AUTHOR'S NOTES – Between Heaven & Hell (Season 5)
This is the sequel to my previous story To Hell and Back which covers Season 4 of Supernatural, and prior to that there are my stories Highway to Hell, All Hell Breaks Loose& Hell to Pay which cover Seasons 1-3 respectively. If you haven't read any of those yet, I suggest you start with Highway to Hell because otherwise you're jumping into a story already in progress, and it will give you all the background you need to know about who Beth is and her story. (Plus, it's like several weeks (at least) worth of fun stories!)
This story picks up immediately after the end of Season 4 – Lucifer Rising. Sam has unwittingly opened the door to Lucifer's cage and released him into the world. Dean and Beth must now find a way to forgive their brother for choosing the demon Ruby over them, and bringing upon them the very Apocalypse that they'd been trying to prevent. Mixed in to this is a compelling story of angels and demons, destiny and choice, and most importantly the love between family.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, it's characters or any of the storyline that follows the show itself. Any changes to storyline and addition of characters (ie. Beth & Jefferson, just to name a couple) are all mine :)
The only OC I don't own is Cole Singer – she's a crossover from my friend EarthhAngel. Be sure to go check out her story How To Save A Lifefor some John Winchester focused writing, plus some early Dean & Beth back story :) It's been an absolute ball collaborating on that story and there's plenty more story to come!
When darkness is no less than everything you've built become undone
There's no fight and no flight, disaster leaves your passion overrun
It's time to let go, it's time to carry on with the show
don't mourn what is gone, greet the dawn
n' I will be standing by your side
together we'll face the turning tide
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
St Mary's Chapel
Ilchester, Maryland
Dean's POV
How the hell were we going to undo this catastrophe? That was the first question that ran through my head as soon as I started to see the blinding light shine from under the stone floor beneath us. Sam's panic rippled through the three of us and I grabbed both Sam and Beth, pushing them back toward the exit to the chapel.
"Come on!" I yelled, pulling on Sam who seemed glued to the spot, rooted in the horror that he'd just unleashed. Beth broke ahead of us, but as we reached the open entrance, the doors slammed in our faces. I grabbed at the door, pulling as hard as I could while Beth took the other handle, but there was no give in either. I spun around to see that the light was rising at the other side of the room.
A high-pitched noise sounded, and Beth grabbed at her ears, leaning into me. I wrapped an arm around her, pressing a hand to one ear and closing my eyes. Sam dropped to his knees at the same time we did, the noise unbearable. Not only had we opened the doorway to Lucifer's cage, we were going to die in the escape efforts. I held Beth close under one arm, the other reaching out to grasp Sam's shoulder as the sound pitched even higher.
"What the devil is your name?" Asked a little cartoon voice.
What?
"Sa-Sa-Sa-Sa-Yo-Yosemite Sam," came the reply from someone else and I frowned.
"Yosemite Sam?" Asked the original voice.
Where are we?
I opened my eyes, hands still holding tight to Sam and Beth, finding myself in the middle seat of an airplane row.
Plane?
"What the hell?" I asked, looking around. How had we gotten here?
"What just happened?" Beth asked, sitting on the aisle and glancing down at a flight attendant who was walking along and checking if people needed drinks.
"I don't know," Sam said from the window seat.
I hate flying.
"Folks, quick word from the flight deck. We're just passing over Ilchester, then Ellicott City, on our initial descent into Baltimore…" announced the pilot over the intercom.
"Ilchester?" I asked, "weren't we just there?"
"So if you'd like to stretch your legs, now would be a good time to—Holy crap!"
The plane was suddenly rocked with what felt like an explosion, veering off course and sending people who weren't strapped into their seats into each other, across aisles and to the floor. Screams started, emergency lighting kicked in and my worst nightmare - the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.
Beth scrambled to get mine, handing it to me, and then putting her own on, our eyes locking in primal fear of our impending doom. The high-pitched noise from the chapel was back, and Sam grabbed at my arm, pointing out the window where a blinding column of white light shot up from the ground below and then flooded the plane.
There was no doubt about it, that light was Lucifer, and somehow we'd been plucked from ground zero and placed on a plane. I stared, horrified and mystified at the same time by the light. It was Heavenly pearl white, and if I hadn't known better I might have mistaken it for a good thing. The reality however was far far worse.
Rental Car
Location Unknown
Beth's POV
Dean was driving, cursing about the fact that we were in a rental, and the Impala was still at our house in Blue Earth. We wouldn't have time to go and get it, the drive alone was a good seventeen hours or more.
"—and Governor O'Malley urged calm—," a radio announcer said from the speakers. "—saying it's very unlikely an abandoned convent would be a target for terrorists, either foreign or homegrown."
"Change the station," Dean said, his mood not having improved in the last few hours.
I reached out and pushed the search function on the radio. Numbers flipped through methodically before latching on another signal.
"—Hurricane Kinley, unexpectedly slamming into the Galveston area—" I pushed the search again, waiting.
"—announced a successful test of the North Korean nuclear—," again, I changed the channel as Dean sighed, his eyes focused on the road ahead.
"—a series of tremors—"
"—swine flu—"
Swine Flu? I sighed and hit the power button, turning the whole thing off, plummeting the car into awkward and uncomfortable silence. Sam was sitting in the back seat, and he'd been mercifully quiet during the disembarking of the plane, and the application for the car rental… but I knew it was stewing away inside him - that guilt eating at him with nowhere for it to be released. It would only be a matter of time before he needed to offload on one or both of us.
"Dean, look—" It seemed that time of silence was up.
"Don't say anything," Dean said, not moving to even glance at me. Sam paused, and the awkwardness simply grew. "It's okay. We just got to keep our heads down and hash this out, all right?"
Another pause as Sam thought about this. He tended to have a bit of a self-flagellation approach to his mistakes, and in this case it was the biggest screw up of all time. No way were we going to escape with a simple "don't say anything".
"Yeah, okay," Sam said finally. Dean and I exchanged a glance, and I could see the uncertainty sitting there. He didn't know what to do, and I didn't have any answers to give him.
"All right, well, first things first—How did we end up on Soul Plane?" I asked, looking back at Sam.
"Angels, maybe? I mean, you know, beaming us out of harm's way?" Sam replied.
"Well, whatever. It's the least of our worries," Dean cut in, his eyes cutting across to me. "We need to find Cas. Anything?"
I'd been trying to contact Cas via our angel radio connection since we'd landed. He had the ability to block me if needed, and I could do that to him, but this was a situation of life and death, you would think that his vessel would at least respond to our demise. I shook my head to answer Dean's question, elaborating: "No. He's not answering. In fact… it's like he's just… not there at all." This last statement had me the most worried.
"Well that's not concerning at all!" Dean said, clearly on the same page with what that meaning was. Cas was MIA and given that when he'd left Dean, he'd been about to face down a warrior angel there to protect Chuck, and Ezekiel had felt the need to go to his assistance, the radio silence was very worrisome.
Chuck's House
Kripke's Hollow
Dean's POV
Chuck's house looked like a bomb had gone off, much the same as I remembered it being when we'd found Jimmy Novak at the warehouse . It was a catastrophe and one I didn't mind admitting worried me half to death. The living room was littered with debris from books, to pieces of computer, to chunks of furniture and fixtures from the ceiling - and blood, a heck of a lot of blood. Where the hell was Chuck, and Cas? Hadn't there been an archangel protecting Chuck?
A noise sounded behind us from the kitchen, and I spun around, looking for the source. It could have been anything, I was jumpy and it showed. Beth was picking her way into the hallway, Sam just a little bit ahead of her.
"Ahhh!" Came a cry from the hallway and I looked up just in time to see Chuck smash a toilet plunger over Sam's head. Sam stumbled back, grabbing at his head and I chuckled, grateful that it wasn't me copping the attack for a change.
"Geez! Ow!" Sam exclaimed and Chuck stepped out into the archway separating hall from living room.
"Sam?"
"Yeah!" Sam confirmed, shaking his head.
"Hi Chuck," Beth said. Chuck's gaze swung around the room and he nodded first toward Beth and then at me.
"So...you're okay?" He said finally, looking at Sam.
"Well, my head hurts," was the reply.
"No, I mean—I mean, my—My last vision…" His eyes widened with shock. "You went, like, full-on Vader. Your body temperature was one-fifty. Your heart rate was two hundred. Your eyes were black."
"Your eyes went black?" I asked.
Sam looked back at me and shrugged. "I didn't know."
I sighed, not even wanting to think about the implications of that knowledge. How demonic was Sam when he was high on demon blood? We knew it was bad, but I'd never considered that perhaps he'd go so far with his powers that he'd turn into a demon.
"Where's Cas?" I asked, changing the subject for the moment. One crisis at a time.
"He's dead. Or gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him. I'm sorry," Chuck answered, looking sadly at me.
"You're sure? I mean, maybe he just vanished into the light or something," I questioned. It wouldn't be the first time.
"Oh, no. He, like, exploded," Chuck negated, "Like a water balloon of chunky soup."
I grimaced at the visual, and Beth started to look a little green around the gills. Sam stepped closer to Chuck, taking a closer look at the prophet and I watched him reach up and wave at his ;eft ear.
"You got a…"
Chuck mimicked his movement, his hand waving at his right ear. "Uh...right here?"
"Other side," Sam said, indicating on his own head.
Chuck felt around, his facial expression changing to horror when he same into contact with something hard that was lodged in his hair. "Oh. Oh, god." He tugged at whatever it was and held it up. "Is that a molar? Do I have a molar in my hair? " He looked at it. "It is," he confirmed, and I wondered if he was going to faint. "This has been a really stressful day."
Beth had moved, I saw her pull out a knife and slice the palm of her hand, stepping behind a door that was half open in the archway leading into the hall. I smiled; at least one of us was thinking about the fact that Chuck was likely being watched. Which of course would have been the case when we came here looking for Sam.
"Cas," I muttered, feeling partly responsible for his demise. "You stupid bastard."
"Stupid?" Sam asked. "He was trying to help us."
I nodded. "Yeah, exactly."
"What about Ezekiel?" Beth asked suddenly, looking at Chuck.
"Who?"
"Ezekiel, the angel who was with me," she replied. Chuck shrugged, turning to look at her. She'd moved her hand out of his line of vision, and now I was starting to get the heebie jeebies, expecting to be ambushed at any moment.
"I didn't see him in my vision," Chuck replied.
"You saw Beth at the chapel though?" I asked and he nodded.
"Well yeah, but I don't know how she got there, or who she was with," he paused, looking harder at Beth. "You're really okay?"
"Yeah. Shouldn't I be?" She asked, a small frown marking her forehead.
"Well…" He started to tell her about how she hadn't made it in his vision and I decided that was quite enough of that.
"He doesn't know what he's talking about, why wouldn't you be?" I said and Chuck mercifully stopped talking.
"So, what now?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. I had just started to think that the angels had abandoned Chuck when he cursed.
"Oh, crap."
"What?" Sam asked.
"I can feel them," Chuck replied.
"Thought we'd find you here," sounded the voice of Zachariah, and I turned around to see the round faced baby with wings standing in the kitchen with two others accompanying him. I took a few steps back toward Beth, and realised that we were in a standoff - the four of us one end of the living room, the three of them at the other end.
"Playtime's over, Dean. Time to come with us," Zachariah said.
I pointed at him, giving him my best intimidating look. "You just keep your distance, asshat."
I felt Beth reach out, her hand resting at my lower back, just keeping reassuring contact. I kept my mind on the goal here - to get some information from these dicks before blowing them to kingdom come. I focused on her touch and allowed it to calm me down from the homicidal rage I was feeling whenever I looked at the angel. Zachariah looked at me, a placating expression on his face.
"You're upset."
Was he crazy? Of course I was upset. "Yeah. A little. You sons of bitches jump-started judgment day!" I snapped.
"Maybe we let it happen. We didn't start anything," he argued, pressing the semantics. "Right, Sammy?" He winked at Sam and I felt the blood begin to boil in my veins.
"You two 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 was all our faults and move on. 'Cause like it or not….it's Apocalypse Now. And we're back on the same team again."
Beth scoffed, a half laugh escaping her mouth. "Is that so?"
"You want to kill the devil. We want you to kill the devil. It's...synergy," Zachariah pointed out.
"And we're just supposed to trust you?" She asked. I could feel her hand trembling slightly where it was touching me. I knew from experience that she wasn't scared, she was furious and it was taking everything she had to stop herself from lashing out further.
"Cram it with walnuts, ugly," I said. So it wasn't my best insult in the world, but it worked.
"This isn't a game, son," the angel said, his face turning stern. "Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast—before he finds his vessel."
"His vessel? Lucifer needs a meat suit?" Sam asked.
"He is an angel. Them's the rules," he said with a smirk. "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," I said, seething inside. "After what you did, I don't want jack squat from you!"
Zachariah's face started to get red and he took a few steps in our direction, his frustration evident as he opened his mouth. "You listen to me, boy! You think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?" He paused, looking down at Beth's hand which she'd previously had behind the wall, but dropped to her side.
"You're bleeding," he said, and she smirked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, yeah—a little insurance policy in case you dicks showed up," I said with a smile, nodding at Beth. She slapped her hand against the wall and the angel banishing sigil she'd drawn behind the door.
"No!" Zachariah cried out before being sucked into a blinding flash of light.
"Learned that from my friend Ezekiel, you son of a bitch," Beth said coldly.
"This sucks ass," Chuck muttered when we turned around to look at him.
Regent Inn Motel
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
Beth's POV
We were on the move again, not having any idea where to start or what to do. We'd started to head back North, and Bobby was collecting the Impala from Blue Earth and bringing it to us. With the Jehovah's Witnesses out there looking for us, and who knows what other manner of spies, we'd stuck to larger cities: Pittsburgh our latest stop over as we started to make our way back toward the Midwest.
I dumped my duffel on the bed and started to pick through it for dirty clothes. There was a laundromat down the street, and I had to keep busy, or my mind was going to implode. Once I'd made a decent pile of clothes next to the bag, I unzipped Dean's bag and started going through it.
"Whoa whoa whoa… what you doing?" He asked, looking up as he stepped out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. He was doing the same thing. The only time Dean loitered in the bathroom was when he was stalling for time on something, trying to keep busy, or in the mood for sex and preparing to bring his A game. The look on his face told me it was not the latter.
"Laundry," I said.
"I think it can wait, don't you?" He asked, turning to spit out toothpaste into the sink.
"Well, we're waiting on Bobby to get here with the car, and the lore books, I'm going crazy Dean. I need something to focus on. I'll get some laundry happening, and I saw a church down the street, I might start going through some books there," I replied. He was listening, still going through his routine of leaning down to drink from the tap, tipping his head back and gargling loudly as I sorted through his clothes. He walked out of the room and starting to fiddle with a couple of guns on the table.
"Yeah, okay, I get your point, but…" Dean was cut short as the motel room door jerked open and Sam came walking in, looking over at us standing in the middle of the room, mid-sentence.
"Hey," I said and Sam smiled.
"Hey," he said, closing the door and pulling a couple of things out of his shirt. He tossed one of the items to me, and then one to Dean, waiting for us both to examine our new possessions.
"Here. Hex bags. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter," Sam explained and I turned the small sachet of fabric over in my hand, noting that it was well made, packed tightly with the herbs and other ingredients.
"Where'd you get it?" Dean asked.
Sam hesitated for a moment, looking at Dean and then me. "I made it."
"How?" I asked, curious. Another pause, and this time Dean looked up from the gun he was checking over.
"I… I learned it from Ruby," Sam confessed. I nodded, looking down at the hex bag. Of course he would have picked up some tips from the witch as they hung out together, it made sense. I don't have to like it. I struggled internally with my anger for Sam's actions and my overwhelming compassion for how it felt to be between a rock and a hard place, and make a difficult choice.
Dean put his gun down and took a few steps in my direction, looking at Sam. "Speaking of," he said curiously. "How you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?" Dean's lack of subtlety was well known, but it was particularly difficult to hear when you were on the receiving end of one of his chastising speeches. Even though that was a question made out of concern, there was the undercurrent of frustration and judgment in his words. I could see Sam struggle for a moment with it, but then he made a mental decision to push it aside.
"I-it's weird. 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," he said with a shrug.
"Supernatural methadone," Dean commented.
"Yeah I guess," was the reply. Sam looked from me to his brother, and I could practically see the cogs turning away in his mind. He needed to talk, he needed to get the reassurance he'd always wanted and needed as a child from the two people he trusted most. But, as always, he didn't know that now was not the time.
"Dean…" Sam started and Dean sighed softly, turning away as the younger man started to talk.
"Sam…" I said, cutting in and reading Dean's mind for him.. "It's okay. You don't have to say
anything."
Sam nodded, taking in what I said and looking toward his brother who was in a closed stance right now, hunched over a chair by the table, his back to us.
"Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? "I'm sorry"? "I screwed 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?!" Dean snapped. Sam sighed and the prior spun around, his eyes flashing with both hurt and frustration. "Look, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it."
Sam said nothing, glancing at me while I tried to smile reassuringly at him.
"All right, so, say this is just any other hunt. You know? What do we do first?" Dean asked dismissively.
"We'd, uh, figure out where the thing is," Sam provided and I nodded, pulling my Bible out of my bag and placing it on the bed. I was still going to do laundry, but it would wait.
"All right. So we just got to find...the Devil," Dean continued, and I felt a stab of uncertainty eat at me with that statement. How on earth were we going to accomplish what seemed the impossible?
Regent Inn Motel
Pittsburgh, PA
Dean's POV
Sam had turned to the journals. He had Dad's and Patrick's on the table and was rifling through them. So far he hadn't come up with a lot of information on the Devil. Apparently even Patrick hadn't delved too much into that.
Jefferson had fallen off the radar, something about needing to go undercover, and that was disturbing the hell out of all of us. Beth kept checking her phone about a dozen times an hour, but there still hadn't been any news from him - he was maintaining radio silence.
"How would you then explain an earthquake, a hurricane, and multiple tornadoes, all at the same time, all around the globe?" An interviewer asked on the TV and I sighed. They'd cut our soap opera to broadcast 24 hour news following a series of catastrophic events.
"Two words. Carbon emissions," replied the idiot environmentalist who was on the interview panel. I snorted and clicked the remote, changing the channel.
"Yeah, right, wavy gravy," I said, and Sam chuckled from over at the table. Beth was looking at her phone for the tenth time this hour. I had her curled up to me, her head on my chest, and it felt good - at least something felt like it wasn't a mess.
"He could be gone for weeks, babe. He'll get in touch when he gets in touch, you're not gonna miss the call."
Beth sighed and deliberately put her phone behind her on the table, rolling back into me and wrapping her arm around my chest.
"I know," she grumbled, squeezing me firmly. "But I'm worried."
"You think he wasn't worried when you were galavanting around trying to get me out of Hell?" I asked and she looked up at me, sighing.
"Oh shush."
I chuckled and leaned down to kiss her, tenderly caressing her lips which she returned with a slight smile and little moan that I loved so much. After a few moments we broke apart and she smiled again.
"Thanks."
"For what?" I asked, genuinely confused by the question.
"For keeping me sane," she commented.
She unwrapped herself from me and climbed off the bed, walking toward the bathroom. Good idea. I groaned and called out to her.
"Hey, go for me too?" I asked and at least that got a laugh out of the girl.
"Standing or sitting?" She quipped back and I chuckled while Sam shook his head in amusement.
Beth disappeared, shutting the door, and then there was a knock at the motel room door. I looked at it with a frown. It was too soon for Bobby to have arrived, and we weren't expecting anyone else. I grabbed my gun, glancing at Sam who had stood and was advancing on the door. He checked with me and I nodded once before he looked through the peephole at whoever was out there.
His face was one of confusion as he opened the door, revealing a jittery little virginal girl with long blonde hair wearing a cardigan and long skirt that hit below her knees. I quickly put the gun behind a pillow, but my finger never left the trigger, after all demons could be in anyone.
She stared at Sam, and seemed to be having a little trouble breathing, Sam realised it at the same time.
"You okay, lady?" He asked and she finally spoke.
"Sam… is it really you?" She asked, glancing into the room at me then stepping a little closer to Sam, laying a hand on his chest. "And you're so firm."
"Uh, do I know you?" Sam asked.
She pulled back, smiling devotedly up at my little brother who was looked back at me with a shrug. His guess was as good as mine.
"No. But I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're…" she peeped around Sam to look at me and I raised an eyebrow in her direction. "...not what I pictured. I'm Becky." She pushed past Sam into the room and I had a moment to wonder just what had she pictured when thinking about me… no wait, better question: why was she picturing me? Who the hell was this chick?
"I read all about you guys," Becky said, "and I've even written a few…" She stopped, glancing down as a blush crept across her face and she giggled. What was that about? Beth opened the bathroom door, stepping toward our bed, a questioning look on her face.
"Beth? Oh my god, you're beautiful!" Becky exclaimed when she saw her. I smiled.
"Uh, thank you?" Beth said, turning to look at me. I shrugged - my guess was as good as hers as to what the hell was going on here.
"Wow, I can't believe this. I'm standing in a room with The Winchesters." Becky said, and then she looked down before grabbing Beth's left hand and looking at her wedding ring. "Wow, the wedding ring. Crafted from the ring that was given to Dean - his mother's wedding ring. Oh my god, that was so… so so so romantic." She was staring all moon-eyed at Beth, clasping her hand and I watched, open mouthed wondering if there was anything Chuck had left out of the damn books.
Beth extricated her hand from Becky and couldn't have looked more awkward. ""Yes… uh yes it was. Dean?""
I shrugged at her. "Don't ask me."
"I'm your biggest fan!" Becky announced with an excited laugh.
"She's our biggest fan, there you go," I said with a wave of my hand.
Beth raised an eyebrow. "Great! That's just, great." She looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else but here right now.
Sam cleared his throat, drawing the blonde's attention back to him. "Uh, so… Becky… "
"Yeah! Right," she said, nodding. "Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were." This got my attention, I stood up, leaving the gun under the pillow.
"Chuck?" I asked. Sam turned to close the door that had been left open, and Becky nodded, looking at me.
"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."
Sam paused, shaking his head a little. "Right. Just, um...what's the message?"
"He had a vision. 'The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it.'" Becky said, moving her hand in the air as she quoted the words to us.
"The Michael sword?" Beth asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Becky, does he know where it is?" Sam questioned.
"In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs," she said solemnly.
"Forty-two dogs?" I asked skeptically.
"Are...you sure you got that right?" Beth queried and Becky nodded, keeping her eyes locked on Sam.
"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said," she answered, stepping into Sam's personal space. "I memorised every word…" She laid a hand on his chest and Sam looked like he wanted to run. "For you."
Sam shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Beth and I as if wanting our intervention. I chuckled, this girl had some guts - I kind of liked her.
"Um, Becky, c—uh, can you...quit touching me?" Sam asked and she shook her head.
"No."
Awkward….
Later
Regent Inn Motel
Beth's POV
The second knock at the door for the day, and this one was expected. Dean jumped off the bed, hurrying over to open it, smiling when he saw Bobby standing there.
"Hey, Bobby," he greeted our surrogate father, hugging him and clapping him on the back.
"Good to see you kids all in one piece," Bobby said, moving further into the room and giving the beaming Sam a hug. I moved behind them, casting a look out the door before closing it behind Bobby.
"You weren't followed, were you?" I asked rhetorically. He wouldn't have been, we knew that. Bobby chuckled, turning to embrace me in a tight hug.
"You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new superfan?" He asked as he pulled away. Sam laughed at the question.
"You heard."
"I heard, Romeo," Bobby confirmed with a smirk. He glanced at me, frowning. "So...sword of Michael, huh?"
"You think we're talking about the actual sword from the actual archangel?" I asked, and he nodded.
"You better friggin' hope so," he said, putting a thick tome he was carrying on the table and opening it. He flipped through the pages, coming to a painting of Michael surrounded by other angels. I had seen it before, a little feminine for my liking.
"That's Michael," I said, Bobby nodded.
"Toughest son of a bitch they got," he said. Sam flipped through the book to another painting, and Dean sniggered.
"You kidding me? Tough?" Dean asked. "That guy looks like Cate Blanchett."
I grinned at him. "Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me. He commands the heavenly host. He has an entire Legion of angel warriors at his disposal, I've seen them myself."
"You've... seen them…" Dean said quietly. "You know we really gotta find time to talk about these missions Ezekial had you on."
"We do…" I said with a smile.
"During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer'fs ass to the basement. Did it with that sword," Bobby said, pointing to the sword in Michael's hand. "So if we can find it…"
"We can kick the devil's ass all over again," Sam finished. He nodded and looked happy that there was somewhere to go. "All right. So, where do we start?"
Bobby shrugged and moved to the bag he'd carried in with him. He bent down, picked up a stack of books from it, and slapped them down on the table by the other.
"Divvy up and start reading—try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense," he said.
Sam reached for a book and paused, staring at the pile for a long moment, not reaching for any of them.
"Hey, Sam, are you okay?" I asked, moving up beside him. He looked at me and I saw the anguish in his eyes. He was struggling.
"No, actually," he replied. He turned to look at Bobby, and I heard him take a deep breath. "Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry."
"Sam…" I said cautiously, instantly concerned.
"Lilith did not break the final seal. Lilith was the final seal," Sam confessed.
"Sam, stop it," Dean growled, looking over at Sam with the same level of worry that I was.
"I killed her, and I set Lucifer free," Sam just wouldn't shut up, the words spilling out of his mouth like a nightmare.
"You what?" Bobby asked incredulously. I cringed, the tone instantly setting me on edge. The only thing worse than telling Bobby, to me, would have been telling John. For once I was kind of thankful that our father wasn't around to hear this.
"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on," Sam said. Dean stared, silently watching while Bobby took a few steps closer to Sam.
"You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant," he said. I flinched, because I knew he was right, and I knew I should be feeling just as furious with our brother, but that was the thing. Sam was our brother, and no matter the crime, no matter the screw up, I still loved him.
"I'm sorry," Sam said, tears welling in his eyes.
"Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon?" He asked. He frowned, shaking his head. "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?"
"Bobby!" I exclaimed, not expecting that. Sam just nodded. His expression was unchanged, as if he'd been expecting Bobby to say as much. Or more, that it was the treatment he felt he deserved - he looked devastated. Dean was silent, which told me that he wasn't far off agreeing with Bobby. I wasn't surprised, he was still angry, and his disappointment would stick with him for a while.
"Bobby… come on…" I started to argue, feeling like someone should be sticking up for Sam.
Sam cut in, still looking at Bobby who was face to face and looking defiant. "There's an old church nearby. Maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there," he said.
"Yeah. You do that," Bobby encouraged and I sighed, throwing my arm up in the air. Sam turned on his heel and opened the door, leaving the motel. I glanced at Dean who was looking conflicted at the door which had swung closed. Bobby was silent, turning back to the table and taking up a book. I sighed again, and tossed Dean an apologetic smile before leaving the room myself.
Sam was walking quickly down an alleyway to the main street when I caught up with him. He didn't hear me, or if he did wasn't giving away that he was listening. "Sam, Sam!" I called out and I saw his shoulders heave before he turned away with his tortured expression that got me every time.
"I had to Beth, I can't live with that, I can't just…"
"Stop." I said, holding a hand up to him. "Just stop."
"Why aren't you angry with me?" Sam asked, and I stopped short, looking at him and feeling an enormous amount of sadness for him. "You should be furious with me Beth. You should never want to speak to me again after what I did to you. Why are you being so nice to me?!"
"Be...because you're my brother, Sam," I said hesitantly, as if I wasn't really sure of the answer myself. I felt compelled to make this right, and I couldn't explain why. I just knew that I had to. "And I get it," I added.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"I get it. I know how easy it is to get lost when you're not with the people who love you," I answered, moving closer and placing my hand on his forearm where he'd crossed it over his chest with the other. "You know, when Dean was in Hell, and you were gone…"
Sam looked pained at me, starting to step away but I held on to his arm, shaking my head. "No, Sam, just listen. I lost myself, the things I was willing to do to get him out of Hell. They were dark, they weren't right."
"But the reason you were alone is because I sided with Ruby… Ruby! Beth!"
"I know," I said with a nod, feeling my chest ache. "God knows I know, Sam. I have been trying to find a way to be angry with you. I have."
"But?"
"But I can't. I just…" I gesturing futilely in the air with my hand. "… I don't know, but whatever put us on that plane, whatever took away those cravings for blood inside of you. Maybe it took away my anger too, because I want to be angry with you Sam. I want to hate you. But I can't."
Sam looked so miserable, taking a deep breath and turning those puppy dog eyes to me. "I'm so, so sorry Beth."
"I know you are," I replied.
"Beth…" He looked as if he wanted me to punish him. And maybe that's what this family did, God knows John had done it to all of us individually and together over the years, but I wasn't going to do that. My way was harder.
"You were the first person to be honest with me, after my Dad died, and told me what was going on. You looked after me, you held me when I had those nightmares, you got me to laugh again, and it was selfless, Sam. You and Dean - both of you took me in as a sister when I was a complete stranger, but you did it without question, and I became your sister because of it," I said, seeing his expression change from pain to sadness.
"So no, I know you, Sam. I know that whatever Ruby drove you to do, that's not you. That's not my brother. I told Dean months ago that we were losing you - that you were missing in spirit. And we had to find you. We lost you once Sam, I'm not about to do it again," I finished. That was the long and short of it. I knew what I was here for, I knew what I had to do for Sam now, and I was going to see it through.
"You know what?" Sam said after a moment. "Dean's right."
"He is?"
"Yeah. You're pretty amazing, you know that?" He asked. I shook my head. I didn't feel amazing.
"I'm not," I said quietly. "I'm human, just like you."
"I've done some really inhumane things Beth," Sam said and I thought about some of the demons I'd tortured for information when Dean was in Hell, the lengths I'd been willing to go to had been horrendous.
"We all have. And yet we're all still here, fighting together," I said.
"I should have never left you," Sam said, for the first time I felt as if he meant it. He'd said it to me before over the last year, but it had always been forced, like he was saying it just to keep the peace, and get things to a space where he wasn't on the outer all the time. Now it felt genuine.
"No," I said. "You shouldn't have."
"And I have some serious atonement to make up to you," he continued. I sighed, squeezing his forearm slightly and looking up at him.
"Just, don't do it again, okay Sammy? No more blood, no more turning your back on your family."
"Deal," he said with a smile and he moving his arms to hug me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed tight, waiting until I felt the moment pass and he shifted away.
"I don't deserve family like you Beth," he said softly.
"Yes you do, Sam. You do. That's why you have us," I replied, looking intently at him. I had to make him understand.
"Dean's so angry at me, I can feel his disappointment in me. It's worse than Dad. And Bobby…." his voice trailed off, hanging on the older man's name.
"They'll come around, they always do," I promised, but his face looked unconvinced. He shook his head, the sadness returning to his face.
"I don't know… not this time."
"They will," I insisted. If there was anything I knew in this family, it was that we didn't let the crap get in our way of being a family. "Dean owes me big time as it is," I added.
"I can't believe he lied to you," Sam said with a frown.
I nodded quietly. When I looked back at him I shrugged. "I know he had his reasons, but again they were stupid reasons. He knew better. I didn't tell him when I knew Dad was alive because he ordered me not to, and we promised each other no more secrets. But here we are. I know why he did it, it doesn't make it hurt any less. It does make it easier to forgive."
"We need a lot of forgiveness," he commented.
"Just don't screw it up, keep working through this. He'll come around, he loves you. We both do. Okay?" I said and Sam, still looking a little dubious, nodded with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, okay," he said.
"Now come on, research calls." I said, linking my arm through his and starting to drag us toward the church.
Motel Room
Dean's POV
The first few moments following Sam and Beth's exit had been a bit tense, but once I'd gotten her text telling me that they were okay and just taking a breather, I'd settled into looking through the books Bobby had brought with him. We'd studied in relative silence for hours until now.
"I never would have guess that your daddy was right," Bobby said.
"About what?" I asked, still reading through book in front of me.
"About your brother," he said, and I will admit, I didn't like what he was saying. I looked up at him, observing his stern face.
"What John said—you save Sam or kill him. Maybe…"
"Maybe what?" I cut in, wondering if my voice was giving away the sudden streak of anger passing through me. What was it with our father's hellbent on killing Sam?
"Maybe we shouldn't have tried so hard to save him," he said.
"Bobby…" I opened my mouth to start the automatic defense of Sam. I could be as mad as I wanted at him, that was the rule - I'd earned it. But other than Beth, no one else had put in the time and the energy so Sam like me, and be damned if they got to criticise his actions.
"He ended the world, Dean. And you and I weren't strong enough to stop him proper. That's on us. I'm just saying, your dad was right."
I started to argue, but then something hit me like a tonne of bricks falling out of the sky.
"Dad," I said, jumping up from the chair I was in and rushing over to my duffel bag. I knew exactly what I was looking for, and I pushed aside a few articles of clothing until I found the little ziplock bag tucked in the bottom corner. I yanked it up, starting to rummage through the various business cards, IDs and assortment of other things pertaining to Dad.
"It's got to be in here somewhere," I muttered, flipping through the cards. The weird ass code from Chuck, I had a feeling that I'd see something about Castles...
"What the hell are you talking about?" Bobby asked, standing up from the table.
"Here," I said triumphantly, standing up and walking over to Bobby, showing him the business card. "I don't believe it."
"What the hell is that?" Bobby asked, frowning at the card.
"It's a card for my dad's lockup in upstate New York. Read it." I said, passing him the card.
"Castle Storage. 42 Rover Hill," he read.
"Castle on a hill of forty-two dogs," I quoted Chuck's vision back to him, reaching for the card and taking it back.
"So you think your dad had the Michael sword all this time?" He asked.
"I don't know. I'm not sure what else Chuck could have meant," I replied. Bobby nodded, looking down at his feet.
"Yeah. Okay. It's good enough for me," he said. When he looked up his expression had changed and I froze as he lashed out at me, knocking me through the barrier that divided the kitchenette from the beds in the room. I gasped for breath, and then he was on top of me, grabbing my shirt and lifting, slamming me down against the ground. This time when I looked at him his eyes turned black. Well, son of a bitch.
Bobby dragged me to my feet, my head was spinning from the impact with the floor, and I struggled to gain my composure, grabbing at his shirt and holding him at arms length, he returned the gesture, holding my with a pincer grip at the join between neck and shoulder. .
A woman with long dark wavy hair and eyes as black as night even without the demon look walked in, followed by another male lackey. She smirked when she saw me, shaking her head.
"I always knew you were a big, dumb, slow, dim pain in the ass, Dean. But I never dreamed you were so V.I.P," she commented. Her eyes looked around the room, falling to the demon knife on the bedside table beside her. She picked it up, pointing it at me and sauntering closer. "I mean, you're gonna ice the devil? You? If I'd have known that, I'd have ripped your pretty, pretty face off ages ago."
"Ruby," I said, frowning. How was she alive and back?
"Try again. Go back further," she countered. I paused, thinking about all the other demons we'd crossed throughout the years. Only one stood out over the others.
"Meg?"
"Hi," she smiled, obviously pleased that I'd guessed correctly. "These are the days of miracle and wonder, Dean. Our Father's among us. You know we're all dreaming again for the first time since we were human? It's Heaven on Earth. Or Hell. We really owe your brother a fruit basket."
"My God, you like the sound of your own voice," I quipped, forcing myself to calm down, think clearly. I settled into myself, deep, drawing on the years of training Dad had put us through, calling on the calm before the storm. I was here, three against one, and at least one of them I couldn't kill because he was inhabiting Bobby. Sam and Beth were at the church, and there had been no indication that they were heading back any time soon. I had to fix this myself. Meg was still rambling on.
"But you, on the other hand, you're the only bump in the road. So every demon—every single one—is just dying for a piece of you," she said, raising an eyebrow at me.
I smirked at her. "Get in line."
"Oh, I'm in the front of the line, baby," she said, coming to stand in front of me, mere inches from my face. "Let's ride." She kissed me. I was more surprised than anything else. Her lips pressed hard against mine, while I struggled without success of breaking free. She was gripping my chin tightly, nails digging into the skin, and then her tongue forced its way inside my mouth. What the hell?
She pulled away after a moment, looking smugly satisfied with herself. I raised an eyebrow, watching her.
"What was that, peanut butter?" I asked.
"You know, your surrogate daddy's still awake screaming in there," she said, looking at Bobby. "And I want him to know how it feels slicing the life out of you."
These demons, they were sick and sadistic. I'd been down this road before, I'd listened to Beth tell me how it was to have that happen to her. Meg handed the knife to Bobby, and he raised it to my throat, pushing me back against the wall. I had to fight. I had to talk him out of it, he was strong. I looked him in the eyes, struggling to stop him from pushing the blade into my throat.
"Bobby!" I said, hoping to reach the man inside. There was a moment of hesitation. He was fighting.
"Now!" Meg ordered, and Bobby looked at me, raising the knife up in the air.
"Bobby no!" I uttered, holding my hand up in the air. The knife hovered, his hand trembling, and then I saw the black start to fade from his eyes. The knife wavered, and I saw Bobby come to the surface for a split second. Then he stepped back and swung downward, changing the angle of the blade, and it sliced into his stomach.
"No!" I yelled. A flash of yellow passed through Bobby's eyes while the demon died and then he collapsed to the floor.
Anger flooded through me. I was free of his hold. Now or never. I launched myself at Meg, landing a couple of punches. She fell to the ground and I kept going at the other demon. Two against one was never going to bode well, but I had to give it my all. The guy slammed me into the wall, keeping a hold of my shirt, and kneeing me in the stomach before throwing me to the floor. The door to the room opened, and I looked up long enough to see Beth's shocked face looking at Bobby on the floor. Then searing pain as the demon started to punch me.
Motel Room
Beth's POV
There was a commotion in the room when we got back. Laughter and sibling comradeship turned to shock as I opened the door to see Bobby lying on the floor, the demon knife stuck into his stomach.
"Bobby!" I exclaimed, turning to look around the room - another man had Dean by the beds and was beating the hell out of him. Sam pushed past me, taking in the scene.
"No!" He yelled, then a dark haired woman intercepted him with a telephone to the face. He stumbled back against the wall.
"Heya, Sammy. You miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you," she smirked and Sam seemed to realise right away who he was standing in front of.
"Meg?" Sam asked. I was already pushing past them in an effort to get to Dean. From the corner of my eye Meg grinned and Sam took a swing at her. Meg? I couldn't focus on that right now. I threw myself at the demon on top of Dean, grabbing him around the neck and pulling backwards, hard.
Meg kicked out at Sam, kicking him in the groin and Sam fell to the ground. I spun the demon I was holding around, smashing him into the wall behind me. I pulled my attention inwards, prioritising in a split second. Dean was breathing hard, bleeding, but otherwise looked unharmed. Sam groaned and pushed himself up, he was moving and in the fight. That left Bobby, who was unmoving on the floor. We needed to get these demons out, fast, and get him to a hospital.
"It's not so easy without those super-special demon powers, huh, Sammy?" Meg asked, grabbing Sam by his hair and pulling his head back. At the same time the other demon pushed off the wall, kicking at me. I blocked with my arms, but the momentum of the kick still send me flying backwards into a partially destroyed barrier wall.
Meg punched Sam. Dean was still struggling to get up and the demon kicked him in the stomach, causing him to spit out blood. I shoved off the wall, spinning around and throwing a high kick at the demon. He stumbled back and regaining his balance before toward me again. I feinted to his right, and jumped. As I came back to the ground, I brought my elbow down on the back of his neck and he dropped next to Dean.
Dean didn't hesitate, grabbing the hilt of the dagger and pulling it out of Bobby, stabbing the demon in the chest with it. I breathed a sigh of relief as the demon stopped moving. I grabbed Dean by the arm, helping him up and he brought the knife with him. Meg had stopped beating on Sam, glancing over at Dean and as he advanced, she backed away. Within seconds she realised she'd just had the tables turned on her, and with a scream she smoked out of the body she was in. The woman collapsed to the ground, and Meg was gone.
Emergency Room
Pittsburgh Hospital
Beth's POV
Bobby was awake, but barely when Dean and Sam carried him into the emergency room. I held the door, noting the pallid look on his face and rushing forward.
"We need some help here!" I called out and a nurse came rushing up.
"What happened?" She asked, looking us over.
"He was stabbed," I said.
"Can we get a gurney?" She called out behind her and two nurses rushed over pushing one. The boys helped Bobby on to the gurney and Dean held his hand, looking down, a finely disguised panic in his voice.
"Hang on, Bobby. Hang in there. You're gonna be okay," he said reassuringly. The nurses started to rush Bobby down the corridor and we started to follow, only to find the first nurse blocking our progress.
"Just wait here," she said.
"We can't just leave him!" I said.
"Just don't move. I've got questions," she ordered, and I felt Dean take my arm, pulling me back toward the door as the nurse turned to get paperwork.
"Baby, we got to go," Dean said, starting to leave.
"No," I said, shaking my head. I wanted to stay, I needed to make sure he was okay. I had to call Cole. I couldn't just leave him here.
"No way, Dean," Sam agreed with me, and Dean sighed, looking at us both.
"The demons heard where the sword is. We got to get to it before they do, if we're not too late already. Come on!" He said, pushing me gently toward the door. I took a few hesitant steps. Buffalo was hours away.
"I'll stay," Sam said, looking at us. "We don't all need to go."
"No, absolutely not," Dean said, shaking his head. "We don't know what we're going up against. I need you both with me."
It was when he said that I realised just how serious he was. He'd spent the last few hours sullen and pissed at Sam, practically ignoring him, but now he needed us both? I glanced at Sam who was struggling with the decision.
"Come on Sammy," I urged, giving in. "It'll be okay. I'll call Cole on the way."
Sam nodded, and together the three of left the building before the nurse got back to ask us her questions - which we all knew would delay us and get the police involved.
Castle Storage
Buffalo, New York
Dean's POV
It was a three and a half hour drive to Buffalo, I'd made it in just over two. During that time Beth had left countless messages with Cole, who was now on her way to Pennsylvania with JJ. I felt better knowing they were going to be around. I didn't expect the demons to attack him at this point - the damage had been done - but it wouldn't hurt us to be careful just the same.
Beth was feeling the attack the hardest because she'd left with Sam. I watched her as we pulled up, her face clouded and lost in her own thoughts. Sam got out to start going through the weapons, and I reached over, giving her hand a squeeze.
"Hey, this isn't your fault," I said and she turned sad eyes.
"We never catch a break, you know?" She asked, and I nodded. I knew exactly what she was saying. It seemed like the last few years we'd been running from one crisis to the next. More often than not it felt like we were jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Gone were the days of cruising around the countryside looking for a simple monster to kill.
"Yeah," I said quietly. "I know." I didn't know what else to say, just looked at her watching me. I wished I could promise things would get better, but right now I didn't think that was going to be happening for a while - maybe not at all. Instead I leaned over and kissed her lips softly, listening to her breath escape lightly from her mouth.
"Come on," I said, feeling the press of time on us. "Let's just take it one hour at a time, and see what the hell is in this storage unit, huh?" Beth nodded and I threw her a bolstering smile, opening the door and getting out to join Sam in loading guns.
Beth had located the key to the unit in the glove box and was working away at the lock when we joined her, taking up watch. As Sam entered the unit, I handed Beth her shotgun, and we followed, guns raised.
Inside the devil's trap just inside the door were a couple of dead bodies, and it was clear as day they'd been ambushed.
"I see you told the demons where the sword is," a voice said and we spun to see Zachariah behind us, accompanied by two other angels.
"Oh, thank god. The angels are here," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"And to think...they could have grabbed it any time they wanted," Zachariah continued as if I hadn't spoken. He waved his hand to close the door and then smiled at me. "It was right in front of them"
"What do you mean?" Beth asked, dropping her gun to her side. I followed suit, no point in shooting him, not like it would help.
"We may have planted that particular piece of prophecy inside Chuck's skull, but it happened to be true," Zachariah said. "We did lose the Michael sword. We truly couldn't find it. Until now. You've just hand-delivered it to us."
I frowned, completely confused by his logic. "We don't have anything," I said.
"It's you, chucklehead. You're the Michael sword," he replied. "What, you thought you could actually kill Lucifer? You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No. You're just a human, Dean. And not much of one."
I restrained myself from taking a few pot shots at him just for fun, and gave him my best death stare. "What do you mean, I'm the sword?"
"You're Michael's weapon. Or, rather, his...receptacle." The crushing reality of what he was saying started to hit me, and I was not impressed with what I was hearing.
"He's a vessel?" Beth asked.
"He's the vessel," Zachariah corrected. "Michael's vessel."
"How? Why—why me?" I managed to spit out. The walls of the unit were suddenly very confining. Too enclosed for the escape we were going to have to pull off. It was coming, and I glanced past Zachariah at the angels guarding the only exit to the unit.
"Because you're chosen! It's a great honor, Dean," Zachariah answered.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, life as an angel condom. That's real fun. I think I'll pass, thanks," I said.
Zachariah's face fell from mirth to frustration, but he managed to keep up his smile. "Joking. Always joking. Well...no more jokes," he said. He raised one hand, extending his fingers out like a gun to point at me, and then he moved.
"Bang," He said, pulling his imaginary trigger. Next to me Beth cried out and dropped to the floor, clutching her leg - clearly broken.
"God…" she muttered, groaning.
"You son of a bitch!" I snapped, seeing red.
"Keep mouthing off, I'll break more than her legs," Zachariah warned. "I am completely and utterly through screwing around. The war has begun. We don't have our general. That's bad. Now, Michael is going to take his vessel and lead the final charge against the adversary. You understand me?"
"No!" Beth cried out, and I looked down at her, seeing the pain on her face.
"How many humans die in the crossfire, huh? A million? Five, ten?" I asked.
"Probably more. If Lucifer goes unchecked, you know how many die? All of them. He'll roast the planet alive," Zachariah replied.
Something was niggling the back of my mind. I looked down at Beth again, thinking about her and Cas. Why didn't he just take me?
"There's a reason you're telling me this instead of just nabbing me," I said.
"Consent," Beth gasped and I knew she was right.
"That's right," I said, nodding. It was the same of all angels. "Michael needs my say-so to ride around in my skin."
Zachariah sighed and rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately, yes."
"Well, there's got to be another way," I said.
"There is no other way. There must be a battle," he replied to me. "Michael must defeat the serpent. It is written."
I knelt down to look at Beth, seeing her pull inside and shove the pain to the back of her mind, like we'd all been trained to do. "Yeah," I said, looking up at him. "Maybe...but, on the other hand... Eat me. The answer's no."
"Okay. How about this? Your friend Bobby—we know he's gravely injured. Say yes, and we'll heal him. Say no, he'll never walk again." Beth looked up at me sharply and I sighed. It was a tempting offer. But…
"No." I said.
"Then how about we heal you from...stage-four stomach cancer?" He asked, and I felt a stabbing pain in my abdomen. I crumpled over, falling to the ground beside Beth and coughing. I put my hand up to my mouth and saw blood.
"No," I answered.
"Then let's get really creative," Zachariah said, that maniacal look in his eyes. "Uh, let's see how...Sam does without his lungs."
Behind us, Sam gasped for breath, and looked down at Beth and I in a panic.
"Are we having fun yet? You're going to say yes, Dean." He looked so smug, I wanted to punch him right in the middle of his round face, make that nose bleed.
"Just kill us," Beth spat out at him. Zachariah smiled.
"Kill you? Oh, no. I'm just getting started."
Castle Storage
Buffalo, New York
Beth's POV
The pain in my leg was excruciating, but I was more worried around Sam and his missing lungs when suddenly a white light flashed around us. Zachariah turned, obviously not expecting it, and we all saw one of the angels with him collapse to the ground, a bloody hole in throat. I felt him almost immediately, and it filled my heart with joy. Castiel.
Look out! I sent him telepathically as the other angel with Zachariah attacked him, and they swung into each other, blades raised, and then tussled about the storage container knocking items off shelves, before Castiel finally got the better of him and stabbed him in the back. Another bright light flashed, and the angel dropped to the ground dead.
Zachariah had stopped moving, staring at Castiel as he fought. Once the dark haired angel's attention turned to him, he stepped back.
"How are you…?"
"Alive?" Castiel asked, cutting him off. "That's a good question. How did these three end up on that airplane? Another good question. 'Cause the angels didn't do it. I think we both know the answer, don't we?"
Zachariah shook his head. "No. That's not possible."
"It scares you," Castiel said with a nod. "Well, it should. Now, put these kids back together and go. I won't ask twice." He pointed to the three of us, all on the ground and then looked expectantly at Zachariah.
I didn't even feel it happen, one second I had the pain in my leg, and the next it was gone, and Sam was sitting up, looking around at us, surprised. He took in a deep breath and I copied as Dean climbed to his feet. He reached down, helping me up.
"You need to be more careful," Castiel said.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that," Dean said with a sigh. "Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought."
"I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel. And once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you," the angel replied. He reached out, first placing a hand on my shoulder and I felt a weird burning sensation wash across my chest. Then he put his hands on Dean and Sam's chests, and they gasped just as I had.
"What the Hell was that?" I asked, frowning at the angel. I tried to read his mind, but all I saw were flashes of Enochian.
"An Enochian sigil. It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer," Castiel replied.
"What, did you just brand us with it?" Dean asked and Cas shook his head.
"No. I carved it into your ribs," Cas said. We paused a moment to take this in, and then I looked at him, seeing that he really was standing here in front of us.
"You really were dead. I couldn't feel you," I said.
"Yes," he replied.
"Then how are you back?" Dean asked. Cas vanished before we got an answer, and even as I tried to connect with him I found the link between us blocked. I looked around at the dead lying in the unit and sighed. What a clean up this was going to be.
Pittsburg Hospital
Bobby's Room
Beth's POV
I walked toward Bobby's room with my arm linked into Jefferson's grilling him about where he had been for the last few days.
"Princess, if I tell you all my secrets, where would the mystery then be?" He asked with a chuckle, leaning his shoulder against mine and we childishly pushed back against each other as we walked.
"Come on, what's going on Jefferson? Where did you go?"
"All in good time, let's wait until everyone is together," he replied, nodding toward Bobby's room where there was shouting currently echoing through the door and down the corridor.
"Unlikely to walk again"?! Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!" Bobby's voice was followed by the door bursting open and a doctor fleeing the room, his eyes wide with fear. I chuckled, stepping through the door, catching sight of Cole sitting on the chair by the bed with JJ on her lap, She rolled her eyes as Bobby launched into another string of obscenities.
"I'll use my game leg and kick your friggin' ass! Yeah, you better run!" Bobby yelled and I grinned, moving toward the window where Dean and Sam were standing.
"Dad…" Cole cautioned, shaking her head at him.
"You believe that yahoo?" Bobby asked, ignoring her and throwing his hand in the air.
"Screw him. You'll be fine," Dean chimed in, and everyone murmured their agreement.
The room fell silent, everyone lost in their thoughts. I looked over at Jefferson who was leaning casually against the opposite wall and crossed my arms.
"So you going to tell us what the big undercover mission was?" I asked and he grinned, running a hand through his hair.
"Unproductive," he replied, "for the most part. He paused for a moment, looking at his hand and for the first time I noticed that it was bandaged, and the wrappings continue up his arm and under his shirt.
"What happened?" I asked, moving to grasp his hand.
"A little scrape, it's nothing," he said dismissively, then looked over at Cole.
"As you all know, I have many contacts. As soon as I heard what happened in Ilchester, I reached out for information. I went undercover with someone, into a demon stronghold near St Augustine. This is a place well known for some of the more elite, higher up demons to congregate, as it turned out."
"Put that on the to-do list," Dean said, crossing his arms when I glanced back at him.
"Yes, well, I was able to learn something about our dear friend Lucifer. He is an angel, as we all know, and as such requires permission to enter his vessel. Now, Patrick and I had studied the angelic lines as much as we could, and not everyone can be an angel vessel." He paused, looking contemplatively at me.
"It's in our blood," I said quietly and he nodded.
"Certain bloodlines for particular angel lines. The higher and more powerful the angel, the more specific the bloodline needs to be in order to contain the essence of the being," he said. "Lucifer, Michael, the other angels higher up on the food chain, they all require a vessel from the oldest bloodline there is. That of Adam and Eve."
"Are you trying to tell me that I'm descended from Adam and Eve? The Adam and Eve?" Dean asked, holding a hand out.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Jefferson replied with a short nod. "Lucifer, Michael, these are some of the most powerful angels in existence, and ironically for Lucifer the bloodline to house his essence is descended from the very man whose existence saw him exiled to Hell."
"Well that is ironic," Cole said with a smirk.
"I discovered that he has been circling another vessel for a while. In Delaware," Jefferson said. "We tried to get there in time. But by the time we figured out who it was, Lucifer had already convinced him to let him in."
"Who does that?" Cole asked, and then she looked a little guiltily at Sam who looked down at the floor.
"Oh, Lucifer has been playing this game for a while. Grooming his vessels. I couldn't get any further information, but this vessel isn't even his first pick," Jefferson said. "But he is the consolation prize. Lucifer had demons kill this man's wife and baby."
"Oh my God!" I gasped, feeling the emotion of that pass right through me.
"Indeed," Jefferson said. "Nick was the man's name. He was, as you can imagine, devastated. He's been living in his own personal Hell, and when Lucifer came knocking with … once can imagine, all kinds of lies and promises, Nick couldn't refuse."
"He took the Vessel," Bobby said.
"Yes."
The whole room seemed to sigh, falling once more into deep thoughts.
"So, let me ask the million-dollar question," I said. "What do we do now?"
"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 boned," Bobby replied.
"What if we win?" Dean asked boldly, and we all turned to look at him.
"Why do I always feel nervous when you start to talk like that?" I asked.
"I'm serious," Dean asked. "I mean, screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours, and I say they get the hell 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?" Jefferson asked and Dean shrugged.
"I got no idea," he confessed. "But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, and I'll figure it out." I smiled at him, and in that moment I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
"You are nine kinds of crazy, boy," Bobby said.
"It's been said," I commented with a smirk. Dean nodded and moved over to Bobby's side, patting him on the shoulder.
"Listen, you stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit," he said confidently, looking up at me. I nodded, and smiled at Bobby. Dean headed for the door, I wasn't far behind him. Sam hesitated, his shoulders slumped and then started to follow.
"Sam?" Bobby said suddenly, and our little brother turned to look at him.
"I was awake. I know what I said back there," Bobby said. "I just want you to know that...that was the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever." Cole smiled, nodding her approval. Sam sighed with relief and then mustered up a smile for the older man.
"Thanks, Bobby," he replied.
"You're welcome. I deserve a damn medal for this, but...you're welcome," Bobby said, earning a chuckle from Jefferson.
Jefferson followed with us as walked in silence back toward the car park. As we reached the door, and ambulance went racing past, heading out on a call, and we all started to walk across the street to the parking lot.
"You know, I was thinking, Dean—maybe we could go after the Colt," Sam said finally.
"Why? What difference would that make?" Dean asked.
"Well, we could use it on Lucifer. I mean, you just said back there…"
"I just said a bunch of crap for Bobby's benefit," Dean cut in and we all stopped to look at him, standing in the middle of the road.
"Jesus Dean, way to rain on your own parade," Jefferson said with a smirk.
"Look," Dean said. "I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance, and you all know that. I mean, hell, you, Sam, of all people know that." He sighed and pushed past Sam, intent on reaching the Impala now.
"Guys…" Sam said, and Dean turned to look back at us. He stopped, glancing at each one of us in turn. "Is there something you want to say to me?"
"Sammy…" I said hesitantly. "There's really nothing…"
"I tried, Sammy," Dean cut in. "I mean, I really tried." I stared at Dean, seeing the struggle on his face. He ran a hand across his face, tears in his eyes as he looked around at everything other than the people standing in front of him.
"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 your own family…" Sam sighed, his expression turned pained again. "...and look what happened," Dean finished.
"I would give anything… anything… to take it all back," Sam said.
"We know you would. And we know how sorry you are," I said placatingly
"Yeah, we do. But, man...you were the one that we depended on the most. And you let us down in ways that I can't even…" Dean's words started to falter and he shook his head, eyes full of emotion. "I'm just—I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know? I'm not Beth."
"Dean!" I gasped and Dean looked at me, taking my arm and pulling me to the side of the road. We all moved with him as a car came driving past.
"I'm not, babe," Dean continued. "Look at you! I don't know how you do it, you just get up every damn day as if nothing is wrong, and you keep going. You hold it together for all of us. For me." He paused, smiling at me. "You ask me, Sammy's lucky he's got you. Because how you seem to have forgiven over Ruby? Baby I can't even begin to understand that."
"He's… he's our brother," I said, unable to put it in any other way. I was as puzzled by this whole lack of anger as the next person.
"Beth's capacity for forgiveness has always been extremely high," Jefferson said, looking proudly at me. "But you mustn't mistake it for weakness, nor take it for granted."
"What can I do?" Sam asked.
"Honestly?" Dean asked. "Nothing." Sam nodded, seemingly unsurprised.
"I just don't… I don't think that we can ever be what we were. You know?" Dean asked. Sam nodded again. "I just don't think I can trust you."
Sam's head shot up and I could see that he wasn't expecting that - truth be told, neither was I. Dean shook his head, walking away toward the Impala.
"He's right," Sam said, and I shook my head.
"Don't worry about Dean, Sam," Jefferson said. "His capacity for forgiveness is just as high as your sister's," he continued. "Give him time."
"We all screw up," I said quietly.
Jefferson slung his arm around Sam's shoulder and nodded toward his Plymouth Roadrunner parked nearby. "Come on mate, I'll drive you to the motel, I'll crash with you for a few days, give Dean some space."
Sam nodded and then turned to look at me. I smiled and gave him a hug, squeezing him tightly against me. "It's okay Sammy," I promised. "Jefferson's right, give me a few days to work on him."
I know what Sam was thinking my technique was going to be, and to be honest - a little intimacy wasn't going to hurt Dean's mood one tiny bit. More than anything, however, I think he needed to talk and get it all off his chest. Giving him a safe space to voice that, without the fear of Sam overhearing or getting hurt as Dean worked through his emotions - that was going to be key to him coming to a better space mentally with his brother.
We all needed a break. These next couple of days, while we regrouped, might be the make or break of us, so it was important we used them well. I turned to the Impala, seeing Dean watching me over the roof of the car as he leaned against it.
Alcohol.
We were going to have to stop at the liquor store on the way to the motel, this was going to require some fancy footwork, and alcohol was step one…
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Song for this chapter is: Dawn by Poets of the Fall
Thanks to everyone for their feedback on To Hell And Back, and for checking out the new Where Angels Fear to Tread. I appreciate all your comments and support!
MORE ABOUT THE DEAN & BETH SERIES
This is the story of Beth (O'Malley) Winchester, daughter of a minister, also a hunter who was friends with John Winchester. Although she was unaware of his 'other job', as a teenager, Beth found out the hard way about the things that are out there in the dark when she was possessed by a demon, an old foe of her father's, and forced to kill him by her own hand.
John rescued her, exorcised the demon, and took her in, teaching her the ways of hunting. She and Dean developed a relationship which they finally pursued against John's wishes, eventually gaining his blessing when she was nearly killed during a hunt. They have done everything together since they were teenagers, enduring a painful separation when Dean went to Hell - now they are back together, and their love for each other is stronger than ever. Will it be enough to see them through what is to come?
This is Supernatural as I think it should be written. :) In general, I follow the series, writing Beth into it as we go – that's right, I don't change the plots all that much, that's not what this is about. Some become flashbacks, some change a bit to fit with the storyline I am creating around Beth, and there is more and more original content being added as I go along: all in all I hope you enjoy the way I write it, and come back for more!
Please post a review if you're enjoying the writing – I love to get feedback, especially if it's nice! If you have songs you'd like to suggest for any particular episodes, do so, I love to add to my playlists :) Likewise if you have any ideas around storyline, episodes etc. feel free to suggest them, I may not go with your ideas (because I have a fair idea on where I am taking the characters and the show) but I will always listen respectively and give you my thoughts in return – and I love suggestions for oneshots or things you'd like to see included in the story. Let me know what you like about the story! Everyone's encouragement just inspires me to keep going with it :D