The End of the Beginning of the End
K Hanna Korossy

Angels, demons, even a couple of ghosts had ridden before in the Impala's back seat. Didn't seem like a Hindu goddess with anger-management issues should be that big a deal. It was totally the fire in her—literally—that was making the back of Dean's neck sweat.

Just where were you supposed to drop off The Destroyer, anyway? The nearest Wawa? A quick glance at Sam saw his brother shrugging just as cluelessly.

Kali solved the problem for them. "Stop," she demanded as they crested a hill, her voice filling the car.

Dean was pretty sure he stripped his tires, laying down skid marks on the road.

It was a couple of quiet curses before he saw the figure standing beside the highway. Tuxedoed, elegant, with just a hint of a smile, Baldur looked as unruffled as when Dean had first seen him. Before, you know, Lucifer turned him into a donut.

"What the…?" Sam muttered beside him, voicing Dean's own bafflement.

The back door opened and Kali alighted from the car as regally as if it were…whatever gods usually rode in. Chariots? Limos? She walked over to Baldur like she'd been expecting him and slipped an arm through his. So much for shedding tears over Gabe.

Dean's eyebrows climbed to his hairline.

It didn't seem like Kali had any intention of thanking them for the ride; she already turning away, but Dean wasn't done, not even close. He rolled his window down so fast, he almost broke the knob.

"Wait a minute—we thought you were dead."

Baldur paused, giving Kali an amused look before favoring the Winchesters with his attention. "You think it's so easy to kill a god?"

"Uh…yes?"

Kali's mouth curled into the sneer she'd apparently perfected. "Mortals. Always so arrogant."

"This," Baldur swept a hand down his neatly pressed eveningwear, "is merely an appearance to take on. I believe you would call it a…thoughtform?"

"Tulpa," Sam breathed from the passenger seat, and if he had this figured out, he was way ahead of Dean.

"As long as there is belief," Baldur continued easily, "we cannot die. Didn't you know?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Dean breezed, pretty sure the gods weren't up on sarcasm. Besides, the pieces were starting to fall into place. No wonder Lucifer had found the ancient beings so easy to kill. "So…that's why you're so nervous about the Apocalypse, huh? No humans, no belief…no you."

"Dean," Sam warned low. Kali's eyes were starting to glow with irritation.

"I know, I know," Dean mumbled out of the side of his mouth, not taking his eyes off the pair of deities standing by the road on the outskirts of Muncie, Indiana. Because their life never got weird enough. "Look, we're not giving up the fight, either, which I guess is good for you. I mean, if we win, you win, right?" Which, hopefully, would be enough to keep the Divine Rat Pack off their backs after this.

"Indeed," Baldur said dryly.

"So, uh, we're good?" Sam had leaned toward Dean's window. "No more blood spells?"

Dean reached up to touch the healing cut on his neck. Oh, right. He'd kinda forgotten about that.

Kali's ire seemed to fade from nuclear to her usual fiery disdain. "You are free."

"Thanks," Dean said blandly.

"But we will be watching," she added.

"Awesome."

"Great," Sam gushed over Dean's decided lack of enthusiasm. "Thank you. We'll just…go now." An elbow jabbed into Dean's side, making him cough, but Sam ignored his look of irritation. "Uh, sorry about Gabriel."

Something almost like regret flickered over Kali's face. And that was the last thing Dean saw as he applied foot to pedal and took off down the road. He immediately glanced into the rear view…but the street behind them was empty.

"Guess she didn't need a ride, after all," he mused.

"Hey, Dean." Sam had sat back in his seat, and his voice had grown thoughtful. Dean knew that never boded well. "You don't think Gabriel…?"

"We ever see an angel come back from the dead?" Dean shot back. "Well, besides Cas, but I think God has a thing for him."

"Right. Yeah."

"Whose Apocalypse are we in, anyway? Not Ragnarok or…Kali Yoga or any of the others."

"Yuga," Sam corrected.

"Bless you."

Sam gave him one of those bitchy looks he excelled at, and Dean couldn't help grin.

Gabriel was dead, which Dean was…almost sorry for. Pretty much everyone and their god was after the two of them, and they only had one old guy in a wheelchair and one powerless, currently AWOL, angel on their side. But for the moment they were on the road, the sky was clear, there was a copy of Casa Erotica 13 in the back, and Sam was beside him in every way that counted.

It might be one of their last, but for now, Dean counted it a good day.

The End