Defying Gravity (It's the Great Big Pumpkin, Sam Winchester)

I had been around for a while.

I remembered many things.

I remembered the start of time.

The birth of mankind.

Mostly the evolution of mankind.

The murders, the lives, the stories, the violence, the wars, the peaces, the hate, the love, the loyalties, the betrayals, the conquers, the failures, the fear, the relief, the ignorance, the bliss...

I remembered everything.

And I knew that all of it would come to an end soon.

Because that was what my superiors wanted.

I was an Angel of the Lord, and if there wasn't order and control, if I didn't obey...

That would mean that I could be put to death.

I didn't want to be put to death, but I also didn't want the world to end.

So I wouldn't allow anyone to know what I thought.

Some Angels thought humans as no more than the dirt that they didn't walk on.

There were others, however, that admired what they had come to, even the bad moments that it had.

I was one.

But it didn't matter as long as the Archangels wanted all of it to end so that there could be "peace on Earth".

A demon named Lilith was breaking 66 of the hundreds of Seals that it took to release Lucifer from his cage down in the fiery pits of Hell down below. If that happened, he would destroy the world and leave it in blood and darkness to spite our father.

Michael was to face against him, kill him, to create peace, but in the process, thousands, millions, billions of people would die.

And us Angels had no choice but to go along with the Archangels' plan.

A good friend of mine, especially in combat, Castiel, was even the job to rescue Dean Winchester from Hell, as he was the one to break the first Seal, and Michael wanted him to be his vessel.

Lucifer wanted his brother Sam Winchester, the boy with the demon blood, who was drinking demon blood to enhance his psychic powers to exorcise demons, to be his.

But, now, Castiel, Uriel and I had to face the Winchester brothers and keep the truth from them, on the night of Halloween, in a town where a witch was trying to resurrect the demon Samhain, one of the 66 Seals, waiting for them in a dingy motel room.

Castiel stood in the middle of the room.

Uriel stood next to the window, looking outside, his back turned to us.

I stood nearby the wall and a bedside table.

Sam and Dean walked in.

Sam saw us, immediately drawing his gun, walking forward defensively. "Who are you?"

Dean tried to stop Sam from shooting. "Sam! Sam, wait! It's Castiel." Dean put his hand on Sam's gun, lowering it. Sam stood stunned. "The Angel." Dean looked from Uriel to me. "Them, I don't know."

Sam looked at Castiel in wonder, slowly starting to smile.

"Hello, Sam," Castiel told him.

"Oh, my God," Sam told him. "Er, uh, I didn't mean to-Sorry. It's an honor, really. I-I've heard a lot about you."

Sam stepped forward, holding his hand toward Castiel.

Dean closed the door.

Castiel looked at Sam's hand in confusion.

Sam slightly shook his hand.

Castiel realized what he wanted, putting his right hand in Sam's. "And I, you, Sam Winchester. The boy with the demon blood." Sam pulled his hand away awkwardly. "Glad to see you've ceased your extracurricular activities."

"Let's keep it that way," Uriel told them.

"Yeah, okay, Chuckles," Dean told him. He looked from Uriel to me. He looked at Castiel. "Who're your friends?"

Castiel didn't answer. "The raising of Samhain, have you stopped it?"

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Dean, have you located the witch?" Castiel asked.

"Yes, we've located the witch," Dean answered.

"And is the witch dead?" Castiel asked.

"No, but-" Sam started.

"We know who it is," Dean finished.

I pushed away from the wall. "Apparently the witch knows who are you, too." I picked up a hex bag from the bedside table, showing it to them. "This was inside the wall of your room. If we hadn't found it, surely one or both of you would be dead. Do you know where the witch is now?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look.

"We're working on it," Dean told us.

"That's unfortunate," I told them.

"What do you care?" Dean asked.

"The raising of Samhain is one of the 66 Seals," I answered.

"So this is about your buddy Lucifer," Dean realized.

"Lucifer is no friend of ours," Uriel told them.

"It's just an expression," Dean told him.

"Lucifer cannot rise," Castiel told them. "The breaking of the Seal must be prevented at all costs."

"Okay, great," Dean told us. "Well, now that you're here, why don't you tell us where the witch is, we gank her and everybody goes home?"

"We are not omniscient," Castiel told them. "This witch is very powerful. She's cloaked even our methods."

"Okay, well, we already know who she is, so if we work together-" Sam started.

"Enough of this," Uriel told them.

Dean looked from Uriel to me. "Okay, who are you guys and why should I care?"

Uriel turned to face us.

"I'm Octavia," I answered. "That is Uriel. We're what you might call... specialists."

I walked toward them.

"What kind of specialists?" Dean asked. "What are you gonna do?"

"You, uh, both of you, you need to leave this town immediately," Castiel told them.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because we're about to destroy it," I answered.

Sam and Dean exchanged a worried look.

*

Dean looked at us incredulously. "So this is your plan? You're gonna smite the whole freaking town?"

"We're out of time," I told them. "This witch has to die. The Seal must be saved."

"There are a thousand people here," Sam told us.

"1214," Uriel corrected.

"And you're willing to kill them all?" Sam asked.

"This isn't the first time we've... purified a city," Uriel told them.

"Look, I understand this is regrettable," Castiel told them.

"Regrettable?" Dean repeated.

"We have to hold the line," Castiel told them. "Too many Seals have broken already."

"So you screw the pooch on some Seals, and this town has to pay the price?" Dean asked.

"It's the lives of one thousand against the lives of six billion," Castiel told them. "There's a bigger picture here."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Right, 'cause yo're bigger picture kind of guys."

"Lucifer cannot rise," I told them. "He does, and Hell with rise with him. Is that something that you're willing to risk?"

"We'll stop this witch before she summons anyone," Sam told us. "Your Seal won't be broken and no one has to die."

Uriel looked at Castiel and me. "We're wasting time with these mud monkeys."

I ignored him, looking at Sam and Dean. "I'm sorry, but we have our orders."

"No, you can't do this," Sam told us. "You're Angels. I mean, aren't you supposed to-You're supposed to show mercy."

"Says who?" Uriel asked.

"We have no choice," I told them.

"Of course you have a choice," Dean told us. "I mean, come on. What? You've never questioned a crap order, huh? What are you guys, just a couple of hammers?"

"Look, even if you can't understand it, have faith," Castiel told them. "The plan is just."

"How can you even say that?" Sam asked.

"Because it comes from Heaven," Castiel told them. "That makes it just."

"Oh, it must be nice to be so sure of yourselves," Dean told us sarcastically.

"Tell me something, Dean," Castiel told him. "When your father gave you an order, didn't you obey?"

Dean looked at Castiel, taking a moment to respond. "Well, sorry, guys. Looks like the plans have changed."

"You think you can stop us?" Uriel asked.

Dean stepped closer to Uriel. "No, but if you're gonna smite this whole town, then you're gonna have to smite us with it, because we are not leaving. See, you went to the trouble of busting me out of Hell. I figure I'm worth something to the man upstairs. So, you wanna waste me? Go ahead. See how He digs that."

"I will drag you out of here myself," Uriel told him.

"Yeah, but you'll have to kill me," Dean told him. "Then we're back to the same problem. I mean, come on. You're gonna wipe out a whole town for one little witch? Sounds to me like you're compensating for something." He turned to face Castiel. "We can do this. We will find that witch and we will stop the summoning."

"Castiel," Uriel told him. "I will not let these peop-"

I held up a hand to silence Uriel. "Enough."

Castiel looked at me.

I nodded.

Castiel looked at Dean. "I suggest you move quickly."

*

Castiel, Uriel and I were in a park at dusk.

Castiel and Uriel were standing.

I was sitting on a park bench, watching as some children skipped by in Halloween costumes. "The decision's been made."

Uriel chuckled. "By a mud monkey."

"You shouldn't call them that," I told him.

"Ah, it's what they are," Uriel told us. "Savages, just plumbing on two legs."

'You're close to blasphemy," Castiel told him. Uriel sighed. "There's a reason we were sent to save him. He has potential. He may succeed here."

Castiel sat down next to me.

I sighed. "And any rate, it's out of our hands."

"It doesn't have to be," Uriel told us.

I looked at Uriel in slight annoyance. "And what would you suggest?"

"That we drag Dean Winchester out of here and then we blow this insignificant pin prick off the map," Uriel answered.

"You know or true orders," I told him. "Are you prepared to disobey?"

Uriel didn't answer.

Our true orders were to listen to Dean's orders, as a test, to see whether or not he would be willing to kill a thousand people to stop a witch from summoning Samhain, or if he would choose to save the town and try to stop the witch himself, along with his brother's help.

And we were also told not to interfere in any way, either helping them or doing the opposite.

And I had been hoping that they would save the town, whether they failed or not.

But that didn't mean that we couldn't watch them while they didn't know that they were being watched.

*

Sam and Dean had found the two witches involved in the summoning of Samhain, Don and Tracy, walking into the basement to see Don chanting at a black altar with a pentagram and several candles.

Tracy was tied up with rope, a rag wrapped around her mouth, stifling her cries, struggling to get free.

Don took a knife and a chalice from the table, walking toward Tracy, running the tip of the knife down her neck, not drawing blood, but staring at her, raising the knife about his head to stab her.

Sam and Dean each shot Don in the back, one time each, killing him, making him fall to the floor.

Dean walked toward Tracy.

Sam checked Don's body.

Dean cut Tracy down, catching her as she fell, pulling the gag away from her mouth.

Tracy was crying in relief. "Thank you. He was gonna kill me! Ugh, that sick son of a bitch." She stopped crying. "I mean, did you see what he was doing? Did you hear him? How sloppy his incantation was?" Sam and Dean looked at her, realizing she was still a witch. "My brother-" They drew their guns again instantly. "Always was a little dim." Tracy raised her hands toward them, using magic to push them against the floor, making them writhe in pain. "He was gonna make me the final sacrifice. His idea. But now, that honor goes to him. Our master's return? The spellwork's a two man job, you understand, so for 600 years, I had to deal with that pompous son of a bitch. Planning, preparing. Unbearable." She knelt next to Don, picking up the knife and the chalice. "The whole time, I wanted to rip his face off." She started to dig the knife into Don's bullet wound, holding the chalice up to catch the blood flow, looking at Sam and Dean, still using magic to cause them pain. "And you get him with a gun. Uh, love that." She stood, walking toward the altar on the table. "You know, back in the day, this was the one day you kept your children inside. Well, tonight, you'll all see what Halloween really is."

Tracy started to chant.

Sam held his stomach in the same unbearable pain that Dean was in, crawling toward Don's body, putting his hand in his blood, smearing it on his face.

"What are you doing?" Dean whispered.

"Just follow my lead," Sam told him, smearing blood over Dean's face, sliding away from Don's body.

Tracy finished the incantation.

The ground cracked, shaking fiercely.

Black smoke poured out of the break, into the body of Don, making him Samhain. He opened his eyes, revealing them to be completely white except the pupils still black.

Sam and Dean laid on the floor, no longer in pain.

Samhain stood, looking at Tracy, walking toward her.

Tracy turned to face Samhain, smiling.

Samhain kissed Tracy, pulling away.

"My love," Tracy told him.

"You've aged," Samhain told her.

"This face..." Tracy trailed off. "I can't fool you."

"Your beauty is beyond time," Samhain told her, leaning his forehead against hers, snapping her neck, letting her body fall to the floor. "Whore."

Sam and Dean had their eyes closed by the time Samhain turned to face them.

Samhain looked at them for a moment, unable to focus, walking away, leaving, closing the door behind him.

Dean opened his eyes, leaning closer to Sam, whispering so that Samhain didn't hear them. "What the hell was that?"

"Halloween lore," Sam answered. "People used to wear masks to hide from him, so I gave it a shot."

"You gave it a shot?" Dean repeated incredulously.

Sam shrugged.

Dean couldn't believe that he took a chance like that on an idea he had from reading lore.

*

Outside, in the middle of a street, Samhain was walking down the street, covered in blood, but not being noticed because it was Halloween, and everyone was in costume.

*

At the witches' home, outside, Sam and Dean walked across the street toward the Impala, wiping the blood off their faces.

"Where the hell are we gonna find this mook?" Dean asked.

"Where would you go to raise other dark forces of the night?" Sam replied.

"The cemetery," Dean answered.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. They got into the Impala, driving away, leaving. "So, this demon's pretty powerful."

"Yeah," Dean agreed.

"Might take more than the usual weapons," Sam told them, glancing at Dean from the corner of his eye.

Dean understood. "Sam, no, you're not using your psychic whatever. Don't even think about it. Ruby's knife is enough."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Well, because the Angels said so, for one," Dean answered with honest sarcasm.

"I thought you said they were a bunch of fanatics," Sam told him.

"Well, they happen to be right about this one," Dean told him.

"I don't know, Dean," Sam told him. "It doesn't seem like they're right about much."

"Well, then forget the Angels, okay?" Dean asked. "You said yourself, these powers, it's like playing with fire." He picked up the knife, holding the handle toward Sam. "Please."

Sam took the knife from Dean.

*

In a mausoleum in one of the cemeteries in town, a Halloween party was being held.

There was rap music coming from one of the rooms.

Teenagers were walking around in costume.

A boy was standing there, looking around. "Dude, I'm tripping balls!" Someone started to walk down the stairs. The boy noticed. "Yo, shh, be quiet. It's the cops." Samhain walked down the stairs toward the room they were partying in. The boy recognized the vessel he was in. "Mr. Harding? I mean, Don?" Samhain closed the gate to the room, locking the teenagers inside, walking away, running his hand across the gate, leaving. The boy tried to open the gate to no avail. "Don, you, uh, you locked us in."

The boy tried to open the door.

The doors to the crypts in the room started to shake.

The teenagers backed away into corners of the room.

The boy looked to one side, backing to the other side.

A door came open, hands reaching out, grabbing the boy's ankles, pulling his feet out from under him, making him fall to the floor, screaming, pulling him into the grave. A second later, blood splattered out of the grave, covering the ground and the wall in front of it.

The teenagers started to panic, running toward the gate, trying to open it.

Sam and Dean ran down the stairs toward them.

Sam looked at Dean. "Help them."

"Dude, you're not going off alone," Dean told him.

"Do it!" Sam told him, running down the hall.

Dean watched him go in frustration, looking at the teenagers, gesturing for them to back away. "Stand back! Stand back!" The teenagers backed away from the gate. Dean shot the lock, kicking the door open to let them all out. "Go on. Come on. Get out. Move!" The teenagers ran out of the room, past Dean, up the stairs behind him, leaving. Dean walked in, watching as a door of a grave in the room crashed against the ground, shattering. A zombie crawled out of it, standing. Another grave door crashed to the ground, shattering. The zombie in the next grave over started to crawl out. Dean put his gun away, pulling out a silver stake. The second zombie stood. "Bring it on, stinky."

*

Elsewhere, Sam walked through the mausoleum, looking for Samhain, turning a corner, seeing him in a room facing the far wall. He tried to advance on him undetected, narrowing his eyes at the demon. Samhain turned to face Sam, holding a hand toward him, a bright white light emanating from it, trying to kill him. When the light faded, Samhain was shocked to see Sam was still alive.

Sam walked closer to Samhain. "Yeah, that demon ray gun stuff? It doesn't work on me."

Samhain ran toward Sam. Sam punched Samhain in the face, making him turn away, punching him repeatedly. Samhain punched Sam in the face repeatedly, making him back into the graves. Sam tried to punch him. Samhain raised his arm to block the move, punching him repeatedly, gripping his throat, pushing him up the wall.

*

In the other room, Dean staked another zombie to the ground next to other zombie bodies.

A frail woman approached Dean.

Dean heard her, standing, turning to stake her with a silver stake. The woman flickered in and out of focus, disappearing. Dean stood straighter, looking around. The ghost woman appeared behind him. Dean turned to face her. The ghost woman used magic to throw him across the room, into the wall, making him fall to the ground, disappearing.

Dean groaned in pain, looking around. "Zombie ghost orgy, huh? Well, that's it. I'm torching everybody."

*

In the other room, Samhain still had Sam pinned to the wall by his throat. Sam managed to pull out the knife from his jacket, trying to stab him in the heart. Samhain raised an arm to block the move, receiving the blow on his arm, making his skin burn and his wound flash with red light. He pushed the knife out of Sam's hand, across the room to the floor, turning around, throwing Sam across the room into the wall, making him fall to the floor. Sam sat up, breathing heavily. Samhain looked at him angrily, running forward to attack. Sam held his hand toward Samhain, using his psychic power to stop him. Samhain struggled against him, but Sam managed to keep him from further advance.

Dean came running around the corner to see Sam using his powers, his face falling.

Sam saw Dean over Samhain's shoulder, but continued on, using a lot of concentration, his nose starting to bleed, grabbing his head with the hand not holding Samhain at bay, finally able to exorcise Samhain.

Black smoke flowed out of Don's body, Samhain leaving Don's dead body, going straight back to Hell.

Don's body fell to the floor, still dead.

Dean looked at Sam, not knowing how to react.

Sam couldn't meet Dean's gaze.

Dean looked at Sam sadly, looking worried.

*

It was the day after Halloween.

Sam was in his motel room, packing clothes into his duffel bag.

I appeared, sitting on a nearby couch. "Tomorrow." Sam jumped at the sound of my voice, looking at me. "November 2nd. It's an anniversary for you."

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"It's the day Azazel killed your mother, and 22 years later, your girlfriend, too," I told him. "It must be difficult to bear, but you so brazenly use the power he gave you."

"Is this about the Angels telling me not to use my abilities or otherwise they would stop me?" Sam asked. I didn't answer, looking at Sam. "What was I supposed to do? That demon would have killed me, and my brother, and everyone."

"You can stow the ignorant self-righteousness," I told him, standing. "I'm not here to judge you, or to blame you. I'm here to warn you."

"Yeah, the Angels already warned me, Octavia," Sam told me. "It is Octavia, right?"

I nodded. "And they won't warn you again. They don't like you, Sam Winchester, and they believe that you're still alive because you've been useful, and they believe that the moment that ceases to be true, the second you become more trouble than you're worth, one word, one word, and they can turn you to dust."

"Why do you keep saying 'they'?" Sam asked.

"Castiel has a charge in your brother," I told him. "I have a charge in you."

"So, what, you've been assigned to me or something?" Sam asked.

"Something like that," I answered, turning away. "The Winchesters. The older brother who remembers what he's been through in Hell, and the younger, who, although human, has the power to take on a demon." I turned to see his look of surprise. "You didn't know about your brother's memories?" Sam didn't answer, processing. I chuckled without humor. "Of course you didn't. You've been warned twice, Sam Winchester. I wouldn't try for a third, for your own safety."

I disappeared, knowing that he would take what I say...

And do the exact opposite when the time was right.