16. In the Devil's Den

"No..." I whisper in horror. "This can't be happening."

Now I really want to vomit. Lucifer has been feeding Sam visions all this time? Why would God want to send us to Hell, anyway? How come we didn't see that fucking red flag?

Lucifer chuckles. "So I...I guess I am your only hope."

"It's never going to happen."

"Ah, well, settle in there, buddy." He smiles. "Hey, roomies...Upper bunk? Lower bunk? Or you wanna share? I'm not opposed, though it'll be a tight fit if it's all three of us."

I feel like the breath has been knocked out of me. I part from Sam, running my hands along the bars in a panic. No. No. I can't be in Hell again. Not again. I can't be here again. No.

"Don't panic, Jo-Jo." I spin around and throw a punch when I feel Lucifer's hand on my shoulder. He catches my wrist. "We're gonna get to know each other a lot better."

"You?" Sam whispers to Lucifer. "The visions...everything...it was all you?"

Still holding my wrist, Lucifer twists to look at my little brother. "Impressive, right?"

"And Rowena?" I ask coldly.

"Did as she was told. Groupies...they're always so eager."

"I'm gonna kill that bitch."

"So you did all of that just to...to what...jump my bones?" asks Sam.

"Literally," says Lucifer.

"Well, you wasted your time then. You see I know how this ends."

"Oh, do you now?"

"Yeah. You'll taunt me and you'll, ah, torture me, and I'll say no. Then you'll move on to Jo to try and get a reaction out of me. And eventually, sooner than you think, our brother's gonna walk through that door and kick your ass."

Lucifer laughs. "Dean? You're betting on Dean?"

"I always have."

"Oh, Sam. You got me all wrong."

I snort. "I doubt that."

"No. No. I'm not here to torture either of ya. I mean I could." I yelp as I feel his fingers press tightly around my wrist. The pain is making me buckle to my knees. "I could inflict pain like you can't even imagine. I could inflict such delicious perfect pain." I gasp once he releases my wrist. I cradle it to my chest. "But that was so five years ago. No. I'm not going to harm a glorious little hair on that glorious little head."

"Then what do you want?" I ask, moving away from Lucifer towards Sam.

"To make an offer he can't refuse. You see, Sam, you need me, and I'm gonna prove it to you. To both of you."

"Get the fuck away from me."

"Easy, Jo-Jo. Like I said, I'm not out to torture you."

When Lucifer puts a hand to my forehead and Sam's, there's a flash of light. The cage is now gone, the darkness is as well. We're in a park, the sun shining down on us. I can smell the grass and the fresh air. But this can't be real. This has to be a trick. For now, I guess, I'll take the trick over that cage in Hell.

"Where the hell are we now?" I grumble. None of this feels familiar to me.

"Recognize it?" asks Lucifer.

"What?" asks Sam.

"We're in a memory, Sam, one of the few good ones from your childhood. By the way, I thought I had Daddy issues, but you, wow! Anyway, I think you recognize the dashing young bean-pole over there."

I do when Lucifer points to a teenage Sam Winchester sitting at a park bench with a girl. It looks like they're doing homework (naturally) and enjoying each other's company. Where I was in this memory, most likely hunting with Dean and Dad.

"That's me," Sam murmurs.

I can't help but smile softly. The Sam I look at now is happy. Normal. At the same time, it shatters my heart. My brother tried as hard as he could to be normal in a not-normal family. This is what I wanted for you, Sammy. This is what you should've had.

"Look at that, Sam; the simple girl from the one-stoplight town," Lucifer says dramatically from a park bench near us. I remain standing at my brother's side. "And you...the worldly, handsome-ish...Sam Winchester. She didn't stand a chance. You remember?"

"Yeah," says my brother, "why are you...?"

"Shh...this is the best part." Teenage Sam leans in to kiss the girl. "Boom! That's it. That's what I'm talking about right there, man."

"Kissing?" I ask in annoyance.

"No, Jo-Jo. This is the Sam Winchester that I remember. Bold. Decisive. Solid B on the tongue action."

"Okay, gross."

"What is this about?" Sam asks.

"You used to be a hero, Sam," says Lucifer. "Hell, you beat me. Now...I look at you and I don't even recognize you anymore. Come on, I still got more to show ya. Besides, this'll be eye-opening for Jo-Jo."

"I really want to punch you right now," I mutter to the Devil.

Lucifer leads us away from the park, and the park transforms into a field. Ahead, there's an entrance to a cemetery.

"Stull Cemetery," Sam murmurs.

"I know; where the title fight went down," says Lucifer. He nudges me, and I shy away. "This is what you missed out on."

I see the Impala, Sam, Cas, Dean, Bobby, a woman who is possibly the Dakota that Lucifer had mentioned earlier, and some other person I don't recognize. Cas is holding something in one hand.

"Hey, assbutt!" Cas shouts before launching the bottle at the stranger, who bursts into flames.

"'Assbutt,' I-I-I still don't get that," Lucifer comments.

"Look, I appreciate the stroll down memory lane, but..." Sam trails off.

"Sam, have I ever told you how much I respect you?"

"What?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't like you. I never liked you. You're...you're sort of prissy. But in this moment, when you stood toe to toe with me and won, I gotta say, you had balls, kid."

The scene plays itself out. Sam—who apparently is possessed by Lucifer, I'm gathering—explodes Cas into bits of red flesh. Bobby's neck gets snapped, and then Dean and Dakota face off against Lucifer. The fight is bloody, and I'm sure a bunch of times that Lucifer would finish off Dakota, but then Sam somehow regains control of his body.

"It's okay, Dean," says the Sam from the past. "It's gonna be okay. I've got him."

"You were willing to do the hard thing," says Lucifer, "if it meant saving the world."

And now the stranger who had burst into flames earlier has come back, and he and Past Sam are fighting. Both fall into a hole in the ground. The hole closes, sealing them both.

"That's not you anymore. You've gone soft, Sammy."

The scene changes. We're away from Stull Cemetery, onto a different scene. We're in someone's backyard, watching Past Sam with a different girl this time. They're sitting on her back porch steps, talking. This Sam has the longest length of hair that I've ever seen on my little brother, hair that's longer than mine currently is.

"This is where it all changed, Sammy," says Lucifer. "This is the worst thing you've ever done."

"Really?" Sam asks in disbelief.

"After the Leviathans, when your brother was trapped in Purgatory, you were here...with a girl and a dog. You didn't even bother trying to find him."

Leviathans? Dean in Purgatory? Sam didn't try and look for him? I cast a side-glance at Sam in horror.

"You know what? Not that I have to defend myself to you, but Dean and I promised we wouldn't look for each other."

"Right...and if he never came back you'd be fine. But he did. So you're not. Whatever happened to the Sam Winchester who was bold, decisive, and ready to sacrifice for the greater good?"

"Right here."

"And...so why did you let Dean talk you out of closing the gates of Hell? 'Cos the old Sam never would've done that. Not ever."

"I didn't..."

"No wait, here's my personal favorite, you doing every stupid thing you could to cure the Mark, even after you knew it would go bad."

"My brother was dying!" Sam shouts.

"Yes! And you'd do anything to save him. And he'd do anything to save you. And I'll bet my ass Jo-Jo here would do the same. And that is the problem. Because of this," Lucifer gestures to Sam's past, "you're so overcome by guilt that you can't stand to lose Dean again and he could never lose you, and so instead of choosing the world you choose each other, no matter how many innocent people die."

"You're going to lecture me about hurting people? You?"

"You know I'm right, Sam. You know it! And I know if you're going to beat the Darkness you have to be ready to die. You have to be ready to watch the people you love die. A long time ago you could have fought the good fight, kid, but not anymore. You can't win this one, Sam. You're just not strong enough."

"And you are?" I ask.

"Hey, snappin' necks and cashin' checks is what I do."

In another flash of light, we're back in the cage, out of Sam's head. We're back to the cold bars, being trapped with the Devil himself. I kind of wish to be back in Sam's memories. They were much more colorful compared to this.

"Sam?" I whisper worriedly as my little brother takes a seat on the floor, back resting against the bars. I remain close at his side, I don't want Lucifer trying anything.

"Now, Sam, I know this is a lot to take in, so if you need to take some time and noodle on it, that's cool. But, ah, the world is ending, clock ticking. You follow me?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"A little word that starts with Y, ends in E-S."

"That's not happening," I say adamantly.

"Okay, you don't like me," Lucifer continues to ramble. "I get it...I get it; sometimes I don't like me either. But Gabriel and Raphael are dead. God went out for a pack of smokes and never came back...and Michael...well, let's just say prison life hasn't really agreed with Michael. These days he's usually sitting in a corner singing show tunes and touching himself."

"So you're it," Sam says hopelessly.

Lucifer laughs. "I'm it! And hey, I'm not the good guy, we all know I'm not, but the Darkness, she's the end of everything." I stiffen as Lucifer crouches in front of my brother. "But I can beat her. We can beat her. You and me, together. So come on, Sam. Make the right choice, the big sacrifice one more time, man. Sam, it's time to save the world, man."

Sam and I lock eyes. He knows my stance on it.

"Don't say the answer your sister wants to hear," Lucifer whispers. "She doesn't matter in this."

My brother looks at the Devil. "No," he says quietly. "No."

I can feel the anger radiating off of Lucifer now. "What do you mean no?"

"You heard him," I say defiantly.

"Okay, now, Sam, I gotta tell you, this is selfish, man, everything..."

"You're done. It's over."

"I don't recall him asking you to speak on his behalf, Jo-Jo."

"Enough of that name coming out of your mouth." My hands clench into fists.

"What are you gonna do, fight me? You're not sporting demon mojo or black eyes anymore, sweetheart. I can snap you like a twig."

"You know what?" Sam interrupts our banter. He picks himself up off the floor, standing at my side. "You talk a good game. You do. Hell, you almost had me sold a few times. But then I thought what if you're right? What if you're telling the truth? What if you can beat her?"

"I can!" Lucifer insists in a shout.

"Even though the last time it took you, plus three other archangels. Oh yeah, and the capital G, God."

"Oh okay, what, you mean the dead weight?"

"Well, let's say you gank her...then what?"

Lucifer shrugs. "I move to LA...solve crimes."

"Wrong. Then you go about starting the Apocalypse, again, because you're an old dog and that's your old trick."

"Okay, first off, you don't know that. Second, even if I did, that's better than what she had planned."

"Is it? Really? 'Cause this is what I think. I think that whoever wins, you or the Darkness, everyone else loses. So, no. My answer is no. This isn't because of Dean, or Jo, or the past; this is about me having faith in my friends, having faith in my family. We will find a way. I'm ready to die and I'm ready to watch people I love die, but I'm not ready to be your bitch."

"Okay, plan B."

Lucifer goes on the attack, punching Sam three times, sending my brother into the bars. I lunge, jumping atop Lucifer's back, steering him away from my little brother. His hands try to pull me off, but instead he body slams me into the ground. Wheezing, I have no time to prep when the Devil grabs my throat. He chucks me against the opposite wall of the cage, and my back feels the jarring impact, as does the back of my head. My vision shakes, seeing the Devil stalk towards me.

"I'm gonna make you wish you were in your little cell, Jo-Jo," Lucifer purrs. "I'll make your Hell tour look like a walk in the park." I kick out at him. He chuckles. "Maybe I'll have a little more fun with you first."

"You stay away from my brother, you asshat," I snarl.

Lucifer grabs a fistful of my hair, pulling me to my feet. I block his other arm as he tries to hit blows on my body. He throws me back into the cage wall, and I see black spots in my vision. I cough, crying out when I feel a foot connect with my face.

"Hey, assbutt!"

"Oh, lookie here, Jo-Jo, looks like your big brother and his pet angel came to the rescue. Dean, ah, the other one."

In a second, Dean and Cas are in the cage with Sam, Lucifer, and myself. Dean and Cas look over their shoulders at me. My jaw is throbbing, and I'm swallowing down blood.

"Welcome to the party. Scared?"

"Not even a little," Dean growls. Cas pulls out an angel blade.

"Ah, ah, ah...moments like this, it's all about ambiance."

A song starts playing in the cage, and Lucifer starts to dance, mocking the angel and my brother. Cas is the first to strike for the Devil. Dean tries to rush to me to check on me, but I wave him away towards Sam's direction.

Using the cage bars, I pull myself to my feet to see Cas get punched in the face by Lucifer.

"Cas!"

"Josette, catch!"

Lucifer misses my baton, allowing me to catch it. I wipe the blood off my lips, and my brothers join Cas and I in beating up the Devil. Sam is restraining Lucifer, while Dean punches him.

"You hit like a human," Lucifer says, mildly irritated.

It's a mess. I end up hitting Sam on accident when trying to hit Lucifer. Dean is launched across the cage by a kick from the Devil. When Lucifer tries to go for Sam, I fend him off with my baton. He grabs the wrist that wields the baton, crushing it between his fingers. I let go of my weapon, and in exchange, Lucifer has me by my throat again.

My feet don't touch the ground as Lucifer continues to hoist me up high.

"All right, Sam," Lucifer says. "I'm gonna make this real easy for you. You say the magic word or your sister dies...and we both know you won't let that happen." Lucifer moves in towards my face. "For your sake, you better hope Sammy says yes."

"He won't," I rasp. "He said he was...ready to watch people he loves...die."

Lucifer pouts. "A shame. You'd make a great mother, Jo-Jo."

Before I can even ask what Lucifer means by that, Cas has charged him, and I'm let go, a coughing mess on the ground. I use the ground heavily for support as I watch Lucifer beat Cas to a pulp.

Suddenly, a bright light floods the cage. I cover my eyes with my arm. When the light disappears, Cas, Sam, Dean, and myself still remain.

Lucifer has disappeared.

**[nervous laughter] We're still friends, aren't we?

Look, it was either Jo in Hell with Sam, or she went with Dean to wherever. Besides, apparently I like to scar my characters more.**