Chapter 02 — Hello, Cruel World

Dean stares up at the creature inhabiting Castiel's vessel. The veins on it's neck were black. "Bobby," he asks, as the leviathan walks over to the older hunter. Bobby sits up and stares at the monster. "How many of you ass clowns are in there? Hundred? More?" Dean notices black ooze dripping from the leviathan's sleeve. "Your vessel is gonna explode, ain't it? Wouldn't do anything too strenuous. In fact, I'd call it a day, head on home, huh?"

"We'll be back for you," the creature declares, then walks out of the lab.

"Well, this is a new one," Bobby comments. He exchanges a look with Dean before they stand and run out of the lab.

They come across Sam standing in a corner. Dean didn't like the look on his younger brother's face. "Sam," he says. "Sam. Sam, you hearing me?" Sam gasps and jumps. Dean places a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Look at me. Hey. All right, we gotta button this up. Come on. Let's find Ads and get out of here."

Elsewhere in the lab, Addison cautiously steps out alcove she had hidden in when Castiel had passed. A hand grabs her shoulder and she spins around to see Dean, Sam, and Bobby standing there. She lets out an annoyed huff. "Can we get the hell out of here?"

The hunters make their way out of the lab and catch up just in time to see the creature formerly known as Castiel walk into a water reservoir. He disappears under the water and a whirlpool appears. Blackness shoots out from the whirlpool, then vanishes. "Aw, hell," Bobby comments.

"Damn it," Dean says, noticing the sign declaring the reservoir was public water.

"You said it. Those...whatever you call 'ems..."

"Leviathan," Addison supplies.

"Right. If they're in the pipes, they got themselves a highway to anywhere."

Dean scoffs. "Awesome." He walks to the water's edge and picks up the dirty trench coat that had floated over. "Okay. So he's gone."

"Yup. Rest in peace. If that's in the cards."

Dean gingerly folds the trench coat. "Dumb son of a bitch."

"Well, he was friends with us, wasn't he? Can't get much dumber than that. Come on, those things will be coming up for air soon." Bobby turns and walks towards where the Impala was parked. Addison places a comforting hand on Dean's shoulder, before following the elder hunter.


"Sammy. Sammy," Dean says, touching his younger brother's shoulder. Sam shoots up from the couch and looks around Bobby's living room. "Hey, whoa. That's twelve hours straight. I'm calling that rested." Dean holds out a bottle of water and a protein bar. "Here, hydrate. And, uh, protein-ate."

"Breakfast in bed," Sam replies.

Dean grabs a chair and pulls it over. "Don't get used to it. Let me see that hand." He doesn't miss Sam looking past his shoulder as he takes his younger brother's hand. The cut on Sam's hand was lightly red, but in their line of work it was better than the alternative. "Ah, you'll live." He grabs a bottle of whiskey and rag off Bobby's desk. "Here." Sam hisses at the pain. "All right, take it easy."

"So, ooze invasion. Any leads," Sam asks as Bobby enters the room.

"I got my all feelers out," Bobby replies, switching seats with Dean. "Whatever they're up to, it ain't about going Mothra down Main Street. They'll turn up." He wraps Sam's hand up with fresh gauze and looks at him. "You seem pretty eager to stretch your legs, you know."

"Yeah, well, now onto our other big problem," Dean says. "How're you doing? Add do not say okay."

"I'm not okay," Sam confesses.

Dean glares. "You think?"

"Hey. Go a little easy," Bobby tells him.

"There's nothing easy, about it, Bobby, okay. We acted like he had everything under control."

"I get it. I'm sorry," Sam says. "Look, I - I didn't exactly want to crack up, you know?"

"What the hell happened back there?"

Sam pauses. "Well, it's not just flashbacks anymore."

"Well, then what?"

"It's more like...I'm seeing through the cracks."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm having a difficult time figuring out what's real."

"Hallucinations," Dean asks.

"For starters."

"Well for starters, if you're tripping Hell's bells, why would you hide that?"

"I wasn't hiding it, Dean. I - I was just not talking about it. I mean, it seemed like you three had enough going on as it was. Look, I - I figured, try to hold onto the safety bar and ride it out, you know? But it's getting more specific."

"As in specially what?"

As Sam finishes telling them about Lucifer and his never ending taunts, Dean stands and pours a couple glasses of whiskey. Addison enters the room, clutching a bottle of water. "What the hell, Sam," Dean asks, handing Bobby one of the glasses.

Sam sighs. "I told you."

"I mean, seriously, how do you - how do you argue with that?"

"I know. It's a problem."

"No, wait, I got it. Why would the Devil holodeck you a whole new life when he could just kick your ass all over the cage?"

"Cause as he puts it 'you can't torture someone who has nothing left for you to take away.'"

"Okay, fine. But this Malibu dream mansion that he - he - he makes for you to take away is this this post apocalyptic mess?"

Addison frowns when Sam looks towards a corner of the room. "Sam, are you seeing him right now," she asks. Sam nods.

"You know that he's not real, right," Dean tells him.

"He says that same thing about you," Sam replies. Dean exchanges a look with Addison and Bobby.

Bobby sighs, standing up. "I'm going back to work." No one says anything as the older hunter leaves the room. Dean runs a hand over his face and walks out of the room.

Addison places a comforting hand on Sam's shoulder. "Hey, everything's gonna be okay," she softly says. Sam buries his face in her stomach and she runs a hand through his hair. She shoots Dean a concerned look and he runs a hand over his face.


Dean glances into the living room where Sam's sitting at Bobby's desk, taking apart his gun. Addison was stretched out on the couch, her laptop balanced on her knees. "Well, at least he's not curled up under the sink," Bobby comments, turning back his attention back to his computer.

"Yeah, no, he's just sitting there silently field stripping his weapon," Dean replies. He watches Sam for a moment, then moves around the table and takes Sam's phone out of his jacket.

"What are you doing," Bobby questions, watching Dean.

"Turning on his GPS, case he decides to fly the cuckoo's nest."

"And you? How are you doing?"

"Seriously, Bobby, it's ain't like he's hexed, you know? I mean, what if it's the kind of crazy you can't fix?"

"Yeah, I'm — I'm worried too, but humor me for a second. How are you?"

"Who cares? Don't you think our mailbox is a little full right now? I'm fine."

Bobby unconvincingly nods. "Right. And weren't you pissed at him when he said the same thing just a couple hours before he spilled his marbles all over the floor?"

"Yeah, well...I'm not Sam, okay," Dean says, moving over to the counter and pours himself a cup of coffee. "I keep my marbles in a lead fucking box. I'm fine. Really."

"Of course. Yeah. You just lost one of the best friends you ever had, your brother's in the bell jar, and Purgatory's most wanted are surfing the sewer lines, but yeah, yeah, I get it. You're - you're fine."

"Good."

"Course, if at any time you want to decided that utter horse shit, well, I'll be where I always am. Right here."

"What, you want to do couples' yoga or you want to get back to hunting the big bads?"

"Shut up. Idjit."


"Hey there Gunga Din, buck up," Bobby greets as Dean enters the kitchen carrying an armful of groceries. He and Sam were sitting at the table, doing research while Addison was taking a nap on the couch.

"So it looks like we got some bad news for a change," Sam says. "Stockville North Kansas, most of a high school swim team got mangled to death in their locker room."

Dean walks over and looks at Bobby's computer screen while the older hunter grabs a cup of coffee. "Cop talk on the wire's kind of garbled, saying it looks like some kind of wild animal attack. They're saying that whatever attacked them's about the size of a linebacker."

"It's a lead, Dean."

Dean turns to Sam. "All right, but if you think you're going out on a hunt—"

"No, I know. I'm not. But you are. Look, Bobby's running the hub, I'm — I'm 5150'd, which leaves you and Ads to follow this thing up."

"Sam, you're in the middle of a psychotic break."

"It's a couple hours' drive, Dean, and it could be a Leviathan thing."

"Nah, if you think I'm leaving you here alone—"

"Hey," Bobby snaps. "What am I? Chopped brains on toast? I can eyeball the kid. Go. Work off some of these nerves on something useful."

Dean looks between his brother and Bobby. "Fine." He glances to where Addison is sleeping. "Guess, I'll wake up Yogi."

Sam smirks at his older brother. "Yeah, you have fun with that, Boo Boo."


Addison wrinkles her nose as she and Dean make their way towards the locker room. Dean catches the look. "You're not gonna puke, are you," he asks, running a hand over his face. His reservations about Addison working a job, were making themselves known in his gut. She hadn't been acting like her self lately and he was beginning to worry.

"No," Addison replies, taking a deep breath. "But I could really go for a pineapple smoothie."

Dean shakes his head. They find a crime scene team collecting evidence from the bloodied locker room. They pull out their fake badges and show them to the officer. "Hi. Special Agents Anderson and Noble."

The crime scene tech waves them in. "Our point cop's out on the donut. Forensics. I can show you the layout. And step lightly. We got a whole bunch of NC17 shit right over there."

"Lovely," Addison mutters, carefully moving across the room. Blood covered the walls and some of the lockers. She stands there for a moment, then runs out of the locker room.

Dean spots the black ooze on a wall. "Damn it." He looks around the locker room and frowns when he doesn't see Addison. Running a hand over his face, Dean makes his way out of the locker room and to the nearest women's restroom. He finds her in one of the stalls, kneeling next to the toilet. "Ads, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Addison replies, standing up. She flushes the toilet and pushes past Dean out of the stall. She walks over to the sink and splashes water on her face.

Dean clears his throat. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Addison stares at him in disbelief. "Other than the fact that I have an IUD. No, I'm not pregnant."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes. Why? You want me to pee on a stick in front of you. Because I can guarantee that after three minutes the result is 'not pregnant.' That's what happens when people haven't had sex in over six months." Addison shakes her head and leans against the counter. "Sam's gone cuckoo for cocoa puffs, we got these leviathans killing a bunch of high schoolers, Cas is dead, and my dad may be having brain surgery. Sometimes, stress takes a physical toll."

Dean frowns. "You haven't sex in over six months?"

Addison blinks. "That's…that's what you focus on."

Dean shrugs, a smirk on his face. "You know that it grows back if you don't have sex. It's a fact, Ads."

Addison rolls her eyes but smiles at him. "You're an ass."


"Well, we are positive for ick," Dean says after Sam finally picks up the phone. He and Addison were in the Impala, heading back towards Sioux Falls. "Same kind of stuff that came out of Cas, and, uh, two of the swim kids were missing - they stole one of their parents' cars."

"So you think these, um, these Leviathan things just jump into people? Like Eve did," Sam questions over the speaker phone.

"I don't know, it makes sense, right? Anyway, uh, state trooper's got surveillance cam on the kids about six hours old, of them gassing up just south of Dakota line, so we're headed back your way. We'll just track them from Bobby's."

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Hey. How you doing?"

"You know, uh, okay," Sam replies after a moment.

"Okay. Well hang in there, all right," Dean tells him, then snaps his phone shut. He could feel Addison's gaze on him. "Don't. Okay? I'm fine."

Addison rolls her eyes. "Right."

"I am."

"Dean, you're not okay. It's pretty fucking obvious. We're all worried about Sam. Just…if you don't want to talk to Bobby or me about, then find someone."

Silence settles over the Impala for the rest of the drive. "Sam," Dean calls out as they enter Bobby's house. There's no answer. "Sammy? Sam?" He turns when Addison walks out of the kitchen. She shakes her head. A mixture of worry and anger crosses his face. "All right, uh, stay here."

Addison frowns. "You sure you don't want any help?"

"I want you to stay here in case Sam comes back."

"Okay. I'll call if he comes back before you can find him," Addison softly replies. She watches as Dean runs out of the house and sighs, sitting down at the table. Taking a deep breath, Addison pulls out her cell phone and scrolls through the contacts before hitting a number.

"I was just thinking about calling you," Patrick greets and Addison can't help but smile as she sits down at the table. "Have you guys learned anything more on the leviathans?"

"Just that they bleed black goo," Addison tells him.

Patrick sighs. "That doesn't do much help. I gonna hit up one of Samuel's old storage units this weekend. Hopefully, there's something in there that can help us."

"When are you having surgery?"

"Actually, that's what I was gonna talk to you about. Right now, surgery has been pushed back. Dr. Wilson said there's no need to rush it since the clinical trail medicine has been giving us good results. He's going to talk with a doctor from London who has successfully done this particular surgery before."

"But you're still going to have the surgery one day?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they are going still do the surgery."

Addison looks up when Bobby walks into the kitchen, a bag full of weapons in his hand. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll call you later."

"Where's Dean," Bobby asks, setting the bag down on the table.

"He went to find Sam. What's going on?"


"Ah, this can't be good," Dean mutters to himself as he pulls up in front of an abandoned warehouse. A black van was parked near an entrance. He parks the Impala and climbs out before making his way into the warehouse. "Sam? Sam?" Sam was standing in the middle of the room, a gun in his hand. "Sam, what are you doing?" Sam aims his gun at Dean and Dean holds up his hands. "Whoa, whoa."

"I was with you, Dean," Sam terrifyingly replies.

"Okay. Well, here I am."

"No. No, I don't - I..." Sam glances to the empty space next to him. "I can't know that for sure. You understand me?"

"Okay, then we're gonna have to start small."

"I don't remember driving here." Sam looks over to his left and shoots the wall.

"Whoa, whoa, Sam! This discussion does not require a weapons discharge." Sam lowers his gun as Dean cautiously moves towards him. "Look at me. Come on. You don't know what's real? Look, man, I've been to Hell, okay? I know a thing or two about torture. Enough to know that it feels different than the pain of this - this regular stupid shitty this."

"No. How can you know that for sure?"

"Let me see your hand." Sam starts to lift his good hand. "No, no, no. The gimp hand. Let me see it." Sam looks behind him and Dean grabs his injured hand. Sam turns back to Dean. "Hey. This is real. Not a year ago, not in Hell. Now. I was with you when you cut it. I sewed it up. Look." Dean presses down on the cut and Sam hisses in pain. "This is different, right? Than the shit that's tearing at your walnut? I'm different. Right?"

Sam rips his hand out of Dean's grasp. "Yeah, I think so."

Dean grows more worried when Sam looks off into space. "Sam? Sam?" He watches as his younger brother presses hard enough on the cut to cause it to start bleeding again. "Hey, I am your flesh-and-blood brother, okay? I'm the only one who can legitimately kick your ass in real time. You got away. We got you out, Sammy." Sam presses his cut once more. "Believe in that. Believe me, okay? You gotta believe me. You gotta make it stone number one and build on it. You understand?"

Sam nods. "Yeah. Yeah, agreed." A ringing cell phone breaks the moment and Sam takes out his phone. "Bobby, hey...Leviathan here?" Sam hangs up his phone and looks at Dean. "Bobby's got a live one."

"Okay. Well, let's go."


The Impala speeds back towards Bobby's house. Dean clenches the steering wheel. He shifts in his seat. He was worried about Addison and the fact that she hadn't picked up her cell phone yet. "Look, when we get back to Bobby's—"

"It's okay, Dean. I'm good," Sam interrupts. Dean glances at him in concern. "No white rabbits. I'm not seeing anything."

"Okay. Baby steps." A silence settles over them as they arrive at Bobby's house. "Oh no." The smoldering remains of Bobby's house was in front of them. The boys climb out of the Impala and stare in horror. Dean takes off. "Ads! Addison!"

The boys split up, searching the rubble and property for Bobby and Addison. Sam catches up with Dean as he walks out with a burnt up book. "Any sign of 'em," Sam asks.

Dean tosses the book into the rubble and walks over to the garage with Sam on his tail. "That place was torched. Somebody knew what they were doing."

"You think Addison and Bobby were back there?"

"I don't know." Dean could feel the worry building. Sam takes off, shouting for Bobby and Addison. Dean takes out of his phone and hits the speed dial for Addison.

"This is Addison Sloan's personal number. If you leave a name and number, I may or may not get back to you," Addison's voice brightly greets.

Dean grips his phone. This wasn't happening. He refused to believe that he had lost two more members of his family. "You and Bobby cannot be in that crater back there. I can't - If you're both gone, I swear I'm going to strap my Beautiful Mind brother into the car and I'm gonna drive us off the pier. You asked me how I was doing. Well, not good. Now, Bobby said he'd be here. Where are you guys?" Dean hangs up his phone and clenches his jaw.

"Bobby? Ads," Sam shouts.

"Ads? Bobby," Dean yells, looking around. He searches the junkyard, making his way towards Sam. He stops when he sees a man standing a few feet away from Sam. Dean grabs a shotgun and moves closer.

"Winchester. Congratulations. Apparently you two are competent enough to warrant annihilating. I'd take it as a compliment," the man says, walking towards Sam.

Dean aims the shotgun and shoots the man in the head. Black oozes spurts out from the man's head, but nothing else happens. The man looks at him, then opens his mouth and reveals a set of sharp teeth. The leviathan grabs Dean and tosses him into a windshield. Dean grunts in pain as he hits the ground hard and feels his leg snapping. Sam rushes forward and punches the leviathan as Dean scoots back. "Dean, now," Sam says when Dean close to the back of the car. Dean presses a button on a large remote and a car drops down onto the leviathan. The force of the car hitting the ground knocks Sam down.

Dean crawls over to Sam. "Sam? Sammy? Hey, come on now. I'm the one with the broken leg. You gotta carry me. Sam!?"