(no subject)
Title: Never Go Back (1/22)
Characters in Chapter: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Lisa Braeden, Ben Braeden, Lucifer, Adam Milligan, Michael, Raphael, Balthazar, Sarah Blake (in passing)
Pairings: Dean/Lisa, eventual Sam/OFC, mild Ben/Katie
Rating: NC - 17
Story Contains: Samifer, kidnapping, graphic violence, a disturbing exorcism scene, possible Stockholm Syndrome and all the consent issues with that, sex scenes, kissing, sexually charged scenes, pregnancy, coarse language
Chapter Contains: Kissing, a sex scene, Samifer, hell scenes, graphic violence, coarse language
Summary: After Sam goes into the cage, Dean honors the promise he made to his brother. However, the angels have other ideas about the Winchesters’ plan.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SPN canon; that belongs to Eric Kripke. I own only my OFCs and OMCs.
A/N: This story is set after the events of season 5 and is meant to be read as an alternate 6th season of Supernatural. I happen to love what I have seen of the actual 6th season, but there were some things I wanted to explore that I knew no one could explore on a show rated basically PG - 13. Hope you enjoy this first “episode”!
Re episode title: De Profundis means “out of the depths.” It also happens to be the title of one of the songs sung in the Requiem Mass which reads “Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord.”
****
Episode 1: De Profundis
Dean dropped his bag by the side of the bed that didn’t look slept on. If he was going to take space up in this house, he might as well try to invade Lisa’s space as little as possible. He could hear her trying to get Ben to get all his homework done. Perfect moment to step into the master bath to get a shower.
The high - power shower head could get all the dirt and grime off his body, even from places he’d forgotten got dirty, but every memory of the last few weeks did everything but melt away. In fact, they pounded at his brain, as if some being had a really sick love for schadenfreude. Even the good things, like Bobby getting his legs back, stung because none of it combined was half as balmy as losing Sam to the Pit.
Finally it hit him: It was all over. He didn’t have to keep going on the road anymore. He didn’t have to try to crack a smile for Ben. He could just sink down into despair and the bathtub.
Dean cried more than he ever remembered crying in his life. If he’d been able to stand, he would’ve run from one part of the room to the other, trying to find something to cling to. The sobs that came out of his body didn’t even sound real; even the death screams of tortured animals sounded more believable than these howls that shook his whole body. He put his head against the tile wall and shut his eyes, trying to remember every good memory he’d ever had. Yet nothing would ever blot out the image of both Adam and Sam falling into that unknown abyss.
***
After what felt like hours later, the tears had stopped and Dean felt gentle hands pull him out of the bathtub. Lisa sat him down on the toilet and helped him dry himself off. When she was sure he was decently dry, she brought him some boxers and a t - shirt. “You can come to bed when you feel like it,” she whispered in his ear. She left the door ajar, and Dean heard her climb into bed and softly recite nightly prayers.
He pulled on his sleeping clothes and, when he was sure Lisa was done with her prayers, got into the bed. It was softer than the beds he was used to. Then again, those beds were only beds in the sense that they had a mattress free of bugs and rats and had covers and pillows to ease someone into rest. This bed was one Dean would want to stay in, if only for a while longer than needed.
Lisa looked asleep. Good. He didn’t have to talk about everything that happened. That could wait for a few more hours. Dean rolled over onto his stomach, shut his eyes, and tried to let his mind fall into sleep…
Then it happened all over again: Hell, resurrection, the struggle for the seals, Sam’s breakdown, losing Sam, finding him again…and Sam becoming Lucifer. He kept trying to pull Sam - Lucifer into the hole, but it kept getting farther and farther away. Then he heard the laugh. Sam’s familiar, hearty laugh, with a touch of iced steel, rang in his ears. Sam was gone. It was only Lucifer. It always would be…
Dean woke up sitting up in bed and screaming at the top of his lungs. Lisa was shaking him, begging him to wake up, and Ben was standing in the doorway, his face full of terror. The screaming died, and Dean was just panting real hard. Then Lisa told Ben to go back to bed, and started wiping the tears off Dean’s face.
“It’s okay, Dean. I’m here,” she whispered. “I’ll always be here.” Then she gently kissed the side of his face. He had been looking for a soft place to land so long, and now here it was. Safety was his…and so was Lisa.
He brought her face to his, and he kissed her lips. She fell down onto the mattress, and he deepened the kiss, slowly pulling his tongue in and out of her mouth. Her hands slid down his back and started massaging and gripping his ass. Slowly and gently, her hands moved up to the band of his boxers and inched them down.
Meanwhile, Dean was unbuttoning her nightgown and moving his lips down her neck to her collarbone…and then her breasts. He cupped her right breast with his hand and started planting soft kisses on her breast. He distinctly heard Lisa groan with pleasure, and it made him smile.
“I seem to remember you liked that,” he muttered as he moved to the other breast.
Lisa whispered back, “Yeah…but not nearly as much as you liked this,” as she put her hand down Dean’s boxers and started stroking his dick and touching his balls. The sensation made him gasp and his eyes fly open. His dick got harder with every little stroke, so he pressed into her touch and started pulling down her panties. When her panties were off, she pulled her hand up and pulled his boxers the rest of the way off.
Dean started kissing Lisa’s lips again and gently pushed his dick into her. She wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his hair as he stroked in and out of her. The pleasure they both got was familiar in so many ways, but new, because it was the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.
When they were both sated, Dean rolled over to the right of Lisa on the bed. He held her close, and she laid her head in the crook of his neck. Perfect…
***
Dean might’ve hoped that his new life would be just like that: slow, beautiful, and sacred. But all the torment he’d gone through his whole life, especially of the past three years, would come over him like a wave. Most of the time, he was able to just push through the pain and bury it. But, when he and Lisa were alone, he would recount everything - at least, everything he felt safe in telling her - and she would give him support and encouragement.
It was she who’d helped him look for a job. He’d ended up being an errand boy of sorts for a construction team. It was hard work, but work made him feel good. At the end of the day, he felt like he’d accomplished something…like when he hunted. And then when that thought popped into his head, it would make him think of hunting with Sam and Dad…losing both of them…and then all the other stuff would come back like a flood.
He knew it was better to be able to feel and appreciate good feelings. But why did he have to have so many shitty memories to get only a few gems of a happy life?
***
Lisa knew Dean was fucked up. It was plain everywhere: on his face; in the way he dealt with people; in the way he fixed himself two drinks before she’d even started dinner. She tried to be a good listener, to let him talk it out, but she was afraid she wasn’t doing nearly enough.
She’d offered to take him to see the pastor and talk, but Dean flat - out refused. He said that most people couldn’t understand the life and the only reason he was telling her was because she needed to be able to take care of herself if he wasn’t at home.
She’d suggested writing all of it down. Writing had been therapeutic for her when she was pregnant with Ben, because she really had no one near her to turn to. He’d gently told her that he was afraid Ben would find the thing and would either be terrified the rest of his life or want to join the ranks - neither of which he wanted for his stepson.
Those and so many things she’d offered to him, but he’d just decided to soldier on, and that worried her. He’d probably done that all his life, and she wanted him to become a healthy human being. Then again, it’d taken him about 30 years to get this way. It might take longer than that to get him to be happy and normal, living some, as Dean said, “apple - pie life.”
***
Dean wasn’t lying. It at least felt like years while he was being carved up by Lucifer. He saw his own guts pouring out of his body a million times. It almost didn’t faze him anymore. Almost. Then again, seeing a three - headed bastard, each head vaguely resembling the Predator movies, slicing you up couldn’t really be good for your health.
Meanwhile, he saw Adam in the best impersonation of the Black Dahlia a blond man with short hair could give. The blood was gurgling in Adam’s mouth, and Sam’s own blood threatened to choke him.
“This is what you get, Sam,” Lucifer said, smiling, “when you trick the devil. I’m the master of trickery.”
Why he decided to be a smart - ass, Sam didn’t know. “I thought your brother was the one impersonating a Trickster,” he gasped. “I thought you were proud of being an angel.”
Lucifer pursed his lips, then slit Sam’s throat -
In an instant, Sam was back to wholeness again, ready to be hooked up to a rack. Over on the other side of the cage lay his physical body, which neither Lucifer nor Michael had yet touched. He wondered if he would feel the pain in his soul if they cut up his body.
His thoughts were cut short when Lucifer and Michael started taking turns ripping his nails out. Well, at least they were leaving Adam alone. That was a plus.
***
“Why are we doing this, brother? You could let out Lucifer by mistake!” Balthazar said.
Raphael turned to face him and said, “By mistake? Dear Balthazar, I intend to let Lucifer out.” Balthazar gaped and tried to form words as they descended to earth, but Raphael smoothly interrupted his mouthings with, “In his vessel. Michael as well. We have to have both to keep the apocalypse going, don’t we?”
Balthazar seemed to quiet down after he said that. In truth, he had no intention of letting Michael out, at least not at this point in time. They only needed Lucifer, and that was as a bargaining chip in this celestial war. Castiel could never stand up to the most favored angel of the heavenly host, and he knew it.
Moreover, he would never actually hurt Sam Winchester. They needed the vessel, didn’t they?
Victory was sure to be theirs.
***
All of hell heard the rumbling and quaking. Even the torturers scattered in fear. No one knew what was happening…this had only happened once before, and every demon prayed that such a thing would never happen again.
Then, to their horror, a great burst of light descended into Hell. Several hundred demons were killed instantly from the blast; the rest only saved by hiding in their usual dank haunts…
The upper eight circles hissed from their caves. Even the humans trapped there had become more animal than sapient beings. Any kind of defense mechanism failed to work because the demons couldn’t come out to work them, for fear of being blasted.
They finally got down to the ninth circle. It was bitterly cold - even the tongues of men had icicles. The power of speech had been lost in this place eons ago. In the middle lay the opening to the cage, bathed in holy water. Raphael muttered a few incantations, then rotated the lock seven times.
The cage was flung open.
***
If Sam hadn’t averted his eyes when he did, he probably would’ve been blinded. The light was the last thing he remembered…until he got to earth. He could feel everything on his skin - the blades of grass, the gentle breeze, the coolness of the water near his left hand. He didn’t dare open his eyes, sure that it was just a trick meant to torture him further. He could still feel Lucifer somewhere around here…
Then he heard other voices. Voices that weren’t Adam or Michael.
“Raphael! You promised we were going to bring Michael back, along with his vessel! And now you’ve probably killed Sam Winchester!”
“Relax. He’s just resting, Balthazar. Humans are not as strong as we and need time to recover from trauma. And even if he is dead, Lucifer is in him. He will have the vessel all to himself.”
Sam jerked up to a sitting position when he heard that. Off a few yards away were the angel Balthazar and the archangel Raphael. So they’ve sprung me from Hell, he thought. Well, they can just put me right back. Every fiber of his being protested against it, but he knew he had to go back, for the safety of everyone on the face of the earth.
Just as Balthazar and Raphael noticed Sam was conscious, Sam strode over to them. They were under cover of darkness; even better, considering what had to happen next, Sam said silently.
“Put me back downstairs, you son of a bitch!” he shouted at Raphael. “I don’t care about the fucking plan for the Apocalypse! I don’t care about any of it! I just want to save the world! Or is that not important to a bag of dicks like you?”
“Now, really, Sam. Is that any way to talk to me?” Raphael said with a small smile. “I have power of life and death over every loved one you have ever known. That pretty brunette…Sarah, I think her name was? I could make a fist and crush every bone in her neck.”
Rage bubbled over inside of Sam and he gripped Raphael by the lapels of the blazer he was wearing. “Don’t you touch her!” he yelled. “I will hunt you down and rip you limb from mother - fucking limb if you try!”
Both the angels fell silent at this. Apparently, Lucifer still loomed large enough for them to pay some respect. Sam smiled, glad that he finally had some power over angels now.
Then a surge of energy rushed through Sam, and he fell on all fours. He felt like he was choking; Lucifer was grabbing hold again. He couldn’t let him gain an inch; he’d promised Bobby…Dean…Cass…
But it was over, all over. Everything went dark, and Sam was trapped inside in his own body again.
***
“Make mayhem, brother,” Raphael said with a small smile.
Lucifer replied, “You needn’t have suggested it. I know my part to play.” Without another word, Lucifer fluttered away into the night.
***
Lisa had some idea why Dean had brought her out to the park. He’d been even jumpier than usual and he and Ben had been downright furtive all week. There’d been a man before, when Ben was small, who’d popped the question, thinking he needed to take care of her, because she was a helpless woman with a small child.
Then again, that guy wasn’t nearly as nervous as Dean seemed to be tonight. Dean was pale, and he almost was giving credence to the proverbial sweating of bullets. He’d gotten up, only to sit right back down, then pace back and forth, staring up at the sun.
If it weren’t so off - putting, Lisa might’ve laughed. Then again, she hadn’t been feeling well the past couple of weeks. Taking Ben to ballgames and practice, as well as shuttling him to friends’ parties and school dances, was running her ragged. She couldn’t wait until he was old enough to get his license and could shuttle her around.
Finally, when it looked like most everyone was on the other side of the park, Dean sat back down on the bench he and Lisa shared. He took a deep breath in and started speaking:
“Lisa Braeden, you’ve been wonderful to me. You’ve been a better companion than I ever really deserve. You and Ben have made me complete in ways I can’t begin to describe. I know I’ve only lived with you two a few weeks, but this time has been more than heaven…” His voice broke, and he faltered, but only for a few moments. He continued:
“Nothing in this world would make me happier than to have you as my life - long companion, as my…wife.” Lisa tried to remain calm as he pulled the brown box out of his jacket pocket, but she felt the waterworks coming on. No man had ever been this forthright with her about all of his feelings, and Dean was the last man she expected to be this effusive.
She tried to mouth, “Yes,” but her mouth wouldn’t work, so she just nodded furiously and clasped Dean’s hand. When he opened the box, Lisa almost broke down in tears. The ring was magnificent, everything she’d always dreamed of. One large oval diamond was flanked on either side by two square diamonds, and gold encircled the smaller diamonds on the band. It was an elegant ring, and it looked as if it had always belonged on her hand.
“I love you,” Lisa managed to gasp out between sobs. “Thank you.” Dean and Lisa kissed, not even aware that a crowd of people had gathered and was applauding. This moment was theirs and theirs alone.
***
No one paid attention to the man still on the other side of the park. It was just as well. He didn’t need to cause mayhem here; that would be a surefire way of alerting the Host of Heaven to his position.
It seemed as if Michael’s Vessel had become a family man, a doting husband and father. It seemed that was something Sam wanted, as well. Then, Lucifer thought, why shouldn’t he give it to him? After all, he’d promised to give his vessel everything he wanted.
As he walked away, he saw a beautiful girl - well, beautiful by mud monkey standards - in Sam’s mind. He ignored the scratching and pleading Sam’s soul made and started off in the direction of the town in which this girl lived. Oh, there would be a few detours - but what was payoff worth if one never worked for it?
****
A/N: For those who might not know, the Black Dalhia was an aspiring actress who was killed in a very brutal manner. See this link for more information about the case. WARNING: possible triggering content
All descriptions of Hell are based mostly on Dante’s Inferno, with my own spin on some things.
Characters in Chapter: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Lisa Braeden, Ben Braeden, Lucifer, Adam Milligan, Michael, Raphael, Balthazar, Sarah Blake (in passing)
Pairings: Dean/Lisa, eventual Sam/OFC, mild Ben/Katie
Rating: NC - 17
Story Contains: Samifer, kidnapping, graphic violence, a disturbing exorcism scene, possible Stockholm Syndrome and all the consent issues with that, sex scenes, kissing, sexually charged scenes, pregnancy, coarse language
Chapter Contains: Kissing, a sex scene, Samifer, hell scenes, graphic violence, coarse language
Summary: After Sam goes into the cage, Dean honors the promise he made to his brother. However, the angels have other ideas about the Winchesters’ plan.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SPN canon; that belongs to Eric Kripke. I own only my OFCs and OMCs.
A/N: This story is set after the events of season 5 and is meant to be read as an alternate 6th season of Supernatural. I happen to love what I have seen of the actual 6th season, but there were some things I wanted to explore that I knew no one could explore on a show rated basically PG - 13. Hope you enjoy this first “episode”!
Re episode title: De Profundis means “out of the depths.” It also happens to be the title of one of the songs sung in the Requiem Mass which reads “Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord.”
****
Episode 1: De Profundis
Dean dropped his bag by the side of the bed that didn’t look slept on. If he was going to take space up in this house, he might as well try to invade Lisa’s space as little as possible. He could hear her trying to get Ben to get all his homework done. Perfect moment to step into the master bath to get a shower.
The high - power shower head could get all the dirt and grime off his body, even from places he’d forgotten got dirty, but every memory of the last few weeks did everything but melt away. In fact, they pounded at his brain, as if some being had a really sick love for schadenfreude. Even the good things, like Bobby getting his legs back, stung because none of it combined was half as balmy as losing Sam to the Pit.
Finally it hit him: It was all over. He didn’t have to keep going on the road anymore. He didn’t have to try to crack a smile for Ben. He could just sink down into despair and the bathtub.
Dean cried more than he ever remembered crying in his life. If he’d been able to stand, he would’ve run from one part of the room to the other, trying to find something to cling to. The sobs that came out of his body didn’t even sound real; even the death screams of tortured animals sounded more believable than these howls that shook his whole body. He put his head against the tile wall and shut his eyes, trying to remember every good memory he’d ever had. Yet nothing would ever blot out the image of both Adam and Sam falling into that unknown abyss.
***
After what felt like hours later, the tears had stopped and Dean felt gentle hands pull him out of the bathtub. Lisa sat him down on the toilet and helped him dry himself off. When she was sure he was decently dry, she brought him some boxers and a t - shirt. “You can come to bed when you feel like it,” she whispered in his ear. She left the door ajar, and Dean heard her climb into bed and softly recite nightly prayers.
He pulled on his sleeping clothes and, when he was sure Lisa was done with her prayers, got into the bed. It was softer than the beds he was used to. Then again, those beds were only beds in the sense that they had a mattress free of bugs and rats and had covers and pillows to ease someone into rest. This bed was one Dean would want to stay in, if only for a while longer than needed.
Lisa looked asleep. Good. He didn’t have to talk about everything that happened. That could wait for a few more hours. Dean rolled over onto his stomach, shut his eyes, and tried to let his mind fall into sleep…
Then it happened all over again: Hell, resurrection, the struggle for the seals, Sam’s breakdown, losing Sam, finding him again…and Sam becoming Lucifer. He kept trying to pull Sam - Lucifer into the hole, but it kept getting farther and farther away. Then he heard the laugh. Sam’s familiar, hearty laugh, with a touch of iced steel, rang in his ears. Sam was gone. It was only Lucifer. It always would be…
Dean woke up sitting up in bed and screaming at the top of his lungs. Lisa was shaking him, begging him to wake up, and Ben was standing in the doorway, his face full of terror. The screaming died, and Dean was just panting real hard. Then Lisa told Ben to go back to bed, and started wiping the tears off Dean’s face.
“It’s okay, Dean. I’m here,” she whispered. “I’ll always be here.” Then she gently kissed the side of his face. He had been looking for a soft place to land so long, and now here it was. Safety was his…and so was Lisa.
He brought her face to his, and he kissed her lips. She fell down onto the mattress, and he deepened the kiss, slowly pulling his tongue in and out of her mouth. Her hands slid down his back and started massaging and gripping his ass. Slowly and gently, her hands moved up to the band of his boxers and inched them down.
Meanwhile, Dean was unbuttoning her nightgown and moving his lips down her neck to her collarbone…and then her breasts. He cupped her right breast with his hand and started planting soft kisses on her breast. He distinctly heard Lisa groan with pleasure, and it made him smile.
“I seem to remember you liked that,” he muttered as he moved to the other breast.
Lisa whispered back, “Yeah…but not nearly as much as you liked this,” as she put her hand down Dean’s boxers and started stroking his dick and touching his balls. The sensation made him gasp and his eyes fly open. His dick got harder with every little stroke, so he pressed into her touch and started pulling down her panties. When her panties were off, she pulled her hand up and pulled his boxers the rest of the way off.
Dean started kissing Lisa’s lips again and gently pushed his dick into her. She wrapped her legs around him and grabbed his hair as he stroked in and out of her. The pleasure they both got was familiar in so many ways, but new, because it was the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.
When they were both sated, Dean rolled over to the right of Lisa on the bed. He held her close, and she laid her head in the crook of his neck. Perfect…
***
Dean might’ve hoped that his new life would be just like that: slow, beautiful, and sacred. But all the torment he’d gone through his whole life, especially of the past three years, would come over him like a wave. Most of the time, he was able to just push through the pain and bury it. But, when he and Lisa were alone, he would recount everything - at least, everything he felt safe in telling her - and she would give him support and encouragement.
It was she who’d helped him look for a job. He’d ended up being an errand boy of sorts for a construction team. It was hard work, but work made him feel good. At the end of the day, he felt like he’d accomplished something…like when he hunted. And then when that thought popped into his head, it would make him think of hunting with Sam and Dad…losing both of them…and then all the other stuff would come back like a flood.
He knew it was better to be able to feel and appreciate good feelings. But why did he have to have so many shitty memories to get only a few gems of a happy life?
***
Lisa knew Dean was fucked up. It was plain everywhere: on his face; in the way he dealt with people; in the way he fixed himself two drinks before she’d even started dinner. She tried to be a good listener, to let him talk it out, but she was afraid she wasn’t doing nearly enough.
She’d offered to take him to see the pastor and talk, but Dean flat - out refused. He said that most people couldn’t understand the life and the only reason he was telling her was because she needed to be able to take care of herself if he wasn’t at home.
She’d suggested writing all of it down. Writing had been therapeutic for her when she was pregnant with Ben, because she really had no one near her to turn to. He’d gently told her that he was afraid Ben would find the thing and would either be terrified the rest of his life or want to join the ranks - neither of which he wanted for his stepson.
Those and so many things she’d offered to him, but he’d just decided to soldier on, and that worried her. He’d probably done that all his life, and she wanted him to become a healthy human being. Then again, it’d taken him about 30 years to get this way. It might take longer than that to get him to be happy and normal, living some, as Dean said, “apple - pie life.”
***
Dean wasn’t lying. It at least felt like years while he was being carved up by Lucifer. He saw his own guts pouring out of his body a million times. It almost didn’t faze him anymore. Almost. Then again, seeing a three - headed bastard, each head vaguely resembling the Predator movies, slicing you up couldn’t really be good for your health.
Meanwhile, he saw Adam in the best impersonation of the Black Dahlia a blond man with short hair could give. The blood was gurgling in Adam’s mouth, and Sam’s own blood threatened to choke him.
“This is what you get, Sam,” Lucifer said, smiling, “when you trick the devil. I’m the master of trickery.”
Why he decided to be a smart - ass, Sam didn’t know. “I thought your brother was the one impersonating a Trickster,” he gasped. “I thought you were proud of being an angel.”
Lucifer pursed his lips, then slit Sam’s throat -
In an instant, Sam was back to wholeness again, ready to be hooked up to a rack. Over on the other side of the cage lay his physical body, which neither Lucifer nor Michael had yet touched. He wondered if he would feel the pain in his soul if they cut up his body.
His thoughts were cut short when Lucifer and Michael started taking turns ripping his nails out. Well, at least they were leaving Adam alone. That was a plus.
***
“Why are we doing this, brother? You could let out Lucifer by mistake!” Balthazar said.
Raphael turned to face him and said, “By mistake? Dear Balthazar, I intend to let Lucifer out.” Balthazar gaped and tried to form words as they descended to earth, but Raphael smoothly interrupted his mouthings with, “In his vessel. Michael as well. We have to have both to keep the apocalypse going, don’t we?”
Balthazar seemed to quiet down after he said that. In truth, he had no intention of letting Michael out, at least not at this point in time. They only needed Lucifer, and that was as a bargaining chip in this celestial war. Castiel could never stand up to the most favored angel of the heavenly host, and he knew it.
Moreover, he would never actually hurt Sam Winchester. They needed the vessel, didn’t they?
Victory was sure to be theirs.
***
All of hell heard the rumbling and quaking. Even the torturers scattered in fear. No one knew what was happening…this had only happened once before, and every demon prayed that such a thing would never happen again.
Then, to their horror, a great burst of light descended into Hell. Several hundred demons were killed instantly from the blast; the rest only saved by hiding in their usual dank haunts…
The upper eight circles hissed from their caves. Even the humans trapped there had become more animal than sapient beings. Any kind of defense mechanism failed to work because the demons couldn’t come out to work them, for fear of being blasted.
They finally got down to the ninth circle. It was bitterly cold - even the tongues of men had icicles. The power of speech had been lost in this place eons ago. In the middle lay the opening to the cage, bathed in holy water. Raphael muttered a few incantations, then rotated the lock seven times.
The cage was flung open.
***
If Sam hadn’t averted his eyes when he did, he probably would’ve been blinded. The light was the last thing he remembered…until he got to earth. He could feel everything on his skin - the blades of grass, the gentle breeze, the coolness of the water near his left hand. He didn’t dare open his eyes, sure that it was just a trick meant to torture him further. He could still feel Lucifer somewhere around here…
Then he heard other voices. Voices that weren’t Adam or Michael.
“Raphael! You promised we were going to bring Michael back, along with his vessel! And now you’ve probably killed Sam Winchester!”
“Relax. He’s just resting, Balthazar. Humans are not as strong as we and need time to recover from trauma. And even if he is dead, Lucifer is in him. He will have the vessel all to himself.”
Sam jerked up to a sitting position when he heard that. Off a few yards away were the angel Balthazar and the archangel Raphael. So they’ve sprung me from Hell, he thought. Well, they can just put me right back. Every fiber of his being protested against it, but he knew he had to go back, for the safety of everyone on the face of the earth.
Just as Balthazar and Raphael noticed Sam was conscious, Sam strode over to them. They were under cover of darkness; even better, considering what had to happen next, Sam said silently.
“Put me back downstairs, you son of a bitch!” he shouted at Raphael. “I don’t care about the fucking plan for the Apocalypse! I don’t care about any of it! I just want to save the world! Or is that not important to a bag of dicks like you?”
“Now, really, Sam. Is that any way to talk to me?” Raphael said with a small smile. “I have power of life and death over every loved one you have ever known. That pretty brunette…Sarah, I think her name was? I could make a fist and crush every bone in her neck.”
Rage bubbled over inside of Sam and he gripped Raphael by the lapels of the blazer he was wearing. “Don’t you touch her!” he yelled. “I will hunt you down and rip you limb from mother - fucking limb if you try!”
Both the angels fell silent at this. Apparently, Lucifer still loomed large enough for them to pay some respect. Sam smiled, glad that he finally had some power over angels now.
Then a surge of energy rushed through Sam, and he fell on all fours. He felt like he was choking; Lucifer was grabbing hold again. He couldn’t let him gain an inch; he’d promised Bobby…Dean…Cass…
But it was over, all over. Everything went dark, and Sam was trapped inside in his own body again.
***
“Make mayhem, brother,” Raphael said with a small smile.
Lucifer replied, “You needn’t have suggested it. I know my part to play.” Without another word, Lucifer fluttered away into the night.
***
Lisa had some idea why Dean had brought her out to the park. He’d been even jumpier than usual and he and Ben had been downright furtive all week. There’d been a man before, when Ben was small, who’d popped the question, thinking he needed to take care of her, because she was a helpless woman with a small child.
Then again, that guy wasn’t nearly as nervous as Dean seemed to be tonight. Dean was pale, and he almost was giving credence to the proverbial sweating of bullets. He’d gotten up, only to sit right back down, then pace back and forth, staring up at the sun.
If it weren’t so off - putting, Lisa might’ve laughed. Then again, she hadn’t been feeling well the past couple of weeks. Taking Ben to ballgames and practice, as well as shuttling him to friends’ parties and school dances, was running her ragged. She couldn’t wait until he was old enough to get his license and could shuttle her around.
Finally, when it looked like most everyone was on the other side of the park, Dean sat back down on the bench he and Lisa shared. He took a deep breath in and started speaking:
“Lisa Braeden, you’ve been wonderful to me. You’ve been a better companion than I ever really deserve. You and Ben have made me complete in ways I can’t begin to describe. I know I’ve only lived with you two a few weeks, but this time has been more than heaven…” His voice broke, and he faltered, but only for a few moments. He continued:
“Nothing in this world would make me happier than to have you as my life - long companion, as my…wife.” Lisa tried to remain calm as he pulled the brown box out of his jacket pocket, but she felt the waterworks coming on. No man had ever been this forthright with her about all of his feelings, and Dean was the last man she expected to be this effusive.
She tried to mouth, “Yes,” but her mouth wouldn’t work, so she just nodded furiously and clasped Dean’s hand. When he opened the box, Lisa almost broke down in tears. The ring was magnificent, everything she’d always dreamed of. One large oval diamond was flanked on either side by two square diamonds, and gold encircled the smaller diamonds on the band. It was an elegant ring, and it looked as if it had always belonged on her hand.
“I love you,” Lisa managed to gasp out between sobs. “Thank you.” Dean and Lisa kissed, not even aware that a crowd of people had gathered and was applauding. This moment was theirs and theirs alone.
***
No one paid attention to the man still on the other side of the park. It was just as well. He didn’t need to cause mayhem here; that would be a surefire way of alerting the Host of Heaven to his position.
It seemed as if Michael’s Vessel had become a family man, a doting husband and father. It seemed that was something Sam wanted, as well. Then, Lucifer thought, why shouldn’t he give it to him? After all, he’d promised to give his vessel everything he wanted.
As he walked away, he saw a beautiful girl - well, beautiful by mud monkey standards - in Sam’s mind. He ignored the scratching and pleading Sam’s soul made and started off in the direction of the town in which this girl lived. Oh, there would be a few detours - but what was payoff worth if one never worked for it?
****
A/N: For those who might not know, the Black Dalhia was an aspiring actress who was killed in a very brutal manner. See this link for more information about the case. WARNING: possible triggering content
All descriptions of Hell are based mostly on Dante’s Inferno, with my own spin on some things.