Chapter Seventeen, Lucifer Rising

Bobby walked upstairs, leaving Dean and Harley outside of the panic room.
"Okay. Let me out, I said let me out, this isn't funny." Sam pleaded.
"Dam straight." Dean snapped coldly, opening the cover of the window on the door.
"Dean, come on, man. This is crazy." Sam sighed. "Harley?"
"No." Harley shook her head. "Not until you dry out again, Sam."
Sam sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you. Just open the door."
"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault. It's not your fault that you lied to us over and over again. I get it now. You couldn't help it," Dean said.

"I'm not some junkie!" Sam shouted.
"Really?" Dean asked. "I guess I've just imagined how strung out you've been lately."
"You're actually trying to twist this into some kind of ridiculous drug intervention?" Sam asked.
Harley shrugged. "If it smells like a duck."
"Dean, Harley, I'm not drinking the demon blood for kicks. I'm getting strong enough to kill Lilith," Sam snapped.
"Strong?" Dean and Harley asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Sam said.
"This is about as far away from strong as you can get." Dean shook his head. "Try weak. Try desperate. Pathetic."

"Killing Lilith is what matters. Or are you so busy being self-righteous you forgot about her?" Sam asked.
"Oh, Lilith's gonna die. We'll kill her. But not with you," Harley told him.
"You're not serious," Sam said, sounding annoyed and disappointed.
"Congrats, Sammy. You just bought yourself a benchwarmer seat to the apocalypse," Dean said. Sam sighed. "Dean, look-" Dean shut the window cover.
"No, wait!" Sam yelled, starting to panic. "Come back here. Dean! Harley! Let me out of here, Harley, Dean! Let me out of here! Let me out! Dean! Harley!"

Harley looked up at Dean sadly as he turned around. He didn't say anything but put his arm around her shoulders as he guided his little sister upstairs to Bobby's living room. Bobby poured three glasses of whiskey and handed one to Dean and Harley.
"Stop! Stop!" Sam shouted from down in the basement.
"How long is this gonna go on?" Dean asked.
"Will it be like last time?" Harley asked.
"Here, let me look it up in my demon-detox manual. Oh, wait. No one ever wrote one." Bobby shrugged. "No telling how long it'll take. Hell, or if Sam will even live through it." Harley looked down. She was feeling guilty and terrible about what was happening to him.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Bobby sighed and answered his phone, "Hello?" (.) "Suck dirt and die, Rufus. You call me again, I'll kill you." He hung up.
"What's up with Rufus?" Dean asked.
"He knows," Bobby snapped. Ring! Ring! He answered his phone again, "I'm busy, you son of a bitch. This better be important." Harley sighed and stood up, wandering her way back down to the basement. She sat on the floor and leaned up against the door of the panic room. She just wanted to be close to him. It made her feel better to hear him moving, even just yelling. At least she knew he was still breathing.
"I'm losing my mind," Sam said, "What do you want?"

Harley listened for a moment, almost thinking he was speaking to her until she realised he wasnt.
"I tried. I did. It didn't pan out that way. Sorry, kid," Sam said. (.) "Look. They killed Jessica." (...) "I know." (...) "I'm sorry. I am. But life doesn't turn out the way you thought when you were fourteen years old. We were never gonna be normal. We were never gonna get away. Grow up," he snapped. (...) Then he gasped.

He was obviously hallucinating, but Harley had no idea what or who he was speaking to.
"Rosie?!" Dean shouted, "Come back upstairs, please!"
"The news. The news ain't good," Bobby said.
"This is what Rufus called about?" Dean asked. "Key West sees ten species go extinct."
Bobby nodded. "Yup. Plus Alaska. Fifteen-man fishing crew all stricken blind, cause unknown. New York, teacher, goes postal, locks the door, kills exactly sixty-six kids. All this in a single day. Harley looked them up." He shook his head. "There's no doubt about it. They're all seals. Breaking. Fast."
"How many are left?" Dean asked.
"Who knows? Can't be many. Where the hell are your angel pals?" Bobby asked.

Dean shrugged. "You tell me."
"No! Stop! Stop!" Sam shouted from the basement. Harley cringed, and Dean instinctually looked over his shoulder toward the sound of Sam screaming but ended up making eye contact with his baby sister. He looked at her sadly and held his hand out to Harley. She took it, and then he pulled her into his side. He rubbed my her, and Harley rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. Then he rested his head on the top of hers. Bobby stared at us for a moment and then cleared his throat. "I'm just wondering."
"What?" Dean looked up at him.
"The apocalypse being nigh and all... is now really the right time to be having this little domestic drama of ours?" Bobby asked.

Dean shook his head. "What do you mean?"
Bobby shrugged. "Well, I don't like this any more than you do, but Sam can kill demons. He's got a shot at stopping Armageddon."
Dean shook his head. "So what? Sacrifice Sam's life, his soul, for the greater good? Is that what you're saying? Times are bad, so let's use Sam as a nuclear warhead?" Bobby sighed.
"Look, I know you hate me for suggesting it." He shrugged. "I hate me for suggesting it. I love that boy like a son. All I'm saying is maybe he's here right now instead of on the battlefield because we love him too much."

* * *

Later that night, Harley wandered into her bedroom to try and get some sleep while Dean tried
to get in contact with Castiel. Periodically, Harley would see Bobby walk back and quietly check
on her before hurrying away without saying anything. Every time she closed her eyes, Harley heard Sam screaming again, so she just kept tossing and turning. Finally, out of exhaustion, worry, and guilt, Harley just started balling her eyes out. Harley heard footsteps quickly enter the room, and then someone put their hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, hey. Come here," Dean's voice broke through Harley's sobs. Harley rolled over, sat up, and just let him hold her. "This..." Harley sniffed. "Is all my fault."

"What?" He pushed Harley back and grabbed her face, making her look at him. "Look at me right now. This is not your fault. Whatever happens, it's on Sam." But Harley shook her head.
"I should've realised -"
"Stop," he said firmly. "Don't do that to yourself." He looked at his baby sister very seriously. "Okay?" Harley took a deep breath and nodded. "You okay, Rosie?" he asked as he let go of her face and smiled half-heartedly. Harley shrugged.

He stood. "I'm gonna be out there if you need me, okay?" Harley nodded and then watched him walked to the door.
"Wait." She called, sounding so vulnerable that it made Dean's heart clench.
He turned back. "Yeah?"
"Do you have to go?" Harley asked. He gave her a small smile and walked back toward her.
"Move over." Harley did, and he sat down next to her. Harley rested her head against him, and they talked for a while as he combed his fingers through her hair until they both ended up falling asleep.

* * *

The three of them sat in the living room, eating some breakfast, trying to ignore Sam's shouts.
"Bobby! Dean! Harley!" he yelled, "Help! Hey! Hey! Guys! Guys! Help! Dean! Harlene!" Harley stood up and walked toward the basement.
Dean sighed. "Rosie.."  Harley looked over at him. "I'm just gonna go sit with him for a while. I won't do anything stupid." He shook his head. "That's not what I'm worried about." He gave Harley a look, but she decided to walk down the stairs anyway. Harley walked up to the panic room door, but as she turned to sit in the front of it, she tripped over something and smashed her elbow into the giant lock on the front of it. Her whole arm started tingling, and she grabbed it in pain.

"Ow, damn it."
"Harley?" Sam asked, and Harley could hear him move up close next to the door.
She didn't answer, as she wasn't sure if she should to talk to him.
"Please..." he begged, "I'm going crazy in here. Just please talk to me."
Harley thought for a second, but her heart couldn't take ignoring his pained pleas. "Yeah, Sam, it's me." Harley sat down and leaned against the door.
"Oh, thank god. It's so good to hear your voice," he said.
Harley sighed. "I'm really sorry about this, Sam. We're just trying to help you."
"There's nothing to help, I'm fine. The only thing that's hurting me is being stuck in here," Sam said, "Please, let me out."
"I-I can't, Sam," Harley said sadly, "I'm sorry."
"Why?" he asked.

"I just can't," Harley muttered apologetically.
'Cause of Dean and Gabriel?" he asked. Harley furrowed her brow. "No. This is going to help you. I promise."
Sam chuckled. "Be honest, if you had to choose between Dean or me... you would choose him every time. Over your own Irish twin."
"What?" Harley asked angrily, "How could you say that?"
"Because it's true," he said.
Harley shook her head. "Sam, no, it's-"
"Yeah, it is," he said, "Because if it wasn't, you wouldn't have told him about Alastair-
"Like I told you before... I was trying," Harley said irritated but Sam interrupted her once more.

"You wouldn't have told him about the demon blood," he said. Harley scoffed throughly annoyed now as she rolled her eyes.
"It doesn't matter that I told him that, he-"
"So, you did tell him that," Sam said.
"Yeah, you know what, I did, but it doesn't even matter because we are trying to help you!" Harley started to raise her voice, "Remember when you sucked on that demon bitch's neck like a damn leech?" Sam chuckled and scoffed. "Why are you even down here? I'm surprised Dean doesn't have you basically attached to his side."
"I wanted to check on you," Harley informed him coldly, "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, "If you really cared, you would let me out of here."
"Just stop, all right?" Harley asked. "I know this isn't you talking. So I'm just going to sit here with you whether you like it or not."
"Just go away!" Sam yelled.
"No! I want to know that you're going to be okay!" Harley yelled, starting to cry. "This all scares the hell out of me, I don't want to lose you. And selfishly, I'm terrified!" Harley watched as Bobby and Dean walked down the stairs, probably wondering what all her yelling was about.

"Harlene - I'm-" Sam started to speak, but then it sounded like he was choking.
"Sam?" Harley asked, worried, and stood up. Bobby and Dean ran over to the door and opened the window, Harley looked in and spotted Sam having a seizure.
"What if he's faking?" Dean asked.
"What if he's not?" Harley asked.
"You really think he would?" Bobby asked.
"I think he'd do anything," Dean said. Suddenly, Sam was slammed up against the wall by an invisible force. Bobby shook his head. "That ain't faking." They threw open the door and charged in. They grabbed hold of Sam and pinned him down to the cot in the middle of the room. "We're gonna have to tie him down for his own safety," Bobby said.

Dean just stared at Sam in shock and horror as he convulsed. "Dean? You with me?" Bobby asked but was ignored. "Dean! Before he has another fit." Dean snapped out of it and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get it over with."

* * *

The pseudo father-children trio went back upstairs to collect themselves after what happened. Bobby sighed. "I'm gonna ask one more time. Are we absolutely sure we're doing the right thing?"
"Bobby, you saw what was happening to him down there. The demon blood is killing him," Dean said.
Bobby shook his head. "No, it isn't. We are."
Dean furrowed his brow. "What?"
Bobby sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't bite my tongue any longer. We're killing him. Keeping him locked up down there. This cold-turkey thing isn't working. If-" He shook his head.
"If he doesn't get what he needs soon, Sam's not gonna last much longer." Dean shook his head tears in his eyes. "No. I'm not giving him demon blood. I won't do it."

"And if he dies?" Bobby asked.
"Then, at least he dies human!" Dean shouted. "I would die for him in a second, like I would Rosie, but I won't let him do this to himself. I can't. I guess I found my line. Look at all the shit he's done to Rosie on that stuff, I won't let my brother turn into a monster." Harley didn't want to think about Sam dying anymore, so she got up and walked into her room, closing the door behind her and curled up in her bed.

* * *

Harley was suddenly startled awake by yelling in front of the house, turns out the Demon-bitch Ruby had helped Sam escape the panic room only Bobby to try and stop him and how did Sam return the favour? By knocking Bobby out. So for the last few hours Dean and Harley had spent tracking Sam down only to find him in a hotel with none other than Ruby. Of course Dean and Harley lost it. They were trying to help their brother and this Demon-bitch kept interfering, add in what happened to Bobby their father (John was never a father just a man they shared blood with) and they lost their cool descending into a fierce argument.

"She's poison, Sam," Dean snapped.
Sam shook his head. "It's not what you think, Dean. Harley." Harley sighed.
"Look what she did to you. I mean, she up and vanishes weeks at a time, leaves you cracking out for another hit...?" Sam furrowed his brow. "She was looking for Lilith." Dean rolled his eyes. "That is French for manipulating your ass ten ways from Sunday." Sam shook his head.
"You're wrong, Dean."
Dean sighed. "Sam, you're lying to yourself. We just want you to be okay. You would do the same for us. You know you would."
"Just listen-" Sam raised his hand and realised he was still holding the knife he had taken from Harley and tossed it on the bed. "Just listen for a second. We got a lead on a demon close to Lilith. Come with us. We'll do this together."
Dean and Harley nodded. "That sounds great. As long as it's the three of us. Demon bitch is a dealbreaker. You kiss her goodbye. We can go right now."

Sam shook his head. "I can't." Dean nodded and turned away. "Dean, I need her to help me kill Lilith. I know you can't wrap your head around it, but maybe one day you'll understand. I'm the only one who can do this, Dean," Sam said. Dean turned back around.
"No, you're not the one who's gonna do this."
"Right, that's right, I forgot," Sam growled, "The angels think it's you and Harley."
"You don't think we can?" Dean and Harley asked.
Sam shook his head. "No. You can't. You're not strong enough. Neither of you are!" Dean furrowed his brow.
"And who the hell are you?" Harley asked affronted.
Sam shrugged. "I'm being practical here. I'm doing what needs to be done."

"Yeah?" Dean asked and then shook his head. "You're not gonna do a single damn thing."
"Stop bossing me around, Dean," Sam snapped, "Look. My whole life, you take the wheel, you call the shots, and I trust you because you are my brother. Now I'm asking you, for once... trust me. You and Harley always stuck up for each other no matter what! It's always been one rule for her and another for me, hasn't it? She can be with Gabriel but I can't be with Ruby? How is that fair!!"
"Dean shook his head. "No. You don't know what you're doing, Sam."
Sam nodded. "Yes, I do." Dean shook his head. "Then, that's worse."
"Why?" Sam furrowed his brow. "Look, I'm telling you-"
"Because it's not something that you're doing, it's what you are!" Dean shouted, "It means
-" He cut himself off.

"What? No. Say it," Sam said with tears in his eyes.
"It means you're a monster," Dean said, his lip quivering slightly. Sam nodded, and as a tear fell down Dean's and Harley's cheek, Sam punched him, causing him to go down. Harley gasped and jumped in and punched Sam away from Dean, but Dean stood up pulling Harley behind him, and stared at Sam for a moment and then punched him back. That's when they broke out into a fight.

"Stop!" Harley yelled. She had no idea what to do, she hated seeing her big brothers fight. Sam ended up pinning Dean down, and then he started to choke him. "Sam!" Harley ran up and tried to shove him, but he easily pushed her back. "Stop! Please!" So she ran over and picked up a chair and went to swing it at him, but he put his hand up, and the chair flew out of her hands and broke against the wall. Thankfully, he stopped choking Dean and stood up. He glared down at Dean, who was holding his throat and coughing.
"You don't know me. You never did. And you never will." He turned and started walking toward the door.

Dean sat up. "You walk out that door, don't you ever come back." Hoping that would get through whatever spell he was under thanks to the Demon bitch but it just bit them in the ass. Sam looked back, but then opened the door and slammed it shut behind him. Harley put her hands on her head out of shock and just tried to absorb all the crazy that just happened.

* * *

Back at Bobby's, he was trying to convince Dean to call Sam, hoping that somehow after everything that happened, Sam might listen. Harley couldn't believe it, but Sam almost killed Dean and barely flinched. How was a call going to change everything that happened?
"Dean? Dean! You listen to a word I said?!" Bobby yelled at him as he stared out a window in Bobby's living room.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, I heard you. I'm not calling him."
"Don't make me get my gun, boy," Bobby growled.
Dean turned to face him. "We are damn near kickoff for Armageddon. Don't you think we got bigger fish at the moment?" Bobby nodded.
"I know you're pissed. And I'm not making apologies for what he's done, but he's your-"
"Blood?" Dean asked, "He's my blood? Is that what you were gonna say?"

Bobby sighed. "He's your brother. And he's drowning."
Dean shook his head. "Bobby, I tried to help him, I did. Look what happened." Bobby shrugged. "So try again." Dean shook his head. "It's too late."
"There's no such thing," Bobby said.
"No, damn it!" Dean shouted. "No. I gotta face the facts. Sam never wanted part of this family. He hated this life growing up. Ran away to Stanford first chance he got. Now it's like déjà vu all over again." He sat down on the couch next to galley wrapping his arm around her. "Well, I am sick and tired of chasing him. Screw him, he can do what he wants." Bobby shook his head.
"You don't mean that."

Dean nodded. "Yes, I do, Bobby. Sam's gone. He's gone. I'm not even sure if he's still my brother anymore. If he ever was."
Bobby turned away and leaned on his desk. After a moment, he made a big angry sweep with his hands, tossing books and papers onto the floor. Harley jumped startled, not expecting Bobby to lose his cool like that. He advanced on Dean, who stood up.
"You stupid, stupid son of a bitch! Well, boo-hoo, I am so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess! Are you under the impression that family's supposed to make you feel good?!" he shouted. "Make you an apple pie, maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable! That's why they're family!"

"I told him, 'you walk out that door, don't come back,' and he walked out anyway!" Dean yelled, "That was his choice! I thought it would get through whatever spell he was under but it didn't! He nearly killed me Bobby! Would've too if it wasn't for Rosie, what if I had let her fight Sam! I could've lost her!"
"You sound like a whiny brat." Bobby scoffed and then shook his head. "No, you sound like your Dad. Well, let me tell you something. Your Dad was a coward. He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him. Well, that don't strike me as brave. You are a better man than your Daddy ever was. So you do all of us a favor." He shook his head. "Don't be him." Dean turned away mulling everything over when he and Harley suddenly disappeared.
"What the hell?" Bobby asked himself, reeling over what had just happened.

***

After escaping from the Angels with Castiel's aid, Dean and Harley finally found Sam at a rundown church of all things torturing Lilith.
"Sam! Something's wrong, can't you feel it?!" Harley yelled as he continued to torture Lilith. "Ruby's messing with you! You're smarter than this! Think about everything she's told you! She split the three of us up. Please, Sam. She's using you. I don't know for what, but she is." Sam faltered for a second, and that's when Ruby turned and put her hand out and threw Harley out of the room and into the hallway and into a wall, Dean running after his baby sister. Once Dean was sure Harley was okay and helped her sit up, they spotted Ruby smiling evilly at them slamming the doors shut in their faces. The siblings stood up and started pounding on the door. "Sam!"

"What are you waiting for?! Now! Sam, now!" Ruby yelled.
Dean and Harley continued pounding on the door and yelling for him. Lilith laughed.
"You turned yourself into a freak... a monster. And now you're not gonna bite? I'm sorry, but that is honestly adorable." Then they heard her scream out in pain, and there was silence.
"I can't believe it!" Ruby shouted happily.
"Ruby, what's going on?!" Sam yelled.
"You did it!" She laughed. "I mean, it was a little touch-and-go there for a while, but... you did it." Dean and Harley looked at each other, and then he ran down the hall and grabbed a large candelabra.

"What? Wha- What did I do?!" Sam shouted. Ruby laughed. "You opened the door! And now he's free at last. He's free at last!"
"No, no, no!" Sam yelled, "No, he- Lilith - I stopped her. I killed her!" Dean started pounding the candelabra against the door while Harley kicked it.
"And it is written that the first demon shall be the last seal. And you bust her open." Ruby laughed loudly and happily. "Now guess who's coming to dinner?"
"Oh, my god!" Sam yelled.
"Guess again!" Ruby laughed. "You don't even know how hard this was! All the demons out for my head. No one knew. I was the best of those sons of bitches! The most loyal! Not even Alastair knew! Only Lilith! Yeah, I'm sure you're a little angry right now, but, I mean, come on, Sam! Even you have to admit! I'm - I'm awesome!"

"You bitch. You lying bitch!" Sam yelled angrily. Finally, Dean broke the door opened and pulled Ruby's knife out.
Ruby turned to confront the elder and youngest Winchester. "You're too late." Dean shook his head. "I don't care." He advanced on her, and Sam grabbed her from behind. Dean stabbed her, and a light flickered throughout her body as she crumpled to the floor, dead, finally. Sam looked at his siblings, broken.
"I'm sorry." Dean shook his head.
"I don't care." He advanced on her, and Sam grabbed her from behind. Dean stabbed her, and a light flickered throughout her body as she crumpled to the floor, dead, finally.

"I'm sorry." He apologised again. Harley looked at the floor. The blood that was pouring from Lilith's mouth had formed a strange pattern on the floor. Then a bright light shot out of the center of the pattern, and the convent started to tremble.
"Let's go," Dean said and grabbed Sam and Harley, shoving them toward the door. Sam hesitated, looking back at the light, terrified. "He's coming.."