Return of the Sam 11/?

[emebalia]

Chapter 11

"What do you mean?" Dean asked while Kevin shifted under the sudden attention he got.

"I'm not sure." He admitted. "I think I saw something on the demon tablet that could help us here." He paused, his gaze wandering over to the bed where the still body lay, the only proof that he was still alive the steady bleeping of the monitors and the whooshing of the vent.


I'd no idea what Kevin was talking about but everybody else in the room, including Crowley, perked up with interest at his words.
"He's not going to die in the next hour?" Kevin asked, the question directed at me and it once again made me realize the absurdity of the situation.

I thought about it for a moment. The man wasn't in his best condition and it was only a matter of time until his body would just give up.

"We have some time." I said as vaguely as possible. I was pretty sure that the machine could keep him like this for a while but there were limits.

"Good, I've to check something." With that Kevin took off running and after a second Sam was right behind him.

"Okay." Dean drew out the word, eyes on the slowly closing door. He leaned more heavily on the bed now. He was pale and sweating and should rather lay in that bed than using it as a crutch.

Good luck telling him that.

"Dean, bed." I used my best doctor voice. "I want to have a look at your wounds."

While Sam and Kevin where doing whatever they were doing I could either freak out over my situation or do something useful like looking after Dean.

Dean didn't look happy but in the end he dropped on the bed with a relieved sigh he couldn't completely suppress. I could only imagine the pain he had to be in. When did he have his last dose of painkillers? And going out there on a rescue mission wasn't exactly what the doctor had ordered either. I should know.

Both wounds looked good, all things considered. No pulled stitches, no bleeding and even the shoulder wound seemed to heal nicely now. It would take a while before he would be able to move his arm fully again, though.

"You'll live." I told him and taped a fresh patch of gauze over his shoulder wound.

He hummed to that without looking me in the eye and accepted the pill I gave him without a word. Looked like me dying had its perks after all.

After Dean was settled in bed I went over to my other patient to check on him as well.

I don't even know your name, I thought when I studied his face.

His name was George, Crowley answered, his voice almost gentle. A long time ago.

There was nothing I could do for George and looking at him for too long only made me doubt if I was doing the right thing here. Forcing the demon back on him.

It's not that he's actually still there, Crowley provided but I wasn't sure if I believed him. It seemed like the easy way out.

Look, mate. I could almost hear him sigh at the end there. I'm not telling you what to do, that's up to you, but between you and me, what are your chances here?

I didn't have an answer to that.

Exactly.

What's your point?

I've Georgy-boy here. He turned our gaze back to the man on the bed. Without me noticing he'd taken over again. We stood with our back to Dean and Cas and neither of them would be able to tell if something was wrong.

I don't need you. He continued. But you need me.

What do you want?

No, what do you want, Luis? He threw the question back at me. Do you want to die? To cut open your own chest? That sounds pretty much like suicide to me. What do you think?

I have to try.

We could just leave. He suggested. Just turn around and leave. It only takes a moment to dig out the bullet and I'll have my powers back.

What happened to not agitate the Winchesters? I shot back with rising panic. If he decided to leave there was nothing I could do to stop him.

I'm not their favorite person as it is and let's face it, you're a dead man walking. He paused while he turned our head just far enough to catch Castiel in the corner of our eye. What do you think happens after you failed to save your life? They let me go? Just like that?

What makes you think they would let you go now? I hadn't thought about it but now I got the feeling that Cas wasn't still here just to watch Dean dozing in his bed.

Oh my dear friend, there is a way to get rid of Feathers. At least for a while.

An image flashed behind my eyes, something drawn in blood. I didn't know the symbols but they reminded me of the ones in Crowley's trailer.

Why are we even discussing this? I asked, by now used to having a conversation in my head.

He was in control, he could do whatever he wanted.

I didn't get it. On one hand he tried everything to please the Winchesters to not end up on their bad side and on the other hand he tried to bribe me into staying like this. Why did he even care if I lived or died?

I like you, he answered the last part which didn't help me to figure out the reason behind his behavior. Isn't that reason enough?

No, I shot back. And while you're asking, we're not leaving. I'm going to perform the surgery and then you can go back to your Georgy-boy. If I die over this, than be it.

The words sounded more brave than I felt and with him right there in my mind for sure he knew it but he didn't comment on it. I even felt something coming from him, like he was proud of me.

I wasn't getting an answer out of him and before I could brood over it too much, an alarm startled me out of my thoughts.

"What is it?" Castiel stood next to me a second later, I wasn't sure if he had even walked the little distance.

"His oxygen is too low." I hurried over to the other side of the bed and adjusted the oxygen supply. Holding my breath I waited for his vitals to come back to normal and when they finally did I breathed in relief. Only then I noticed that I'd been in control for the last few minutes.

Crowley was screwing with me again and I still had no idea what he was up to. If anything at all, he could be screwing with me just for the hell of it.

"That looks better." I nodded to myself just because I could but Georg's vitals were back to okay-ish and that was all I could ask for.

Crowley left me alone for a while so all I could do was wait. And wonder what Kevin had in mind. Everything that increased my chances was good but I'd no idea what that might be.

Kevin and Sam returned after almost an hour, engaged in a heated discussion.

"... believe me it's not that easy." Sam finished a sentence and Kevin opened his mouth to say something in return but they were cut off by Dean coming up to a sitting position with a bitten back cry.

"Dean." Discussion forgotten Sam was at his brother's side, one hand on his good shoulder to prevent him from falling out of bed.

"You found something?" Dean ignored his brother, but didn't shake his hand off, and addressed Kevin with his question.

"Well …" He shifted from one foot to the other, clearly avoiding looking in my direction. "There is a way to separate the soul of the host from the demon. Temporarily."

There was a moment of silence and then I asked the question which was on everybody's mind.

"That's going to help me how?"

"I thought you could stand next to your body and perform the surgery like you'd normally do it." Kevin said it like it was a reasonable plan. "Sam could assist you." He added somewhat meekly.

"That's not how it works." Dean spoke up.

"That's what I was trying to tell him." Sam said with an impatient gesture in Kevin's direction. "Remember how hard it is to move one single object, Dean?"

"Yeah." Dean didn't look like he wanted to remember and I wondered what backstory I was missing now.

Read the books.

"But that gave me an idea." Sam turned to me now. "You can't do it yourself that way but you'll have a clear view on what's happening in …" He cleared his throat.

"In my chest." I completed the sentence for him. "And for the record, this is the craziest plan I've ever heard."

Seriously, read the books.

Shut up!

I took a deep breath, which only reminded me of my little problem, and tried to calm down enough to picture what they were saying. Split me in two so I could perform surgery on myself. Great plan. That had never ended well on Star Trek either.

"You won't be able to perform the surgery yourself." Sam continued as if he was reading my mind. "Even with years of practice you wouldn't be able to do something delicate like this. But what if I do it and you guide me?"

"Let me get this straight. You want to separate my soul from my body so I can stand next to myself and coach you through the operation?" I shook my head in disbelieve, this was insane.

"It sounds crazier when you sum it up like this." Dean admitted.

"You may land a plane that way but open heart surgery?" Did I mention that this was insane? Sam didn't look happy with the idea either but he had offered to do it and that alone warmed my cold, not beating heart.

"Think about it, man." Dean took his brother's side. "It beats poking around your own chest in an awkward angle and without clear view. Believe me, I know how essential a clear view is."

Another cryptic comment I didn't have the time to think about.

They were right, this was far from optimal but it was better than the original plan.

"I may not be able to heal you completely." Now Castiel came out of his stoic silence. "But I'll do what I can to minimize the damage once Crowley has left your body."

It didn't sound reassuring at all.

"I have the spell here." Kevin held up a piece of paper. "Are we doing this or not?"

I wanted to say that I still thought it was insane but that we were out of options, however, once again I didn't have control over my body.

Damn it, Crowley.

"Well, isn't this a lovely plan?" He said in his smug voice that wasn't at all like mine.

"You have any better ideas?" Sam growled at him.

"You know, Moose." He walked up and down they room, for some reason quite pleased with himself. "Somebody once told me that we demons are only spirits. How did he phrase it? Oh, right: Twisted, perverted, evil spirits, but end of the day, we're nothing but ghosts with an ego." He tried to imitate a voice I didn't recognize but judging by the looks on Sam and Dean's faces they knew exactly who he was referring to.

"What's your point, Crowley?" Dean could barely hold himself upright but his gaze promised bloody murder if Crowley didn't come to the point any time soon.

"As you know, Dean, Hell is all about inflicting damage and pain, we know how to take a body apart but we're not so good at putting it back together."

"You're not helping."

"But there is something we are the masters of, aside from the torture." He stopped to have a look around but nobody seemed to get what he was heading for. "Possession."

Chapter 12
Masterpost