Chapter 01 - Sympathy for the Devil
For a split second, fear encompasses Dean. He tightens his grip on Addison, refusing to release her. "Come on," he shouts. Sam tears his gaze away from the light. And together the brothers run over to the doors, but they slam shut before they can escape. A high pitched noise emits from the light. They close the eyes as the light grows brighter. Sam covers his ears, but it's no avail. The boys drop to their knees.
The light murmur of voices causes the guys to cautiously open their eyes. They were on a plane. Dean looks around, stunned. None of the other passengers sensed anything different. "What the hell," he quietly asks.
"I don't know," Sam replies.
"Is she okay?"
The boys look up to see a concerned flight attendant. Dean shifts Addison into the empty seat between him and Sam. "Narcolepsy," Dean lies. "One minute, she's wide awake and the next, she's out cold. She'll wake up soon. Nothing to worry about."
The flight attendant nods and Dean lets out a relived breath as the woman leaves. Guilt immediately appears on Sam's face. "Dean, I—" Sam begins.
"Folks, quick word from the flight deck," the captain says over a loud speaker. "We're just passing over Ilchester, then Ellicott City, on our initial descent into Baltimore—"
"Ilchester," Dean questions. "Weren't we just there?"
"So, if you'd like to stretch your legs, now would be a good time to—" Out of the tiny window, a bright light shoots into the air. "Holy shit!"
The plane violently shakes causes passengers to scream. Emergency oxygen masks fall from above them. The guys quickly pull them on and Dean pulls one on Addison as Sam buckles her in. The high pitched noise emits from the light. Everyone on the plane covers their ears, trying to block it out. The plane continues shaking.
Eventually, the plane lands in Baltimore and the guys get off. Once they're away from from the gate, Dean sits down on a bench and examines Addison. Outwardly, the only thing wrong with her was a deep gash on her left shoulder. It rendered her protection tattoo useless. "Dean?" Dean pulls back to see Addison awake. He tightly embraces her, relief filling him. "Where are-" Dean cuts her off with a kiss.
"Hey, I got the car," Sam says, walking over to them. He freezes when he sees Addison awake. "Ads." She looks at him and he sees the confusion in her eyes.
"Let's get the hell out of here," Dean says, standing up. Addison slowly stands up. He wraps an arm around her waist and leads her out of the airport with Sam following them.
Addison winces as the needle pierces her skin. She still wore the bloodied white dress. Now, through, they were speeding down a dark highway. She buries her face in Sam's thigh as he continues stitching up the cut on her shoulder. The car hits a bump. "Owe," Addison complains as the needle jabs her skin.
"Sorry," Sam apologizes, wiping the blood away. Silence settles over the rental car and Sam sighs. "Dean, look—"
"Don't say anything," Dean interrupts. "It's okay. We just got to keep our heads down and hash this out, all right?"
"Yeah, okay."
"All right, well, first things first - how did we end up on soul plane?"
"Angels," Addison suggests. "Maybe they beamed us up or something."
"Well, whatever. It's the least of our worries. We need to find Cas."
"Ads...what exactly do you remember," Sam quietly asks.
Addison frowns. "What do you mean?"
"At the convent. What do you remember?"
"Uh, I ran into Lillith and her minions. Then one of them stabbed me. And that's it. Why? What happened?"
"How the hell did you know where to go," Dean questions.
"I called Chuck. Through it was still creepy that he knew that I was going to call." Her nails dig into Sam's thigh as he pushes the needed through her skin once more. "I figured that since Dean was kidnapped by angels, the only thing I could do was try and stop you, Sam. I guess I got there a little early, huh."
Sam meets Dean's gaze in the rearview mirror. He sends his older brother a look, silently begging him not to tell Addison what he had done. Dean subtlety nods. As far as he was concerned there was no need to inform her.
"God, I'm hungry," Addison says, interrupting their silent conservation. "We need to stop for some tacos or something."
The trio enters Chuck's house to find it in disarray. Furniture was overturned, papers were scattered everywhere. Addison stares at blood stains on the wall with a raised eyebrow, wondering what exactly had happened. A noise causes them to turn around and find nothing there. Sam turns back and is whacked in the head with a toilet plunger. "Owe," Sam exclaims, through Addison believes it's more out of shock than an actual injury.
Lowering the plunger, Chuck stares at the hunters. "Sam," he states.
"Yeah!"
"Hey, Chuck," Dean greets.
Chuck's gaze widens seeing Addison. "Holy crap, Addison."
Addison shoots the guys a confused look. "What?"
"You're okay?"
"Yeah..."
"My - my last vision, Sam went, like, full on Vader. Body temperature was one fifty, heart rate was two hundred. Sam, your eyes were black."
"Your eyes went black," Dean asks his brother.
"I didn't know," Sam quietly answers.
Chuck stares at Addison. "And Sam, he - he used his—"
"Where's Cas," Dean interrupts, shooting the writer a look. One that he hope the writer understood.
"He's dead. Or gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him. I'm sorry."
"You're sure? I mean, maybe he just vanished into the light or something."
"Oh, no. He, like, exploded. Like a water balloon of chunky soup."
"Uh, Chuck," Addison says, motioning to her ear. "You got a little..." Chuck wipes at his right ear. "Other side."
Chuck feels and pulls out a small object. "Oh. Oh, God. Is that a molar? Did I have a molar in my hair? This has been a really stressful day."
"Cas, you stupid bastard," Dean mutters.
"Stupid," Sam repeats. "He was trying to help us."
"Yeah, exactly."
"So, what now?"
"I don't know."
"Oh crap," Chuck says.
"What," Addison asks.
"I can feel them."
"Thought we'd find you here," a voice booms. They turn to see a man in an expensive suit. He was balding with grey hair. "Playtime's over, Dean. Time to come with us."
Dean glares at Zachariah as the angel moves towards him. "You just keep your distance, asshat."
"You're upset."
"Yeah. A little. You sons of bitches jump started judgment day!"
"Maybe we let it happen. We didn't start anything. Right, Sammy? You had a chance to stop your brother and you couldn't. So let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it all our faults and move on. Cause like it or not, it's Apocalypse Now. And we're back on the same team again."
Dean scoffs. "Is that so?"
"You want to kill the devil. We want you to kill the devil. It's synergy."
"And I'm just supposed to trust you? Cram it with walnuts, ugly."
"This isn't a game, son. Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast - before he finds his vessel."
"His vessel," Sam questions. "Lucifer needs a meat suit?"
"He is an angel. Them's the rules. And when he touches down, we're talking Four Horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies, the greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean, but you need our help."
"You listen to me, you two faced douche. After what you did, I don't want jack shit from you!"
"You listen to me, boy! You think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did," Zachariah asks. The angel frowns, seeing blood dripping from Dean's hand. "You're bleeding."
Dean smirks. "Oh, yeah. A little insurance policy in case you dicks showed up." Dean slams his palm onto a door and bright flashes in the room. Addison looks around seeing that the angels were gone. "Learned that from my friend Cas, you son of a bitch."
"This sucks ass," Chuck comments.
Cleaning his gun always relaxed him. Which is exactly what Dean was doing that moment while he was sitting in the motel room, waiting for Sam to return. Addison was sitting at the table, flipping through a local newspaper. The door opens and Dean shoves a cartridge into his gun, but relaxes when he sees it's Sam. "Hey."
"Hey," Sam replies. He pulls out a couple of small objects and tosses them to Dean and Addison. "Here. Hex bags. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter."
Addison examines the hex bag. "Where'd you get these?"
"I made 'em."
"How?"
Sam awkwardly shifts causing Dean and Addison to look at him with curiosity. "I...I learned it from Ruby."
Dean sets down his gun and walks over to his brother. "Speaking of. How you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?"
"I...it's weird," Sam answers. "Uh, tell you the truth, I'm fine. No shakes, no fever. It's like whoever...put me on that plane cleaned me right up."
"Supernatural methadone."
"Yeah, I guess." Sam takes a deep breath. "Dean—"
"Sam," Dean interrupts, walking back over to the bed. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything."
"Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? I'm sorry? I fucked up? Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right—"
"So, why do you keep bringing it up?" Sam sighs. Dean runs a hand over his face. "Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it." Sam nods in agreement. "All right, so, say this just any other hunt. You know? What do we do first?
"We'd, uh, figure out where the thing is."
"Then we just have to find the devil," Addison comments. She looks between the guys. "It shouldn't be that hard, right?"
"Yeah, right, wavy gravy," Dean mutters, listening to the commenters on TV argue about the strange weather happenings over the past day. Sam was sitting at the table, flipping through their father's journal. Addison had went on a food run and to get a change of clothes, through Dean suspected she just needed to get away from them for a bit. A knock comes from the door and Dean sits up, picking up his gun off the nightstand.
Sam walks over to the door and opens it to find a blonde woman. The woman's gaze widens and she hyperventilates. "You okay, lady," he asks.
"Sam, is it really you," the woman asks. Sam shoots Dean a confused look as the woman steps closer. He frowns when the woman puts a hand on his chest. "And you're so firm."
"Uh, do I know you?"
"No. But I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're..." The woman glances at Dean. "Not what I pictured. I'm Becky." She moves past Sam and enters the room. "I read all about you guys. And I've even written a few..." She trails off, giggling. "Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were."
"Chuck," Dean questions, standing up.
"He's got a message, but he's being watched. Angels. Nice change up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old."
"Right. Just, um...what's the message," Sam asks, moving towards her.
"He had a vision. 'The Michael sword is on Earth. The angels lost it.'"
"The Michael sword," Dean asks.
"Becky, does he know where it is," Sam questions.
"In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs," Becky answers.
"Forty-two dogs," Dean repeats.
"Are you sure you got that right," Sam asks her.
"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said," Becky replies. She places her hand back on Sam's chest. "I memorized every word. For you."
Sam shoots his older brother a pleading look, but Dean smirks in response. He shifts awkwardly. "Um, Becky, uh, can you...quit touching me?"
"No."
The motel door opens and Sam watches as Addison enters, carrying a paper bag and drink tray. Her gaze goes between Becky and Sam. "You," Becky exclaims, glaring at Addison. "You are a horrible person. You've been playing with—"
"Um, Becky, you should probably go now," Sam says, moving stand in front of Addison.
Becky glares at Addison as she walks out of the motel room. Addison looks between the guys. "Who was that?"
Dean smirks. "Sam's number one fan."
Addison stands up as Dean lets Bobby into their motel room. He sets a box of books down on the dresser. "Good to see you three all in one piece," Bobby greets, hugging each of them.
"You weren't followed, were you," Dean questions.
"You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new super fan?"
Sam laughs. "You heard."
"I heard, Romeo. So, sword of Michael, huh?"
"You don't think it's the actual sword, do you," Addison asks.
Bobby grabs a book out of the box and opens it to a picture of Michael. Dean stares at the photo of a male figure with a feminine face surrounded smaller naked figures lying on scales. "Thats Michael. Toughest son of a bitch they got," Bobby explains.
"You kidding me? Tough? That guy looks like Cate Blanchett," Dean counters.
"Looks more like that chick from Constantine," Addison comments, turning the page. There was another picture of the same type of figure, holding a sword and with a foot on a man's head. Dean nods in agreement.
"Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me," Bobby says. "He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword. So, if we can find it..."
"We can kick the devil's ass all over again," Sam reasons. "All right. So, where do we start?"
"Divvy up and start reading. Try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense." Sam nods and starts towards the box, stops. "Kid? You all right?"
Sam turns around. "No, actually. Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry."
"Sam," Dean warns.
"Lilith did not break the final seal. Lilith was the final seal," Sam continues.
"Sam, stop it."
"I killed her and I set Lucifer free."
"You what," Bobby angrily asks.
"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on."
Bobby walks towards him. "You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off...I want you to lose my number. You understand me."
Addison stares at Bobby in disbelief. "There's an old church nearby. Maybe I'll go and read some of the lore books there," Sam quietly says.
"Yeah. You do that."
No one says anything as Sam walks out of the room. Addison stands there for a moment, then leaves the room. She catches up Sam on the staircase outside of the motel. "Sam," she says, grabbing his arm. "Sam, it's not your fault."
"Ads—" Sam starts.
"Stop it, Sam. This isn't your fault. This - this is demons and angels manipulating all of us," Addison says. "No one blames you, except for you, Sam." He looks down at the ground and she tightly embraces him. "I don't blame you." Sam wraps his arms around her and holds her tight. He knew that if she knew the truth, then Addison would be more angry than Bobby currently was. She pulls back and smiles at him. "Are you gonna be okay, Sam?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine," Sam answers after a moment. Addison loops her arm around his and they set off down the street. And for a second, Sam feels like everything will be okay.
Hearing the sounds that come from a fight, Sam and Addison rush down the hallway. The door was kicked in. Bobby was lying on the floor, bleeding from a injury on his stomach while a demon was plummeting Dean. "No," Sam exclaims, running into the room.
A demon in the body of a dark hair young woman turns to them. "Hey ya, Sammy. You miss me? Cause I sure missed you."
"Meg," Sam disbelievingly asks. At Meg's grin, Sam throws a punch at her and misses. Addison jumps back through when Sam falls to the ground.
"It's not so easy without those super special demon powers, huh, Sammy," Meg mocks. Addison spots Ruby's knife in Bobby's stomach and runs over to him. Bobby groans when she yanks the knife out. Addison turns and stabs the demon beating Dean in the back of the neck, killing it. She starts towards Meg but the demon smokes out of the body before Addison can do anything.
Dean shoves the body off of him and moves over to Bobby. He and Sam carry Bobby out of the motel room and down to the Impala. After finding the nearest hospital, the guys carry the older hunter into the emergency room. "Need some help here," Dean shouts.
"What happened," a nurse asks, running over to them.
"Someone stabbed him," Addison answers.
"Can we get a gurney," the nurse shouts. Two more nurses run over, this time with a gurney and Dean lays Bobby on it.
"Hang on, Bobby. Hang in there. You're gonna be okay," Dean tells him before the nurses leave.
They move to follow them, but the first nurse stops them. "Just wait here."
"We can't just leave him," Sam argues.
"Just don't move. I've got questions."
Dean watches as the nurse leaves then turns to Sam and Addison. "We got to go."
Sam shakes his head. "No. No way, Dean."
"The demons heard where the sword is," Dean tells them. "We got to get to it before they do, if we're not too late already. Come on!"
"You guys go, I'll stay," Addison says. They exchange a look. "Go!" She watches as they run out of the ER. She forces a smile as the nurse walks over to her with a clipboard.
Addison yawns as she leans back in the hard recliner next to Bobby's hospital bed. The older hunter had been awake for the past few hours. Dean and Sam had filled her in at what happened at John's old storage unit. Her night had been uneventful, except for a surprise visit from Castiel when she was in the bathroom. She was still confused as to why the angel would touch her ribs then disappear before she could ask him about it.
"Unlikely to walk again," Bobby repeats, glaring at the doctor. Addison blinks and finds the young doctor nervously staring back at Bobby. "Why, you snot nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!" Addison raises an eyebrow when the doctor runs out of the room. "I'll use my game leg and kick your fucking ass! Yeah, you better run!"
"Bobby," Addison scolds. "Dr. Mark was just trying to do his job."
"Don't tell me you believe that yahoo?"
"Fuck him," Dean says, stepping away from the window. "You'll be fine."
Addison shifts in the seat. "So...let me ask the million dollar question," Sam says. "What do we do now?"
Bobby sighs. "Well, we save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, Heaven or Hell, we're fucked."
"What if we win," Dean says. He's met with three stares. "I'm serious. I mean, fuck the angels and the demons and their fucking apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours. And I say they get the fuck off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves."
"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?"
"I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a give 'em hell attitude and I'll figure it out."
"You are nine kinds of crazy, boy."
"It's been said." Dean pats him on the shoulder. "Listen, you stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit."
Addison leans down and embraces Bobby. "You gotta stop yelling at the doctors and nurses, Bobby," she says. "Otherwise they won't give you the good drugs."
"Yeah, yeah," Bobby grumbles. The trio starts out of the room. "Sam?" Sam stops and looks at Bobby. "I was awake. I know what I said back there. I just want you to know that...that was the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever."
Sam stares at him, then sighs. "Thanks, Bobby."
"You're welcome. I deserve a damn medal for this, but...you're welcome."
Addison leans against Sam as they walk out of the hospital. "All I want is a hot shower and a warm bed," she says.
"You know, I was thinking...maybe we could go after the Colt," Sam says.
Dean stops and looks at him as they arrive at the Impala. "Why? What difference would that make?"
"Well, we could use it on Lucifer. I mean, you just said back there—"
"I just said a bunch of shit for Bobby's benefit. I mean, I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't have a snowball's chance and you know that. I mean, hell, you of all people know that."
"Dean..." Sam pauses and pulls away from Addison. "Is there something you want to say to me?"
Dean lets out a deep breath. "I tried, Sammy. I mean, I really tried. But I just can't keep pretending that everything's all right. Because it's not. And it's never going to be. You chose a demon over us and look what happened."
"I would give anything - anything - to take it all back."
"I know you would. And I know how sorry you are. I do. But, man...you were the one that I depended on the most. And you let me down in ways that I can't even...I'm just - I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know?"
"What can I do?"
"Honestly? Nothing. I just don't...I don't think that we can ever be what we were. You know? I just don't think I can trust you."
Dean ignores the surprised looks on Sam and Addison's faces. He turns and climbs into the driver's seat of the Impala. "He didn't mean it," Addison quietly says, grabbing Sam's hand. "Dean just needs time, Sam. We all do. And just so you know, I do trust you." She gives him reassuring squeeze, then climbs into the backseat.