Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Eight - Empty

Eden zapped back into the Bunker and was greeted with a book being thrown at her feet in the library.
"Be careful!" Cas huffed, walking over to pick it up.
"Crap, sorry. I didn't see you appear." An extremely stressed Sam sighed, resting his head in his hands at the table.
"We understand." Cas uttered, placing the book back down in front of him.
"Jack completed the final trial." Eden sniffed, wiping away a few stray tears. "He met my father."
"You mean Adam?" Sam frowned, turning around in his chair towards her.
"He and my... Stepmother – an Angel, they were there. That's why Dean called me. He completed the trial and in return, he got one of Papa's ribs. They said it would basically turn him into a Supernova and... Then he'll be a black hole for the omnipotent." Eden explained, entirely unable to make contact with either of the men in front of her.
Castiel took a minute to study Sam's lost expression.
"I feel it too." The Angel said. "It's hopelessness."
"Maybe Dean was right." The Winchester sighed.
"Yeah, maybe..." Cas uttered.
"It just... It feels wrong." Sam put his hands to his chest, feeling a painful ache. "You know, Billie's got Dean so convinced..."
"But you don't believe her." Cas observed.
"Can you blame us?" Eden frowned at a random spot on the floor. "Billie wants order. We know she doesn't care about the lives ruined in the process. This is the easiest way. I refuse to believe it's the only way."
"I just wish I could talk to her. Before it all goes down, you know? Just to make sure." Sam sighed again.
"There is no easy way to summon Death." Castiel seemed to growl, whether intentional or not. "And I will not let you end your own life."
"Jack could do it..." Eden muttered, not really thinking about her words until she said them out loud. That made her frown only deepen.
"What is it?" Sam asked, watching her.
"Jack could do it. If he can bring Pigeon back and wake up the Empty in the process, summoning Death should be easy for him." She looked to the two men, checking their expressions for any sign that they were following along.
"Baby, Jack's not here." The Winchester pointed out. "And I'm not sure we can wait for him and Dean to get back."
"Who said anything about Jack being the one to do it?" Eden cocked a brow, pointing a finger down to her belly.
"No. This is beyond our regular dose of stupidity." Cas shook his head.
"Wouldn't you rather know?" Eden asked, tilting her head. "Wouldn't you rather there be a way to find out that what's being done to all of us – to Jack, is really necessary? To make sure that this is the only and right way?"
Castiel released a heavy breath.
"Then at least let me go with you if it works."
"If we can do this, then I need you to stay here. If Dean and Jack get back before we do, you need to be here to buy us some time." Sam instructed, getting up from his chair to approach Eden, who placed a gentle hand on top of her belly.
She took a deep breath and lifted it again, pointing it to the nearest brick wall.
"Come on, Jorden. We've got this, Flower." She whispered.
Black smoke began to pour from the Dark Angel's fingertips, floating towards the wall. It accumulated to appear like a waterfall, flowing down the wall to disappear into nothing when it reached the floor. Slowly, the smoke at the top began to lower, revealing seams in the wall like a secret door.
Eden lowered her hand and offered Sam a weary, nervous look.
He nodded and moved towards the new door, pushing it open.
"Remember. Cover for us." Eden warned the Light Angel, who huffed and nodded.

Inside was, more or less, exactly what Eden had expected. The walls and shelves around them were a steel grey colour. The large hexagonal columns had 'W's down them, back-lit with white lights. The books on the shelves were laid horizontally and piled twelve at a time.
Sam and Eden quickly noticed that the door wouldn't open fully, prompting Sam to peer around it for the source of the problem; that being a dead Caucasian male Angel laying on the pristine, black mirrored floor.
The Winchester pushed the door as far as it would go to allow himself to enter, shortly followed by his love who had a protective hand on her belly.
The room never seemed to end, with the corridor to the left and right of them falling into blackness, a few more scattered Angel bodies on either side.
The door slammed closed behind them, making Sam jump. When he turned back towards it, the seams of the door had vanished.
"Nowhere to go but forwards, then..." Eden mumbled under her breath.
"I guess so." Sam replied, looking to his left. "Come on, let's try this way."
He made a few cautious steps in the chosen direction, pausing again when he heard a woman cry out.
"Please! Wait, wait! Please don't hurt me!" She wailed, shortly followed by a gruesome mixture of cracking bones and liquid splatter. "No, no!"
A man whimpered in the near distance. Eden tapped Sam's upper arm when she saw movement through one of the shelves.
They took the row next to where she'd seen it, desperately trying to keep their footsteps silent.
"Please! Please... She won't come..." A man's voice quivered.
"Keep praying or whatever..." An unamused, yet strangely familiar voice said.
"It's hopeless. Please!" The man begged. Though, something soon changed his tune. "O-okay! Okay, okay..."
He began to pray in Latin, his muttered words shaking through his lips.
Sam peered around the shelf he'd made his hiding spot, seeing none other than a very blonde Meg, sat behind a desk with one leg draped across her other, a book placed directly in front of her.
"I told you." The man eventually said.
'Meg' lifted a hand and twisted it, her powers breaking his neck and killing him instantly.
Sam turned, motioning for Eden to do the same and make their escape.
Just as they took their first step, they felt a breeze and realised they were now in the next row of shelves.
"Crap..." Eden breathed, closing her eyes briefly.
They turned around, jumping when they saw 'Meg' give them a grimaced smirk.
"Sam Winchester, Eden and their beautiful little love child?"
"Meg?" Sam replied.
"Sorry, she's still dead." 'Meg' scoffed. "Just borrowing the Queen's pretty face because really, I'm Empty."
"You're the Empty." The Winchester nodded.
"That's what I said." The entity sang.
"Oh, good. I've got a bone to pick with you." Eden glared.
"Do you now? Well, damn. I can't wait." The Empty winked.
"What are you doing here?" Sam demanded, his tone hushed as to try not to push the entity too far too soon.
"Death and me need a word." She replied. "Been trying her party-line, but she's ignoring me. I hate that."
"Yeah, we saw your chain of dead ends." Eden said monotonously.
The Empty chuckled.
"I like you. You're funny." She wagged a finger in the Dark Angel's direction.
"What do you want?" Sam asked.
"The Empty was supposed to be mine. Not even God held sway. But, lies! Sweet little lies. Billie said when she takes over she'd make it all better, but then your busted-ass friend in a trench coat came along and he gave me these trust issues..." 'Meg' explained, frowning.
"Billie wants to take over?" Sam's brows raised.
"But that's stupid. She has no real power. The ability to kill anything? Well, anyone can do that. Thanks for the demonstration." Eden rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. She wants to become 'New God'. Classic narcissist, right?" The entity smirked, shaking her head. "She's all tingly for the rules – the good old days."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sam pressed breathily.
"Everyone back to where they belong – realities, dimensions, graves. What should be dead dies, Angels off Earth, Demons back to Hell and I go back to sleep. Or I'm supposed to." The Empty shrugged. "Except again, trust issues. But you... You're Sam Winchester and the Eden from 'the' Garden. You're in God's book." She leaned forward, tapping the ornately decorated book in front of her with her index fingernail.
"That's- that's Chuck's death book?" Sam stuttered.
"It's a lot thicker than I imagined..." Eden frowned.
The Empty chuckled again, nodding her head.
"Have you read it?" The Winchester uttered.
"Only Billie can read it, dummy." 'Meg' scowled. "She always talked about how you should be so dead. Except she needs you. So, maybe if I hurt you..." She raised her hand and curled her fingers into a fist. A second later, Sam keeled over, falling to a knee as he gasped for breath.
"Sam!" Eden's eyes widened, auto pilot taking control to dive towards him, placing a hand on his back. "Stop it. Stop this right now!"
"You hear that? Get your scythe down here, Billie, or your boy's toast!" The Empty demanded at thin air.
"Wait. Stop!" Sam choked. "Billie sent us."
'Meg' frowned, stopping her power after a few moments.
"She did what now?"
Sam gasped for air, wiping his face before he answered.
"Billie... She sent us."
"Really?" The Empty's frown deepened, contrasting the high pitch her voice took. "'Cause you're saying a lot of dumb stuff for, you know, an emissary of Death."
"Yeah, well... We're all trying to beat God." The Winchester panted, accepting Eden's help to his feet. "Not a whole lotta time for questions."
"Go on..."
"Billie... Sent me... To get the book." He replied through heavy breaths, pointing a finger to the object on the desk. "She didn't say why."
"Where is she?" The Empty asked.
"Earth." He said simply. "You can't go there, can you?"
"Only if I'm summoned." The entity pressed her lips together in annoyance. "God's so protective of his little sand castles."
"Well, Billie can't leave, either, something about the plan. So, she sent us with a message." Sam motioned between himself and Eden, who's expression remained unreadable as not to let 'Meg' catch on to the Winchester's story. "Billie will honour her promise. God, Amara – they die. And you? You can go back to sleep."
The Empty stared him down for a few seconds, her lips pursed.
"And if you're lying?"
"I guess you have two choices." Sam gave a small smirk as he leaned down to place his hands on the desk between them. "Give me the book – maybe we all win. But if you kill us, we lose... And you will never go back to sleep."
The entity ran her tongue along her bottom row of teeth.
"If you lose, I'll make sure neither of you ever see that baby outside of the womb." She eventually replied, leaning forward to pick up the book and hand it to the Winchester. She then waved that hand towards the wall opposite her, opening up a door. "Go. Before I decide you're lying and I take that child right now."
Sam looked back to Eden, who gave a barely-there nod.