiled at her.

No, it couldn't be a trick. He was an archangel. Archangels could do things like walk into people's dreamscapes, right?

"It really is me, you know." He said.

Anger was the first thing she felt. So, she swiftly closed the space between them and threw her balled fist at his face. He took the hit, while she felt tears begin to blur her vision. "You could've prevented so much of this. Where the hell were you?"

Gabriel hesitated. "I wanted to avoid my brothers at first. They never noticed I lived, so that was all covered and now they are both in the pit. Kudos for that, by the way." He caught Sam's fist when she threw it again. "In all seriousness - I went to pull you out of the cage, but I couldn't find anything. Cas beat me to it. It was also very dangerous for me to grab your soul, Samantha. My brothers - I couldn't stop them from harming you."

She was shaking. "Why are you here now?"

"You were suffering so I came to see if I could help. Dean was pretty worried."

She scoffed. "Of course he was." Gabriel released her fist and she pulled it back to her side.

"Hey, but I am too. Are you sure you want to continue through this?" Gabriel asked, holding her chin gently forcing her to look up at him. "I could put the wall back up, and you could be good as new. You wouldn't have to go through this pain."

Sam glanced behind Gabriel, and saw Robin. Robin was the first woman that she saw in the dreamscape. Supposedly she was a bartender, but Sam remembered what she did to her. "I have to continue. I… I'd feel too empty inside, without all my memories complete."

"I love you, Samantha, but sometimes you're just too stubborn for your own good." Gabriel said, before bending down and engulfing her in a kiss.

She kissed back passionately, and when they pulled away, she grinned. "Good luck." He said, his breath tickling her lips.

"Thanks, Gabriel."

With that, the angel was gone in a burst of light.

Gabriel was alive. She was so glad for that, she was still angry but she'd have to put that aside for now. She was confident that maybe, just maybe, she could have some sort of future with him.

However, in the present there were more pressing matters to address.

She turned, and approached Robin, who had been leaning on the car that she had hi-jacked. She remembered who Robin was.

Robin was an innocent woman, and Sam had simply shot her, simply out of spite for the demon who restrained Robin for leverage. "I know who you are." Sam said, as she approached the other woman. "I remember."

Robin had been guiding her through the dreamscape, but she wasn't needed anymore. She smiled sadly, as blood seeped through her clothes in her midsection. "Didn't I tell you to turn back, that you wouldn't like what you found?"

Sam had to be strong, for Dean.

For Gabriel.

Christ, she still couldn't believe that angel had survived Lucifer's wrath.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Sam tried, as Robin's face crumpled in pain.

"Not as sorry as you're gonna be." Robin replied bitterly, and disappeared.

The area around her dissolved, and her new surroundings appeared. She automatically recognized where she was: the stench, the presentation, just the overall feel of welcome and acceptance. She was at Bobby's house.

However, something was off. Furniture was covered in white sheets, illuminated by only candles, which were scattered all over the place. The only other light in the room was the moonlight, and Sam found herself cocking her gun, approaching the room cautiously as if she were on a hunt.

She already noticed the woman sitting in a desk, hunched over, as if she was sleeping. "Hey, hey!"

The woman lolled her head up, and Sam saw who she was. It was herself, once again. There was no life in her eyes, her face was littered with scars, bruises, dirt, and grease. "Oh, hi Samantha." She said, her voice weak.

"So, which one are you?" Sam demanded. However, she had the feeling she already knew.

"Don't you know?" She struggled to stand, and leaned against the desk for support. "I'm the one that remembers hell. I wish you hadn't come, Samantha."

Sam shook her head. "I had to. I'm here, right? Out there in the real world, I'm at Bobby's, aren't I?" She didn't really want to know what happened down in the cage. Was this really going to be worth it? Maybe she should call Gabriel back down.

No. She can do this on her own.

"How do you know?"

"This whole time, I've smelt nothing but Old Spice and whisky. Figured if I could get back here, back to my body, I could... I don't know, I could snap out of it somehow." Sam tried. Maybe she didn't have to face this version of herself if she found an exit.

"But first you have to go through me." She said.

"Why?"

"Humpty Dumpty has to put herself back together again, before she can wake up. And I'm the last piece."

Sam inhaled. "Which means, I have to know what you know." She lowered her gun, and demanded, "So what happened in the cage?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know it."

Sam sighed. "You're right, but I still had to." For Dean, Gabriel, Bobby… even Castiel. Sure, he had been kind of a dick lately, but she still believed in him.

She had to endure this.

"Samantha, you can't imagine. Stay here, go back, find that bartender, go find Jessie, but don't do this. I know you. You're not strong enough."

Sam shook her head, and exhaled a shaky breath. "We'll just have to see."

She had been told that many times throughout her life, that she wasn't strong enough. She wasn't strong enough to take Lucifer, that she wasn't strong enough to be a hunter. She wanted to prove everyone wrong.

"Why is this so important to you?"

Sam stared at her other self disbelievingly. "You know me. You know why. I'm not leaving my brother alone out there. Gabriel… he's out there too. I have to go see him."

Her other self sighed, and picked up the knife from the desk. Sam raised her gun defensively as her other self approached her. "I'm not gonna fight you, but this is your last chance."

Sam swallowed the lump which formed in her throat, and took the knife.

"Good luck. You're gonna need it."

With that, Sam stabbed her other self in the stomach. Her persona crumpled to the ground and groaned in pain, clutching her abdomen. Another bright light engulfed Sam.

She remembered. All the torture, all the pain she went through. The blinding pain of Lucifer's and Michael's makeshift weapons piercing through her body.

She was tortured. The smell of burning skin, overwhelming heat and sulfur filled her entire senses.

She screamed, clutching at her head, remembering the terrible memories.

However, she woke up. When she did, she saw Gabriel, standing over her, smiling. "Mornin' Sleeping Beauty." He greeted, and held out a hand.

She tried to smile, but flashes of the cage came into her mind.

Gabriel's face turned into Lucifer, and she yelped before her vision returned to normal. She was engulfed in a hug with the angel. "Shh, it'll be ok. You're here with me."

"I- I have to go to Dean." She stood, her legs shaky, and she quickly found the address on the edge of the bed. "T-take me there, please."

"Ok, alright. I'll do that, just be careful." With a snap of fingers, she was behind another set of doors, except now she heard the voices of Castiel and Dean.

"No, I'm not finished yet. Raphael had many followers, and I must punish them all severely." Castiel was saying as she slowly creaked the door open, emerging into the room as stealthily as she could.

"Listen to me. Listen, I know there's a lot of bad water under the bridge, but we were family once. I'd have died for you. I almost did a few times. So if that means anything to you... Please. I've lost Lisa, I've lost Ben, and now I've lost Samantha. Don't make me lose you too. You don't need this kind of juice anymore, Cas. Get rid of it before it kills us all." As Dean was trying to win over Castiel, get him back to the good side, Sam made her way around the room and found an angel blade tossed to the side. She bent down to pick it up.

Someone stabbed her, and she held in a gasp. When she looked up, she saw Michael.

She shook her head, and the image of Michael disappeared. This wasn't the cage, this was reality. Right now, she had to save Dean and Bobby. "You're just saying that because I won. Because you're afraid. You're not my family, Dean. I have no family."

Sam was behind Castiel by now, and with all the strength she had, she stabbed him through the back. She stumbled back, leaving the blade in his chest.

However, nothing happened. Castiel pulled out the blade, and turned to her. "I'm glad you made it, Samantha. But the angel blade won't work, because I'm not an angel anymore. I'm your new God. A better one. So you will bow down and profess your love unto me, your Lord. Or I shall destroy you." He said, tossing the bloodless blade to the side.

Sam backed away until she was beside Dean. She looked to him, wondering what to do. Bobby, who Sam just realized had been there the entire time, said, "Well, all right then. Is this good, or you want the whole "forehead to the carpet" thing? Guys?"

The Winchesters switched a glance, before slowly lowering to the ground. Sam a little more shaky than Dean. However, Castiel stopped them. "Stop. What's the point if you don't mean it? You fear me. Not love, not respect, just fear."

"Cas…" Sam protested. However, she couldn't quite think of anything to say.

"Samantha, you have nothing to say to me; you just stabbed me in the back. Get up." Castiel said.

"Cas, come on. This isn't you." Dean tried.

"The Castiel you know is long gone." The angel declared.

"So what, then, kill us?" Dean challenged.

"What a brave little ant you are. You know you're powerless, you wouldn't dare move against me again. That would be pointless. So I have no need to kill you. Not now. Besides...once you were my favorite pets before you turned and bit me."

"So brave, yet so powerless. You've got nothing to live for. Dean's up there, living the life, while you are down here suffering. I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to rip you to shreds, put you together, then rip you apart again. I'm so angry at you, Samantha." She was suddenly in the cage again, and Lucifer and Michael were circling her.

She gritted her teeth. No, she wasn't in the cage. She was in the warehouse, with Castiel, Dean, and Bobby. "Not doing so well, are you, Samantha?" The voice woke her from her hallucination.

"What? Oh, I'm… I'm fine." She cleared her throat, ignoring the worried looks from Bobby and her brother. "I'm… fine."

Dean turned to Castiel angrily. "You said you'd fix her- you promised!"

"If you stood down, which you hardly did. Be thankful for my mercy. I could have cast you back into the pit." Castiel replied, glancing at Sam.

Sam trembled. She didn't want to go back.

"Cas, come on, this is nuts! You can turn this around, please!" Dean begged.

"I hope for your sake this is the last you see me." Castiel said, before disappearing.

Suddenly, she is burning. The voices are only background noise, and she hears Lucifer and Michael's laughter. She could smell her own burning flesh, the pain of metal entering her skin.

"Sam? You ok?" Dean asked cautiously.

His voice was the clearest, yet it sounded so far away.

Suddenly, her vision turned to black.

When she awoke, Sam realized she was back at Bobby's place, and everything seemed normal. She found her way to the kitchen so she could get something to drink or eat, but that was when she saw Dean. He looked greasy, with his sleeves rolled up and the slight shine of sweat glistening on his forehead.

He stood back up with a beer in his hand. "Hey, Dean." She greeted.

Dean smiled. "Ah, you're walking and talking."

"Yeah. I, uh, put on my own socks, the whole nine." Sam replied groggily.

"Well, that's uh…" He scratched the back of his head. "I mean, you… are you sure you're ok?"

So far, she hasn't had a hallucination yet this morning. She figured it was luck, and shrugged. "Yeah. My head hurts a little, but basically…"

Dean stared at her disbelievingly. "Seriously?"

"Look, man. I'm as surprised as you are, but yeah, I swear." Sam said.

Dean grinned, reaching for another beer. "Good! No reason putting a gift horse under a microscope, right?"

Sam smiled back, as Dean handed her the beer. "Yeah, so what happened with Cas?"

Dean sighed. "Why don't you come help me with the car, I'll fill you in?"

"I'd like that."

Dean turned to leave, but as Sam went to follow, she heard the sound of chains jingling in the distance, but it became louder and louder as she turned her head. However, when she looked, everything seemed normal and the chains were gone.

She sighed in relief, and followed after Dean.

After Dean informed her on Castiel, he immediately moved on to the topic of Gabriel as he was fixing something underneath the car. "So, he came into the panic room." He stated.

She knew it was going to be a topic of conversation eventually. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. Samantha, just know whatever you decide to do with that man, I'll support you."

"What? Really? Are you sure?"

Dean pushed himself out from under the car to look at her. "Yeah, I mean, he's not bad."

She scoffed. "I… Dean, I thought you hated him, especially after Mystery Spot."

Dean shrugged, and after Sam handed him a tool, he pushed himself back under. "He was only thinking on what was the best for you at the time. Even though his methods didn't quite work, I respect him for trying."

Sam stared. "Dean…. Thanks."

"Yup. Anything for my baby sister." Dean said, smiling. "Hey, is there a better wrench anywhere? This one kind of sucks."

"I'll go find one, I'm sure Bobby has tools somewhere." Sam announced, and left. She quickly and easily found her way to the garage, where Bobby normally stored his tools, and searched through the drawers.

Suddenly, she heard the chains again. Her hands abruptly stopped their search.

She gulped nervously, and turned slowly.

Chains, chains everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling, the walls. She inhaled sharply, as she noticed that the room was filled with a red light. She looked around wildly, seeing rusty meathooks with bits of flesh and hair. The smell of sulfur was unbearable.

Laughter, evil laughter echoed in the garage.

"No, no. This can't be happening." Sam muttered.

"Samantha!" Lucifer called out to her.

She fell to her knees. She shakily stood, and reached for the nearest weapon she could find.

Lucifer came down the stairs, grinning. "Ready to begin, darling?"

Her hands shook. However, the hallucination suddenly disappeared, and Bobby stood in Lucifer's place. Bobby stared at her. "You alright, girl?" He asked.

"Uh - yeah, I'm fine."

Bobby still gave her a suspicious look, but said, "It's Cas, we think. Come on."

"Yeah, ok."

So, they tried to bind Death the same way Lucifer had back in the day, in order to kill Castiel. The plan backfired, and Death ended up spilling information Sam wanted to keep to herself, before transporting them to the middle of nowhere, no way to rescue Castiel from the Leviathans.

Who were, apparently, part of the millions of souls he had absorbed from Purgatory.

Dean was upset that he was about to lose Castiel. "No, I don't know. But, look, I was pretty far gone sometimes myself, and he never gave up on me." Sam tried to reason with him.

"Yeah, and it turns out that you're about the same open book as you've always been. Hallucinations? Really? I got to find out from Death?" Dean retorted.

Sam sighed. Did Dean have to know everything about her life? "What was I supposed to do?"

"How about not lie? How about tell me that you've got crazy crap climbing those walls?"

"Why? You can't help. You got a lot of pretty severe crap swinging your way lately, and - and I thought -what? I thought why burst the one good bubble you had left? It's under control." It's true, Dean had been really optimistic lately. She didn't want to ruin his good mood. Plus, she had a pretty good handle on the hallucinations, herself.

Dean grinned, and his face morphed into Lucifer. "Aww, you're only lying to yourself."

She looked away, and took a deep breath. It wasn't real. "What? What, exactly, is under your control?"

Dean was back to normal. "I know what's real, and what's not."

"Sam-" Dean protested.

Sam inhaled. "Look, Dean, we can debate this once we deal with Cas."

So, they decided to call Castiel, who came, and brought them to the warehouse. Castiel seemed to be struggling, his vessel too worn and bloody.

"We need the right blood. There's a small jar - end of the hall, s-supply closet." Castiel requested.

Sam nodded, determined. "Got it."

Sam was just about there, when she was confronted by the devil himself. He had cornered her, and was grinning that evil smile of his. She reeled back from him. "I know. It all seems so silly, doesn't it? Hi, Samantha. Long time, no spooning."

It was really him. He was standing there, grinning at her. Flesh and bone and grace. "You're not here. You're in Hell." She said firmly. Mostly it was to convince herself.

His grin widened. "Now, that you're right on."

He approached her, pinning her against the wall. She shook her head. Not again. "Meat hooks... Chains... You. It's not real. It's just my brain leaking memories from the cage 'cause of the wall breaking down. That's all."

"Hmm. That's very good, your little theory. It's wrong. Samantha, this isn't you going guano. Everything else is."

This must be reverse psychology or something. This couldn't be true.

"What?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Everything... From the second you sprung out of that lock box." Lucifer replied.

"That's impossible."

"No. Escaping was impossible. I have to say, I think this is my best torture yet - make you believe that you're free and then... Yank the wool off of your eyes. You never left, Samantha. You're still in the cage... With me." He leaned in close, his breath touching her cheeks.

It just felt so real. "No… it can't be. This isn't real."

"Right. You think this fruit-bat fever dream is reality? You come back, I'm sorry, with no soul like some peppy American Psycho, till Saint Dean glues you back together again by buying you some magic amnesia. You're real. I'm very real. Everything between is what we call set dressing."

"No." She shut her eyes. See no evil, hear no evil.

"You're still in my cell. You're my bunkmate, buddy. You're my little bitch, in every sense of the term. Samantha. Samantha."

She shrunk back into the wall. "Samantha! You hearing me?"

She nervously cracked an eye open and saw Dean, who had put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She nodded, but when she glanced to the side, she saw Lucifer standing there, smiling. Her breath hitched as she held back a scream.

"Whoa. Look at me. Hey. All right, we got to button this up. Come on, let's get out of here. Come on." Dean urged, pulling her out of the hallway. Sam continued to glance behind her, and she'd always see Lucifer standing there with a malicious grin.