meus_venator (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meus_venator) wrote2023-08-10 07:45 pm
meus_venator) wrote2023-08-10 07:45 pm
Entry tags:
The Witch and the Wolfen, Sam/Dean, 10/10 + Epilogue
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Master Post | Prologue + Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 + Epilogue || ART
Chapter 10 — The Nest
It was strange not having a lot to do for a couple of days. Dean cleaned their weapons and worked on Sam’s ‘special project’ while Sam retouched their wards. They took turns cooking, trying to outdo each other with their meager supplies. Dean wanted to go out and hunt, but Sam thought it was too risky, though he realized it was mostly Dean’s wolfen nature getting antsy, all cooped up in the house. They settled on Dean doing regular patrols around the property, and Sam cast a spell so his tracks in the snow would be hidden.
Sam was lying on the bed reading when Dean came in from his latest patrol. There was snow in his hair, color in his cheeks, and a glint of mischief in his eyes. He kicked off his boots, tossing his coat on the sofa as he dropped down onto the mattress beside Sam.
“You know, I’ve done all my practicing for today, and my next patrol isn’t for another three hours. I was thinking if we don’t have anything to do, there’s something else we could be practicing.” He walked his fingers along Sam’s shoulder and down the vee of his Henley.
“Oh?” Sam grinned and rolled over on top of Dean, pinning him to the mattress. He kissed him on the neck and then the jaw, working his way to Dean’s lips as his fingers caressed Dean’s tufted ears. Dean growled softly as Sam kissed him gently on the lips before raising his head to stare into his moss-green gaze. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I got a couple of ideas and three hours to see how many of them we can get done.”
“Mmmm, sounds interesting.” Sam smiled and kissed his mate again before Dean, laughing, reversed their positions on the bed and started taking off his clothes.
¤ ¤ ¤
Dean pushed himself up on the bed after cleaning them with his t-shirt. He threw it in the corner of the room to wash later, then shoved a pillow behind his back and gently pulled Sam into his arms.
“You good?” The tenderness in his eyes made Sam tremble. Sam leaned up and kissed Dean again. He would never get tired of this. The sense of peace, of safety, having Dean all to himself
“Yeah, good. It’s just hard to believe, you know?” Sam looked around Dean’s bedroom in the Bunker, his possessions on the dresser, his guns and knives proudly displayed on the walls, and on his desk, he could even see his application to Lee’s Garage. They were nesting. “I mean, we made it. We won all the marbles, and we’re still alive.”
Dean wrapped his arms tighter around him and laid his chin on Sam’s head. “Yeah, we did. And here I thought we couldn’t have nice things?”
“Maybe we can. Maybe we get our very own Happy Ever After…” Sam kissed Dean’s arm. “I’m thinking of going back to school. Finish my degree. I can do it remotely.” He tilted his head up at Dean.
“Yeah? That would be… kinda awesome. My rich lawyer husband keeping me in the style to which I’ve become accustomed.”
“Oh, you wish.” Sam barked out a laugh. “More likely your pro bono husband taking on every lost cause for free.”
“Now, that’s my boy.” Dean kissed Sam’s hair. “And I’d love every minute of it.”
“Would you mind? Not hunting? Maybe just man the phone lines, train up some young ones?”
“Well, these knees ain’t getting any younger. We had to stop sometime, dead or alive, and I like that we’re both getting out of this alive. And me, training up a younger generation, I kind of like the sound of that too.” Dean grinned. “Mostly, I don’t care what we do as long as you’re here with me. I want us to die side by side in our rocking chairs. Me, shaking my cane at the neighborhood kids, you, falling asleep with a book in your hand. Us together, it’s all I ever wanted.”
“I love you, Dean Winchester.”
“I love you, Sam Winchester.”
Sam woke from his dream alone on the mattress in the abandoned house, heart pounding like a drum, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Thankfully, Dean was out on patrol.
Two days later, they packed. No vehicles had gone by on the road, and all of Sam’s wards were still untouched. Sam hoped it meant Lucifer’s horde had fanned out to look in other towns.
The plan for today was to drop an emergency pack a mile or so from the nest’s location with clothing, medical supplies, and food, and they’d go in with weapons and a set of clothing for Dean, just in case.
Dean had lost his harness in Lawrence, so they jury-rigged a new one out of things found at the house. Sam cut a leather jacket into strips and found some heavy-duty rope. It would give Sam a grip to hold on to and a way to sling their supplies onto a moving wolfen.
It hadn’t snowed yesterday, but a storm was working itself up in the west. Sam hoped it would hit on their way to Lucifer’s nest. All the better to hide them.
True to his word, Dean set out at a rolling pace that ate up the distance without seeming to tire him. They arrived mid-afternoon at the nest, having made a wide berth around the hotel and surrounding woods. Dean couldn’t scent any wolfen in the area, but they both knew now it didn’t mean they weren’t there.
They huddled behind some bushes a hundred yards or so from the nest. It would have been a beautiful home in its day, post and beam construction, floor-to-ceiling windows, and several chimneys. Now it all looked a bit run-down and tired.
There were a few outbuildings – a large one, which must once have been for cars, and two smaller ones. No one appeared to be at the nest at all. Sam was about to touch his ring when Dean nudged him.
[I think you should check there first.] Dean nodded toward the garage.
[Why?]
[I smell something. Not quite human, but something. And I’m getting nothing from the main house. It also doesn’t look like the type of construction with a basement to hide a dungeon in. So, if you were keeping a fallen angel captive, where would you hold him?]
Sam eyed the garage with new interest. [Good point.] He touched his ring and scanned for life inside the garage outbuilding.
A field mouse was nibbling something inside the garage. Sam took over.
A figure rose and turned too quickly for Sam to see his face. He dusted a few crumbs of stale bread off his hands as he stood.
Sam looked around. He stood surrounded by a ring of fire. Holy oil. No guards and nothing within reach.
“That good, little fella? You enjoy. I sure as heck didn’t.” The figure turned, shoving his hands in his pockets, and looked out the top windows of the garage door. “Bet you regret falling off that beam in here with me.”
Sam recoiled, the shock of recognition knocking him out of the shadow walk.
He lay there in the snow beside Dean, stunned.
[What is it, what was it?]
[It’s Gabriel. He’s alive.]
[It’s what we want, right? Why so freaked?]
[We… I’ve had run-ins with him before. He’s tricky, really damn tricky. We can’t trust him.]
[Then why are we here?] Dean asked, genuinely confused.
[I—I didn’t really expect him to be alive.]
[So, we just leave him there and go as planned?]
[No, we’ve got to talk to him. He could be the tipping point. I just need to figure out how. Let’s get closer. He’s being held in a ring of holy fire. He can’t get out without dousing the fire, so we’re safe-ish.]
[Oh, that sounds reassuring,] Dean snarked as he padded over to the garage.
[It’s got both Enochian and Latin wards, but I’ve seen most of them before. Give me a bit.]
Dean lay down beside him, his head moving regularly as he scanned the area.
[Okay, I think I’ve got it. I don’t want to let Lucifer know we’re here, so I’m making a small portal that will open on the other side of the wall. It will only stay open for a moment. This spell is a bit twitchy.]
[Gggrreaaat. How the hell do you know all this shit, Sam?]
[Long story. Believe me.]
Sam cut his arm and wrote the sigils on the surface of the logs in blood. As soon as he said the Enochian spell, the portal opened, a blue flaring circle. [Go!] He yelled through the link. He and Dean jumped. The portal closed right behind them.
They landed near the back wall with Gabriel’s ring of fire at their feet.
Sam rose to his feet, Dean beside him, still in wolfen form.
Gabriel cocked his head. “Well, as I live and breathe. After fifty years, am I finally hallucinating, or is this Sam Winchester?”
“How would you know me?”
“Oh, Sammykins. My kin might be stuck up, but we Gabriels stick together across realities. I know all about the infamous Winchester brothers. And this must be Dean standing beside you. Quite the haircut you got, kid. Is this new?”
“Dean was bitten as a child,” Sam said defensively.
“Yeah, the locals do have a bit of a wolfen problem. But you’re not this world’s Sam, are you?” Gabriel leaned back and closed his eyes in concentration. “No, you’re from another world.” He whistled. “Oh my, you’re from Earth Prime!” Gabriel’s eyes widened in surprise. He eyed Sam speculatively. “Imagine, meeting half of the dynamic duo who brought Daddy down. Honored to meet you, Sam.”
[What’s he going on about? What Winchester brothers? I thought your last name was Singer?]
“Oh, he didn’t tell you about him and his big brother Dean?”
Sam looked at Gabriel in shock.
“Oh, yeah, I can tap into your link. No secret’s safe with me, Sam.” Gabriel laughed cruelly.
[But I don’t have a brother.] Dean shook his head.
“Not here, kiddo, not on this world. But in so many, many others, you and Sam were soulmates. Is this what brought you here, Sammy? Looking for a soulmate, now that big bro has bit the biscuit back on Earth Prime?”
“Shut your mouth, you bastard, or I’ll shut it permanently.” Sam’s eyes began to glow.
“But you can’t now, can you? You need me to help take out my big bro.”
[You lied to me.] Dean looked at Sam accusingly. [We didn’t meet by chance.]
“Probably not, kiddo. I bet he’s been trolling worlds for gullible Deans. He finally found one here, though.”
“No, never. Don’t listen to him, Dean. He’s The Trickster. He can’t help himself.” Sam glowered at the archangel, his fists clenched in rage.
[I don’t understand.]
Sam closed his eyes in defeat, his power and rage bleeding away in the face of Dean’s hurt. “I’m sorry. I was going to tell you.”
“Probably not even his thirteenth, from the astral wear I see on those tires.”
“I visited a lot of Deans after mine died. I didn’t want to live the rest of my life without him, without you. I searched world after world. But no one else even came close. I stopped looking completely, and then I found you. I wasn’t trying to trap you, Dean, or trick you. I did want to find love again, but I’d given up. And then you needed help, and you found ME, and everything just kind of happened. I know I should have told you sooner, but I just didn’t know how to tell you… I’m so sorry.”
Dean stepped back away from Sam. He could see reproach in his wolfen eyes.
[Let’s just get this done. We can talk about us after.]
“Now there’s the plucky little Dean I’ve heard so much about. I bet there’d be a single man tear if he were in human form.” Gabriel cackled.
“I don’t think we need Gabriel’s help after all,” Sam said grimly. “He can’t be trusted.”
Sam and Dean turned, and Sam began to chant the portal spell. Gabriel pleaded.
“Wait, wait, wait. I can be good. Please, stop. I’m sorry. I’ve been alone, except for those taciturn demons, for years now. I had to get my groove on. But I can be good. And you’ll never defeat the Morningstar without me.”
[He obviously defeated you.]
“Yeah, well… but without my weapons. He snuck up on me in a brothel. Together we could take him.”
[Convince us.] Dean turned and stared Gabriel down.
“Hey, not lunch here.” Gabriel waved his hands in surrender. “Seriously. If you could manage to snag my lassos off that bitch Meg, we could bind him. Afterward, we can take him out with any number of things.”
“I have my demon blade with me, and one of your lassos. They’re what led us here.”
Sam offered.
“Oh, great! My obsession with Wonder Woman finally paid off. Nah, seriously, they were a gift from Dad. He said he couldn’t just send me off to battle with only a horn.”
Dean looked at Sam briefly, but said nothing.
“Not sure how the three of us take him out, but we can cage him here behind the holy oil flames until we figure it out. We really need an archangel blade. I don’t know where mine is now. Lucifer may have his still. Maybe you could search the house while he’s gone?”
“And if we let you go, how do we know you’ll help us?”
“I don’t want him coming after me again. He won’t stop. He’s a megalomaniac. I managed to stay one foot ahead of him for over a year after the Fall, but then he got me. I’ve been his prisoner ever since. I just want him stopped. And have a little fun.” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Okay, so how do we do this?” Sam asked.
“Lucifer usually comes home every four or five days. Sometimes he drops by. Sometimes he brings food, but most of the time, he just goes to his nest to stew.”
“How many demons does he bring with him?”
“He usually only has two in front of the house. There’s more at the foot of the road, but they’re out of sight. He never bothers with me unless the wards get triggered. But after he arrives, we could sneak into his nest and fight him there.”
“Okay, Dean and I will discuss it and get back to you.”
Gabriel nodded, “There’s a loft upstairs. Sometimes the guards sleep here overnight. There’re facilities and a bed. You two can try to make up. Good place to hide, too, if Luci walks in.”
“Good idea.” Dean darted up the stairs, and Sam followed.
“Wait? You’re not going to free me first?”
Sam smiled. “I’m thinking here is as good a place as any to have a showdown with Lucifer. And I think we’ll keep the fire going. Make sure you’ll stick around for the fight.”
[So, we wait.]
Sam looked around the loft space at the peak of the garage. It was cramped by the slope of the ceilings, but there was a mattress on the floor and a dormer off to one side where they’d built the bathroom.
Dean lay down on the mattress at the opposite end of the room from Sam.
Sam made a gesture to be quiet and began to cast a spell. A blue-tinted bubble shimmered into existence around them.
“Okay, it’s safe to talk now without Gabriel hearing us. Just don’t mind link.” Dean turned his head away, but Sam could see his ears were still cocked toward Sam.
“Dean. Listen. I’m sorry. I was going to tell you everything once this was all over, I just didn’t want to get into it now. But it’s not like he made it sound. I really did fall in love with you.
“Yes, I’ve been to dozens of worlds, met many Deans, but there wasn’t a place for me on any of those worlds. I don’t know why I was so naive to think a Dean would be out there just waiting for me.” Sam’s laugh was bitter. “They weren’t.” He shook his head. “I told you the truth. By the time I came to your world, I’d given up. I was still hurting from my Dean’s death. Then slowly, I began to recover, heal. Finally made peace with myself. I figured I’d just have to go through the rest of my life alone. It took a while, but eventually, I wanted to help people again. My world didn’t need me anymore, but I could help here on this one. Maybe not hunting, but healing.
“Then you came to me, and you needed my help. At the very least, I figured I could help you fight an enemy I’d fought and won against before. Help you avoid the same mistakes Dean and I made. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say it would be good if you wanted to be a brother, if not a lover, to me. It was only after being with you for a while that I thought maybe I sensed something, but I wasn’t really counting on it. I’d been disappointed so many times before.”
Sam shook his head and picked at the seam on his jeans. “And you’re not him, Dean. Yeah, there are some similarities, but you’re your very own person. He liked hard rock; you like classical. He was a car guy; you like guns. You treat me like an equal. For my Dean, I was always the little brother who needed protecting, even after we became lovers. But whatever differences or similarities there are, there’s a connection. I can’t deny it. I don’t want to deny it, but it’s not a copy of what I used to have. It’s something new, and fresh, and bright all on its own. I have been alone for so many years now, and you have, too. Can’t we just have this? Enjoy it?”
Sam crawled over to where Dean was sitting, still looking out the end of the loft. He grabbed Dean’s big, fluffy head and turned it toward him. “If after this is over, you want to go our separate ways, we can. I’ll even leave this earth if you want. But know I don’t want to leave you. I’m done, Dean. You’re it for me. I want to be with you till the end of our lives.”
Dean’s liquid green eyes stared into Sam’s, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.
Sam didn’t know what it meant, but he’d damn well do anything he had to prove himself to Dean.
It was three days before a Land Rover drove up the drive, and Lucifer and two demons jumped out. Three days of Gabriel’s non-stop limericks and stories. Grateful for any excuse out of the garage, they had searched Lucifer’s nest and the other outbuildings exhaustively. There were no additional weapons. Wherever Lucifer had them was a mystery.
Dean stayed in wolfen form, quiet for the full three days. Sam knew he was thinking, knew he was trying to figure things out. Sam tried to respect his space and give him time, even though all he wanted to do was beg Dean to shift and talk things out.
Upon the demons’ arrival, the two guards took up positions at the front door, and Lucifer disappeared inside the main house, just as Gabriel had predicted.
“I can call him over if you want?” Gabriel volunteered. “Have our showdown right here and now, rather than wait for him. He left me a bell if I ever wanted to turn and become his servant.” Gabriel snorted.
“Now’s as good a time as any.” Sam had positioned a bucket of sand to free Gabriel from the flames. Inside the bucket was also the lasso Gabriel could use to help capture his brother. The deal was that they weren’t going to free Gabriel until Lucifer arrived, and he proved he was going to help.
Dean was to stay up in the loft and jump down when the battle started.
Sam would use his cloaking spell until the fighting began. “Do it.”
Gabriel rang the bell, and in only a few minutes, Lucifer was at the door.
“Well, this is a rare event. You called, brother?”
“Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve seen your handsome face.”
“Have you finally decided to accept defeat and join my forces?”
“Not in a millennium. But I do have a proposal for you.” This was the agreed-upon word. Sam kicked the bucket across the room, spilling sand across a section of the flames, smothering them instantly, breaking the spell. The lasso landed at Gabriel’s feet.
Gabriel snapped his fingers, and the lasso flicked out like a whip, catching around Sam and reeling him into the main area.
“You traitor!” Sam spat.
“My proposal, dear brother, is: I give you the Winchesters, yes, both of them! And you leave me alone to wander the rest of my days.”
Lucifer smiled as he strolled further into the garage, “A compelling offer, brother. Two perfect vessels for the price of one. I’m surprised at you. How did you fool these two so well? They obviously trusted you.” Lucifer chuckled. He looked Sam up and down thoughtfully, “This one is undoubtedly the witch. Where is the other one?”
“He’s hiding upstairs,” Gabriel smirked.
“This is certainly a deal worth taking. You’re no danger to me after all.”
“None at all.” Gabriel bowed his head, and as he did, he snapped his fingers a second time. The whip flicked, freeing Sam and coiling around Lucifer. Freed, Sam flung himself at the Morningstar, the archangel blade suddenly in his hand like a spear.
Gabriel gasped as Lucifer turned to see the blade and put up his hands to freeze Sam in place, the lasso not strong enough to stop him. At the same time, Sam threw the blade, missing Lucifer wildly, as he was pinned in place by Lucifer’s powers. The blade flew through the air, intercepted perfectly by Dean as the wolfen jumped over the loft railing. His wolf paws turned to human hands, and snatched the blade out of the air, stabbing it through Lucifer’s heart in one perfect arc.
Lucifer lay there in stunned surprise, his Grace pumping out of him as he died before their eyes.
Lucifer’s fall freed Sam instantly, and he grabbed the second lasso hidden under his coat, coiled it around Gabriel, and lit a match. The oil-soaked lasso began to burn, and Gabriel began to shriek.
“How did you earth monkeys manage to fool me?” Lucifer cursed as he lay dying.
Dean shifted fully back to human and walked over to Gabriel.
“Should we put Gabriel back in his ring? I kind of hate the noise.”
Sam nodded, and Dean grabbed a flask of holy oil the guards had kept in the garage as a precaution. He patched the original circle and rolled Gabriel’s burning body into it. He lit the holy oil on fire before flicking the lasso to free Gabriel inside his prison.
“You bastards! You tricked me.” Gabriel spat. “I helped you.”
“You were supposed to put the lasso around Lucifer and set it on fire. But you didn’t. So yeah, you helped us in the end, but we still can’t trust you as far as we can throw you,” Sam snarled.
Dean dropped the burning lasso into a second bucket of sand, killing the flames. Lucifer’s Grace was still slowly pumping onto the garage floor with each beat of his meatsuit’s heart.
“I hear you’re low on Grace,” Dean said to Sam.
“Yeah, a little, but don’t worry, I’ve got enough to get me to at least one more world and out of your hair, if this is what you really want.” Sam looked at Dean.
“I’m thinking with a lot of groveling and a lot of coffee, we can get through this. But in the future, I might want my mate to take me on vacation sometime. Say, to see this Earth Prime, for example.”
Sam grabbed his mate and kissed him, hugging him tight. Tears were in his eyes when he finally let go. “Hand me the bucket.”
They settled on sending Gabriel to the world where junkie Dean had died. There was neither a Sam nor a Dean there whom he could hurt, and given his history, they just didn’t trust Gabriel to keep out of mischief. They knew if he really put his mind to it, he could probably get back to their Earth, but there wasn’t much candy on this world.
The demons scattered once they discovered Lucifer was dead. Sure, they were a problem once in a while, but nothing Sam and Dean couldn’t handle.
Sam talked Roxy into getting a jukebox and a bigger bed in the storage room. They needed room for both of them now.
Dean found a second jukebox on one of their scavenging trips and installed it at the Bunker. He’s a damn fine dancer, if you ask Sam.
And they built the hot tub Dean was talking about. They put it up on the big deck so they’d have a glorious view of the valley. They christened it their first night.
Sometimes Sam still dreams of his Dean, but it’s gentler now, like visiting with an old friend.
He’s sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala. It’s night, and he can barely see Dean’s face rimmed by the light of the radio. Dean glances over at him, a soft smile on his lips, and it’s all Sam needs to know he’s loved. He lolls his head against the window and watches the stars wheel slowly by.
Dean pushed himself up on the bed after cleaning them with his t-shirt. He threw it in the corner of the room to wash later, then shoved a pillow behind his back and gently pulled Sam into his arms.
“You good?” The tenderness in his eyes made Sam tremble. Sam leaned up and kissed Dean again. He would never get tired of this. The sense of peace, of safety, having Dean all to himself
“Yeah, good. It’s just hard to believe, you know?” Sam looked around Dean’s bedroom in the Bunker, his possessions on the dresser, his guns and knives proudly displayed on the walls, and on his desk, he could even see his application to Lee’s Garage. They were nesting. “I mean, we made it. We won all the marbles, and we’re still alive.”
Dean wrapped his arms tighter around him and laid his chin on Sam’s head. “Yeah, we did. And here I thought we couldn’t have nice things?”
“Maybe we can. Maybe we get our very own Happy Ever After…” Sam kissed Dean’s arm. “I’m thinking of going back to school. Finish my degree. I can do it remotely.” He tilted his head up at Dean.
“Yeah? That would be… kinda awesome. My rich lawyer husband keeping me in the style to which I’ve become accustomed.”
“Oh, you wish.” Sam barked out a laugh. “More likely your pro bono husband taking on every lost cause for free.”
“Now, that’s my boy.” Dean kissed Sam’s hair. “And I’d love every minute of it.”
“Would you mind? Not hunting? Maybe just man the phone lines, train up some young ones?”
“Well, these knees ain’t getting any younger. We had to stop sometime, dead or alive, and I like that we’re both getting out of this alive. And me, training up a younger generation, I kind of like the sound of that too.” Dean grinned. “Mostly, I don’t care what we do as long as you’re here with me. I want us to die side by side in our rocking chairs. Me, shaking my cane at the neighborhood kids, you, falling asleep with a book in your hand. Us together, it’s all I ever wanted.”
“I love you, Dean Winchester.”
“I love you, Sam Winchester.”
¤ ¤ ¤
Sam woke from his dream alone on the mattress in the abandoned house, heart pounding like a drum, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Thankfully, Dean was out on patrol.
Two days later, they packed. No vehicles had gone by on the road, and all of Sam’s wards were still untouched. Sam hoped it meant Lucifer’s horde had fanned out to look in other towns.
The plan for today was to drop an emergency pack a mile or so from the nest’s location with clothing, medical supplies, and food, and they’d go in with weapons and a set of clothing for Dean, just in case.
Dean had lost his harness in Lawrence, so they jury-rigged a new one out of things found at the house. Sam cut a leather jacket into strips and found some heavy-duty rope. It would give Sam a grip to hold on to and a way to sling their supplies onto a moving wolfen.
It hadn’t snowed yesterday, but a storm was working itself up in the west. Sam hoped it would hit on their way to Lucifer’s nest. All the better to hide them.
True to his word, Dean set out at a rolling pace that ate up the distance without seeming to tire him. They arrived mid-afternoon at the nest, having made a wide berth around the hotel and surrounding woods. Dean couldn’t scent any wolfen in the area, but they both knew now it didn’t mean they weren’t there.
They huddled behind some bushes a hundred yards or so from the nest. It would have been a beautiful home in its day, post and beam construction, floor-to-ceiling windows, and several chimneys. Now it all looked a bit run-down and tired.
There were a few outbuildings – a large one, which must once have been for cars, and two smaller ones. No one appeared to be at the nest at all. Sam was about to touch his ring when Dean nudged him.
[I think you should check there first.] Dean nodded toward the garage.
[Why?]
[I smell something. Not quite human, but something. And I’m getting nothing from the main house. It also doesn’t look like the type of construction with a basement to hide a dungeon in. So, if you were keeping a fallen angel captive, where would you hold him?]
Sam eyed the garage with new interest. [Good point.] He touched his ring and scanned for life inside the garage outbuilding.
A field mouse was nibbling something inside the garage. Sam took over.
A figure rose and turned too quickly for Sam to see his face. He dusted a few crumbs of stale bread off his hands as he stood.
Sam looked around. He stood surrounded by a ring of fire. Holy oil. No guards and nothing within reach.
“That good, little fella? You enjoy. I sure as heck didn’t.” The figure turned, shoving his hands in his pockets, and looked out the top windows of the garage door. “Bet you regret falling off that beam in here with me.”
Sam recoiled, the shock of recognition knocking him out of the shadow walk.
He lay there in the snow beside Dean, stunned.
[What is it, what was it?]
[It’s Gabriel. He’s alive.]
[It’s what we want, right? Why so freaked?]
[We… I’ve had run-ins with him before. He’s tricky, really damn tricky. We can’t trust him.]
[Then why are we here?] Dean asked, genuinely confused.
[I—I didn’t really expect him to be alive.]
[So, we just leave him there and go as planned?]
[No, we’ve got to talk to him. He could be the tipping point. I just need to figure out how. Let’s get closer. He’s being held in a ring of holy fire. He can’t get out without dousing the fire, so we’re safe-ish.]
[Oh, that sounds reassuring,] Dean snarked as he padded over to the garage.
[It’s got both Enochian and Latin wards, but I’ve seen most of them before. Give me a bit.]
Dean lay down beside him, his head moving regularly as he scanned the area.
[Okay, I think I’ve got it. I don’t want to let Lucifer know we’re here, so I’m making a small portal that will open on the other side of the wall. It will only stay open for a moment. This spell is a bit twitchy.]
[Gggrreaaat. How the hell do you know all this shit, Sam?]
[Long story. Believe me.]
Sam cut his arm and wrote the sigils on the surface of the logs in blood. As soon as he said the Enochian spell, the portal opened, a blue flaring circle. [Go!] He yelled through the link. He and Dean jumped. The portal closed right behind them.
They landed near the back wall with Gabriel’s ring of fire at their feet.
Sam rose to his feet, Dean beside him, still in wolfen form.
Gabriel cocked his head. “Well, as I live and breathe. After fifty years, am I finally hallucinating, or is this Sam Winchester?”
“How would you know me?”
“Oh, Sammykins. My kin might be stuck up, but we Gabriels stick together across realities. I know all about the infamous Winchester brothers. And this must be Dean standing beside you. Quite the haircut you got, kid. Is this new?”
“Dean was bitten as a child,” Sam said defensively.
“Yeah, the locals do have a bit of a wolfen problem. But you’re not this world’s Sam, are you?” Gabriel leaned back and closed his eyes in concentration. “No, you’re from another world.” He whistled. “Oh my, you’re from Earth Prime!” Gabriel’s eyes widened in surprise. He eyed Sam speculatively. “Imagine, meeting half of the dynamic duo who brought Daddy down. Honored to meet you, Sam.”
[What’s he going on about? What Winchester brothers? I thought your last name was Singer?]
“Oh, he didn’t tell you about him and his big brother Dean?”
Sam looked at Gabriel in shock.
“Oh, yeah, I can tap into your link. No secret’s safe with me, Sam.” Gabriel laughed cruelly.
[But I don’t have a brother.] Dean shook his head.
“Not here, kiddo, not on this world. But in so many, many others, you and Sam were soulmates. Is this what brought you here, Sammy? Looking for a soulmate, now that big bro has bit the biscuit back on Earth Prime?”
“Shut your mouth, you bastard, or I’ll shut it permanently.” Sam’s eyes began to glow.
“But you can’t now, can you? You need me to help take out my big bro.”
[You lied to me.] Dean looked at Sam accusingly. [We didn’t meet by chance.]
“Probably not, kiddo. I bet he’s been trolling worlds for gullible Deans. He finally found one here, though.”
“No, never. Don’t listen to him, Dean. He’s The Trickster. He can’t help himself.” Sam glowered at the archangel, his fists clenched in rage.
[I don’t understand.]
Sam closed his eyes in defeat, his power and rage bleeding away in the face of Dean’s hurt. “I’m sorry. I was going to tell you.”
“Probably not even his thirteenth, from the astral wear I see on those tires.”
“I visited a lot of Deans after mine died. I didn’t want to live the rest of my life without him, without you. I searched world after world. But no one else even came close. I stopped looking completely, and then I found you. I wasn’t trying to trap you, Dean, or trick you. I did want to find love again, but I’d given up. And then you needed help, and you found ME, and everything just kind of happened. I know I should have told you sooner, but I just didn’t know how to tell you… I’m so sorry.”
Dean stepped back away from Sam. He could see reproach in his wolfen eyes.
[Let’s just get this done. We can talk about us after.]
“Now there’s the plucky little Dean I’ve heard so much about. I bet there’d be a single man tear if he were in human form.” Gabriel cackled.
“I don’t think we need Gabriel’s help after all,” Sam said grimly. “He can’t be trusted.”
Sam and Dean turned, and Sam began to chant the portal spell. Gabriel pleaded.
“Wait, wait, wait. I can be good. Please, stop. I’m sorry. I’ve been alone, except for those taciturn demons, for years now. I had to get my groove on. But I can be good. And you’ll never defeat the Morningstar without me.”
[He obviously defeated you.]
“Yeah, well… but without my weapons. He snuck up on me in a brothel. Together we could take him.”
[Convince us.] Dean turned and stared Gabriel down.
“Hey, not lunch here.” Gabriel waved his hands in surrender. “Seriously. If you could manage to snag my lassos off that bitch Meg, we could bind him. Afterward, we can take him out with any number of things.”
“I have my demon blade with me, and one of your lassos. They’re what led us here.”
Sam offered.
“Oh, great! My obsession with Wonder Woman finally paid off. Nah, seriously, they were a gift from Dad. He said he couldn’t just send me off to battle with only a horn.”
Dean looked at Sam briefly, but said nothing.
“Not sure how the three of us take him out, but we can cage him here behind the holy oil flames until we figure it out. We really need an archangel blade. I don’t know where mine is now. Lucifer may have his still. Maybe you could search the house while he’s gone?”
“And if we let you go, how do we know you’ll help us?”
“I don’t want him coming after me again. He won’t stop. He’s a megalomaniac. I managed to stay one foot ahead of him for over a year after the Fall, but then he got me. I’ve been his prisoner ever since. I just want him stopped. And have a little fun.” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Okay, so how do we do this?” Sam asked.
“Lucifer usually comes home every four or five days. Sometimes he drops by. Sometimes he brings food, but most of the time, he just goes to his nest to stew.”
“How many demons does he bring with him?”
“He usually only has two in front of the house. There’s more at the foot of the road, but they’re out of sight. He never bothers with me unless the wards get triggered. But after he arrives, we could sneak into his nest and fight him there.”
“Okay, Dean and I will discuss it and get back to you.”
Gabriel nodded, “There’s a loft upstairs. Sometimes the guards sleep here overnight. There’re facilities and a bed. You two can try to make up. Good place to hide, too, if Luci walks in.”
“Good idea.” Dean darted up the stairs, and Sam followed.
“Wait? You’re not going to free me first?”
Sam smiled. “I’m thinking here is as good a place as any to have a showdown with Lucifer. And I think we’ll keep the fire going. Make sure you’ll stick around for the fight.”
[So, we wait.]
Sam looked around the loft space at the peak of the garage. It was cramped by the slope of the ceilings, but there was a mattress on the floor and a dormer off to one side where they’d built the bathroom.
Dean lay down on the mattress at the opposite end of the room from Sam.
Sam made a gesture to be quiet and began to cast a spell. A blue-tinted bubble shimmered into existence around them.
“Okay, it’s safe to talk now without Gabriel hearing us. Just don’t mind link.” Dean turned his head away, but Sam could see his ears were still cocked toward Sam.
“Dean. Listen. I’m sorry. I was going to tell you everything once this was all over, I just didn’t want to get into it now. But it’s not like he made it sound. I really did fall in love with you.
“Yes, I’ve been to dozens of worlds, met many Deans, but there wasn’t a place for me on any of those worlds. I don’t know why I was so naive to think a Dean would be out there just waiting for me.” Sam’s laugh was bitter. “They weren’t.” He shook his head. “I told you the truth. By the time I came to your world, I’d given up. I was still hurting from my Dean’s death. Then slowly, I began to recover, heal. Finally made peace with myself. I figured I’d just have to go through the rest of my life alone. It took a while, but eventually, I wanted to help people again. My world didn’t need me anymore, but I could help here on this one. Maybe not hunting, but healing.
“Then you came to me, and you needed my help. At the very least, I figured I could help you fight an enemy I’d fought and won against before. Help you avoid the same mistakes Dean and I made. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say it would be good if you wanted to be a brother, if not a lover, to me. It was only after being with you for a while that I thought maybe I sensed something, but I wasn’t really counting on it. I’d been disappointed so many times before.”
Sam shook his head and picked at the seam on his jeans. “And you’re not him, Dean. Yeah, there are some similarities, but you’re your very own person. He liked hard rock; you like classical. He was a car guy; you like guns. You treat me like an equal. For my Dean, I was always the little brother who needed protecting, even after we became lovers. But whatever differences or similarities there are, there’s a connection. I can’t deny it. I don’t want to deny it, but it’s not a copy of what I used to have. It’s something new, and fresh, and bright all on its own. I have been alone for so many years now, and you have, too. Can’t we just have this? Enjoy it?”
Sam crawled over to where Dean was sitting, still looking out the end of the loft. He grabbed Dean’s big, fluffy head and turned it toward him. “If after this is over, you want to go our separate ways, we can. I’ll even leave this earth if you want. But know I don’t want to leave you. I’m done, Dean. You’re it for me. I want to be with you till the end of our lives.”
Dean’s liquid green eyes stared into Sam’s, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.
Sam didn’t know what it meant, but he’d damn well do anything he had to prove himself to Dean.
¤ ¤ ¤
It was three days before a Land Rover drove up the drive, and Lucifer and two demons jumped out. Three days of Gabriel’s non-stop limericks and stories. Grateful for any excuse out of the garage, they had searched Lucifer’s nest and the other outbuildings exhaustively. There were no additional weapons. Wherever Lucifer had them was a mystery.
Dean stayed in wolfen form, quiet for the full three days. Sam knew he was thinking, knew he was trying to figure things out. Sam tried to respect his space and give him time, even though all he wanted to do was beg Dean to shift and talk things out.
Upon the demons’ arrival, the two guards took up positions at the front door, and Lucifer disappeared inside the main house, just as Gabriel had predicted.
“I can call him over if you want?” Gabriel volunteered. “Have our showdown right here and now, rather than wait for him. He left me a bell if I ever wanted to turn and become his servant.” Gabriel snorted.
“Now’s as good a time as any.” Sam had positioned a bucket of sand to free Gabriel from the flames. Inside the bucket was also the lasso Gabriel could use to help capture his brother. The deal was that they weren’t going to free Gabriel until Lucifer arrived, and he proved he was going to help.
Dean was to stay up in the loft and jump down when the battle started.
Sam would use his cloaking spell until the fighting began. “Do it.”
Gabriel rang the bell, and in only a few minutes, Lucifer was at the door.
“Well, this is a rare event. You called, brother?”
“Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve seen your handsome face.”
“Have you finally decided to accept defeat and join my forces?”
“Not in a millennium. But I do have a proposal for you.” This was the agreed-upon word. Sam kicked the bucket across the room, spilling sand across a section of the flames, smothering them instantly, breaking the spell. The lasso landed at Gabriel’s feet.
Gabriel snapped his fingers, and the lasso flicked out like a whip, catching around Sam and reeling him into the main area.
“You traitor!” Sam spat.
“My proposal, dear brother, is: I give you the Winchesters, yes, both of them! And you leave me alone to wander the rest of my days.”
Lucifer smiled as he strolled further into the garage, “A compelling offer, brother. Two perfect vessels for the price of one. I’m surprised at you. How did you fool these two so well? They obviously trusted you.” Lucifer chuckled. He looked Sam up and down thoughtfully, “This one is undoubtedly the witch. Where is the other one?”
“He’s hiding upstairs,” Gabriel smirked.
“This is certainly a deal worth taking. You’re no danger to me after all.”
“None at all.” Gabriel bowed his head, and as he did, he snapped his fingers a second time. The whip flicked, freeing Sam and coiling around Lucifer. Freed, Sam flung himself at the Morningstar, the archangel blade suddenly in his hand like a spear.
Gabriel gasped as Lucifer turned to see the blade and put up his hands to freeze Sam in place, the lasso not strong enough to stop him. At the same time, Sam threw the blade, missing Lucifer wildly, as he was pinned in place by Lucifer’s powers. The blade flew through the air, intercepted perfectly by Dean as the wolfen jumped over the loft railing. His wolf paws turned to human hands, and snatched the blade out of the air, stabbing it through Lucifer’s heart in one perfect arc.
Lucifer lay there in stunned surprise, his Grace pumping out of him as he died before their eyes.
Lucifer’s fall freed Sam instantly, and he grabbed the second lasso hidden under his coat, coiled it around Gabriel, and lit a match. The oil-soaked lasso began to burn, and Gabriel began to shriek.
“How did you earth monkeys manage to fool me?” Lucifer cursed as he lay dying.
Dean shifted fully back to human and walked over to Gabriel.
“Should we put Gabriel back in his ring? I kind of hate the noise.”
Sam nodded, and Dean grabbed a flask of holy oil the guards had kept in the garage as a precaution. He patched the original circle and rolled Gabriel’s burning body into it. He lit the holy oil on fire before flicking the lasso to free Gabriel inside his prison.
“You bastards! You tricked me.” Gabriel spat. “I helped you.”
“You were supposed to put the lasso around Lucifer and set it on fire. But you didn’t. So yeah, you helped us in the end, but we still can’t trust you as far as we can throw you,” Sam snarled.
Dean dropped the burning lasso into a second bucket of sand, killing the flames. Lucifer’s Grace was still slowly pumping onto the garage floor with each beat of his meatsuit’s heart.
“I hear you’re low on Grace,” Dean said to Sam.
“Yeah, a little, but don’t worry, I’ve got enough to get me to at least one more world and out of your hair, if this is what you really want.” Sam looked at Dean.
“I’m thinking with a lot of groveling and a lot of coffee, we can get through this. But in the future, I might want my mate to take me on vacation sometime. Say, to see this Earth Prime, for example.”
Sam grabbed his mate and kissed him, hugging him tight. Tears were in his eyes when he finally let go. “Hand me the bucket.”
Epilogue
They settled on sending Gabriel to the world where junkie Dean had died. There was neither a Sam nor a Dean there whom he could hurt, and given his history, they just didn’t trust Gabriel to keep out of mischief. They knew if he really put his mind to it, he could probably get back to their Earth, but there wasn’t much candy on this world.
The demons scattered once they discovered Lucifer was dead. Sure, they were a problem once in a while, but nothing Sam and Dean couldn’t handle.
Sam talked Roxy into getting a jukebox and a bigger bed in the storage room. They needed room for both of them now.
Dean found a second jukebox on one of their scavenging trips and installed it at the Bunker. He’s a damn fine dancer, if you ask Sam.
And they built the hot tub Dean was talking about. They put it up on the big deck so they’d have a glorious view of the valley. They christened it their first night.
Sometimes Sam still dreams of his Dean, but it’s gentler now, like visiting with an old friend.
He’s sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala. It’s night, and he can barely see Dean’s face rimmed by the light of the radio. Dean glances over at him, a soft smile on his lips, and it’s all Sam needs to know he’s loved. He lolls his head against the window and watches the stars wheel slowly by.
¤ ¤ ¤
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AND Now you can read the sequel: Part 2 of Verse: The Making of a Witch Part 3 of Verse: In the Company of Wolfen