Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter One Hundred and Forty - Familiar Faces

"Hey..." Sam uttered, finding Eden sat on the exposed root of a tree on the outskirts of the camp.
"Hey." She sighed. "I'm sorry for shoving you like that earlier."
"No, it's okay. I get it. I know what you're like when you see red. I shouldn't have bothered trying to hold you back." He replied, sitting down next to her. "You missed a hell of a punch mom gave Lucifer, though. You would've been proud."
Eden gave a small, breathy chuckle as she looked up into the trees.
"I'm sorry I missed that." She smirked, leaning her head on his shoulder as she got serious again. "You scared the Hell out of me back there. I thought I'd lost you."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily." Sam smiled, arching his neck back a little to kiss her hair.
"I've never felt so..."
"Lost? Scared? Numb?" He offered. "That's some of what I felt when you died."
"Empty..." Eden whispered. "I can't lose you, Sam. It would break me..."
"It's okay. You won't. I promise."
"How can you promise that, though? We said we'd wait to make you and Dean immortal, but... What if something happens again like it did today?" She asked, sitting up to face him.
Sam sighed, taking her hands in his to rest on his knee.
"Okay..." He said. "I'll talk to Dean. If he's okay with it, we'll do it when we get home. Where we're safe and surrounded by our whole family. How does that sound?"
Eden thought the notion over, eventually nodding.
"Okay."
"I love you so much. You know that?" Sam smiled, looking directly into her eyes.
"I know. I love you, too." She nodded again, taking her hand from his to cup his jaw line as she leaned in, placing a delicate kiss on his lips.

"Mom's not coming." Dean huffed, walking towards Sam and Eden as they returned hand in hand.
"What?" Sam scoffed.
"She said she's not coming. She wants to stay here and help these people fight." The older brother shrugged, turning to the Dark Angel. "Think you can work some girly magic and help me talk some sense into her?"
"Where is she?" Eden asked.
Dean pointed in a direction behind him, drawing her gaze until it landed on their mother.
She walked over with the boys in tow.
"This true?" Eden cocked a brow. "You're staying behind?"
Mary sighed, throwing down a cloth she'd been using to wipe her hands.
"Seriously?" She looked to Dean, who gave another shrug. "Look, as I said to Dean, I respect these people and their cause. I've been with them for this long, I can't just abandon them."
"We have been mopping up the world for years. Years. We have been knocked down, we've been possessed, we've lost friends, we've lost family, we've lost each other. And we never walk away. Ever. And sometimes we should've, because not every fight everywhere can be won. It just can't. Alright?"
"I think mom's made up her mind." Sam said solemnly.
"See?" Dean clearly hadn't actually been listening to what he'd said as it took him a second to process. "Wait. What?"
"Mom doesn't wanna leave these people. So, let's take 'em with us."
Eden's brows raised.
"All these people?" She asked, looking around the camp.
"Sure. Why not? They'll be safer in our world." Sam shrugged.
"They'll never leave their home." Mary cut in. "They'll never leave their cause."
"Oh, I'm not saying abandon the fight," Sam defended. "I'm saying we get them somewhere safe, then we all figure out a way to take down Michael. Then once they do, they can come back and save their world."
"That's... Not an entirely terrible idea..." Eden frowned in thought. "If they'll agree to it."
Mary's lips turned up in a smile.
"You'd do that for them?"
"Well, we got... What, ten bustin' out? What's a few more?" Dean shrugged. "How many are we talking?"
The mother tipped her head, her eyes wandering to the ceiling of the shelter they were under as she mentally calculated.
"Twenty-Five?" She concluded.
Sam cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Well... That might be doable..." Eden commented, wrapping an arm around Sam's waist. "If anyone can do it, it's the Winchesters."
"Okay, well..." Dean sighed. "Getting an extra twenty-five through that rift, that may not be possible. But... As Eden said, if anyone can do it, we can, right?"
Castiel wandered in, his head hunched from the rain outside.
"Cas, hey." Sam greeted. "Any update on Jack?"
"He's back." The Angel replied.
"Great. Where is he?" The younger brother pressed.
"He's with Lucifer." Cas' voice was grave as everyone's brows raised.
"You left him alone with Lucifer?" Eden hissed. "Damn it, Pigeon... I'll be right back."