A/N: Spoilers like woah for the finale. Warnings for a little bit of swearing and a lotta bit of angst. Two chapters today because I missed posting yesterday, and another in the works for tomorrow. Reviews are love and keep me writing!

The thing with kids, Jody reflected, is that they never call you with good news.

Sam Winchester's name flashed urgently across her cell's screen. The last thing she'd heard was that Lucifer and Michael were back from the Apocalypse Universe, or Apocoverse as Dean had taken to calling it. Sam's message was either going to be really good or really bad. Winchesters never did anything by halves, after all. Jody tapped the little green icon with her thumb, her stomach tight with nervous anticipation.

"Jody."

Just that one syllable was enough to freeze the blood in her veins. There was only one thing that could make Sam sound like that. Dear lord, not Dean.

"Yeah, Sam, I'm here." She tried to interject as much comfort and support as she could into her words. Heaven knew Sam needed it right now, but of course he would never accept it. Damn Winchesters and their damn pride.

"Lucifer is dead," Sam intoned. It sounded more like Sam was dead, and in a way, Jody reflected, that was true. One could be walking and talking and human and still dead in every way that mattered.

"That's good, that's great," she babbled with fake cheer. And it was. They'd been trying to gank that sonofabitch for almost ten years now. Killing the capital-D Devil was a pretty big deal, even without taking the Winchester's personal history into account. Everything that had ever gone wrong in those boy's lives could be directly traced to that evil bastard and his scheming. Killing Lucifer was a huge win. Monumental. Maybe the most impressive name on the Winchester's already astounding kill list. But at what cost?

"Dean…" Sam's voice broke, but he coughed to cover it up. "Dean said 'yes'."

"What?" Hope blossomed in Jody's chest. If Dean was talking, that meant he wasn't dead. Maybe Dean was still alive and she'd just totally mistaken Sam's hopeless tone for something much worse than understandable exhaustion.

"That's how he did it. Kill Lucifer, I mean. He… he said 'yes' to Michael."

That didn't make any sense at all. She'd read those cheesy Edlund books and she knew Dean. He'd never do such a thing, especially knowing what he knew now about possession and Michael and everything.

Sam let out a stifled gasp of pain, and Jody shoved all of her incredulity aside. Whatever was going on with Dean could wait.

"Sam, where are you?" she forced her voice to be calm. She knew those boys wouldn't admit to being hurt even if their guts were pooled around their ankles, so she didn't ask.

"I don't…" Sam took a shuddering breath. "I'll check my GPS once we hang up and text you the address. I'll probably just steal a car and head back to the Bunker."

"That's a good plan Sam," she encouraged. "Are you alone?" Hopefully not. The last thing Sam needed was to be alone at a time like this. The fact that he was talking to her and not his mother didn't bode well either.

"Jack's here with me," Sam took another one of those worryingly unsteady breaths. "He's a bit bloody, but he'll live."

"And you?" Jody pressed, not really expecting a straight answer, but her mom instincts forced her to ask anyway. "How are you, Sam?"

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit. Your brother was just hijacked by a genocidal archangel and Lucifer is dead. If you're fine, I'm Betty White," she snapped.

Sam let out a breath that was more of a sob than a laugh.

"Sam, let me help. Tell me what you need. Please." What Jody wanted to do was to make him stay put until she could get there and take him home and patch up his hurts and wrap him in warm blankets and feed him wholesome food and let him cry on her shoulder. Even more than that, she wanted Dean to be safe and sound so she didn't have to do any of that, because taking care of Sam was Dean's job. But she only rarely got what she wanted.

"I need you to put out the word to the other hunters that Dean's… Michael… he can't be stopped," Sam finally said. His voice was all business, despite his hesitations. "Normal angel blades or wardings won't work on him. Nothing but another archangel can even slow him down. So tell our people to keep an eye out, but to stay away for their own safety. Same with your police contacts: I'm sure Dean's still in the system from way back when," Sam let out a depreciating huff. "We need to find him as fast as possible. The longer he..." Sam's teeth grinding was audible even through the connection. "We gotta find him."

"Yeah, Sam, I can do that," she tried to think of something encouraging to say that wouldn't sound trite. He was being so brave, putting other people's well-being before his own pain, and it was such a Sam thing to do that it broke her heart. "You aren't alone in this," she finally decided on. "You got a lot of good people behind you. Let us take care of you while we figure out a way to get your brother home safe."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. "Thanks, Jody," Sam whispered before the line went dead. She stared at the phone with something approaching shock. Lucifer was dead and Dean was possessed by an archangel that wanted to destroy the world. Just another day in the office, right? She bit back an hysteric giggle.

Pull yourself together, Sheriff, she ordered herself sternly. The Winchester boys need you.

Jody picked up the phone and started to dial. She had work to do.