Chapter 3 - Let him know that you know best...
Thunder growled overhead and as the Impala pulled up to the house, Sam and Dean knew they were going to be getting an earful. It didn't really seem to matter what they did wrong or what they did right these days, Bobby would always be on their backs about something. Whether it was not checking in often enough, wearing themselves out or in Dean's case, hunting while severely injured, there was always a reason. Dean put the car in park and pulled the keys from the ignition, bracing himself for the speech of a lifetime as he watched the front door fly open. "Here we go..." He started, turning slightly to glance at his brother before focusing on the man in the doorway. The one thing he wasn't expecting to see, was Bobby step out, his wheelchair nowhere in sight. "You know, for a guy who can walk again, you'd think he'd be happy..." Dean muttered, quickly taking notice of the veteran hunter's scowl.
Before they were out of the car, Bobby was down the front steps. "WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU TWO IDGITS DO!" He hollered, watching as the brothers exchanged another quick glance .
"You can walk..." Sam remarked, shutting his door as he watched the other man make his way towards his brother.
"Like you had nothing to do with this!" Bobby barked, barely catching the younger man's eyes.
"What makes you think it was us?" Dean was quick to reply as the veteran hunter took a threatening step towards him. Though he took a step back, Bobby reached out to grab him by the shirt.
"Unless it's a godamned miracle, which I highly doubt, who else would it be!" Bobby continued, dragging a reluctant Dean towards him. "Whatever bargaining you did to get me my legs back, boy, you'd better..."
"It was Gabriel, Bobby." Sam interrupted, pulling the other man's attention away from his older brother. "Gabriel paid us a visit last night... He took care of that gouge Zachariah left in Dean's side so if I had to guess, I'd say that he's the one you have to thank for this."
"The Trickster?" Bobby asked, releasing his tight grip on Dean. "Am I missing something here?" He growled, his eyes drifting from one man to the other. "Why the Hell would the Trickster do something like that? The guy's a dick who gets a kick out of messing around with your head!"
"I think he's done messing around." Dean answered simply, relieved that the older man's anger seemed to be dissipating. "He wants us to win and to make sure we at least have a shot at it, he told us how to kill angels." He paused for a moment as he pulled the gun from the back of his belt. "He carved a Sigil into the handle, said that's all it'll take to kill an Angel."
"And you believed him?" Bobby replied, readjusting the hat on his head. "We're talking about the Trickster here, guys!"
"Well it's not like we have anything better, Bobby." Dean was quick to reply, tucking the gun away. "So what do we really have to loose? We're going to fight this either way."
"He also told us that Zachariah was recruiting anyone he could to fight for Heaven." Sam started, swallowing hard as the older man glanced over to catch his eyes. "And that those horsemen we can't find are either already dead or on Heaven's side."
"He said things were about to get worse around here, that we were running out of time." Dean continued.
There was a moment of silence and Bobby let out a sigh. "Well, I hate to admit it, but I think he's got that right" He said, pointing up to the stormy sky above them. "It hasn't rained in days but this lightning show wont let up..."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, catching the veteran hunter's eyes as he took notice of the sudden shift.
"Did ya pick up a radio station on the drive out here?" Bobby asked quietly. When Dean shook his head, he pointed the pair towards the house. "I've got something you boys might want to check out."
Dean grabbed the duffle bag from the trunk of his car before the trio headed back to Bobby's house. He couldn't believe how good it felt, just being able to move again without having his skin stretch and pull along his right side. When they followed Bobby into the living room, the first thing the brothers noticed was the maps that littered the desk in front of them. "What's all this?" Dean asked, tossing the bag onto the sofa as watched the older man disappear into the other room for a moment.
"You could call it a warning, I guess." Bobby replied from the kitchen as he grabbed a few bottles of beer from the fridge.
"Of what?" Sam asked, studying the road maps of the surrounding countryside. "We already know there's been more and more demons all over the place..."
"Yeah well I think more angels are starting to make an appearance too." Bobby started as he stepped back into the living room. "You know that little town you boys usually stop in to gas up about an hour north of here?" He continued, reaching out to hand the younger man a beer.
"Yeah, Scythe?" Sam asked, watching as the veteran hunter passed a bottle to his older brother. "What about it?"
"Most of it's gone." Bobby replied simply, taking a seat behind the cluttered desk.
"What do you mean it's gone?" Dean asked, watching as the other man took a sip of his beer.
"It's just gone." Bobby repeated, setting the bottle down on the only corner of bare desk he could see. "The whole town center's been wiped clean off the map and everything within a ten mile radius of that is burnt to a crisp ..." He paused for a moment as he reached out to grab a newspaper article from the mess in front of him. "According to this and a few police reports, it was an asteroid hit. A huge streak of light or a fireball of some kind was spotted headed that way a few nights ago but there's no crater." He paused for a moment as he passed the paper over to Sam. "The ground's scorched for miles around but there's no sign of an actual impact... That's also around the same time this lightning storm moved in, this entire area is now a dead zone. There's no radio, no tv, no cell phone, nothing. I'm getting a glitch of static on the two-way but that's about it."
"So what do you think it was?" Dean asked, eyeing the article in his brothers hands.
"Well I can tell you what it ain't and that's demons." Bobby replied, pausing for only a moment as he took another sip of his beer. "I think Michael might have actually touched down."
"You're kidding right?" Sam asked, taking a quick glance over at his brother before focusing on the veteran hunter.
"I wish I was." Bobby quietly replied. "It's the only thing I can think of powerful enough to do damage like that... We've seen what angels like Cas and Zachariah can do, just imagine what the big boss is capable of."
"So now we have Lucifer walking around and Michael scopping the place out." Sam said, letting out a heavy sigh. "That's just great, now it's only a matter of time before they run into each other."
"Well you can circle the date on your calendar if you'd like." Bobby started, sifting through the pile of papers in front of him. When he pulled out a worn book from the stack, he quickly flipped it open and passed it to Dean. "One week and three days after Heaven's leader touches ground." He announced, pointing to the pages.
"Why didn't you let us know that we were literally counting down the days?" Dean asked, eyeing the news articles on the desk in front of him.
"Weren't you listening?" Bobby snapped, pausing for a moment as the other man looked up. "I'm in the middle of a damn dead zone."
"How long do we have left?" Sam started, getting the veteran hunter's attention away from his older brother.
"Less than a week." Bobby quietly replied. "Five days at the most." He paused for a moment as he let out a sigh. "As far as I can tell, both sides seem to be bolstering their army one town at a time; they're getting ready... Those demons and angels are going to kill each other because that's the orders they were given. Don't get me wrong I don't give a shit about either side, but it's going to be a massacre for both of them and we're the ones caught in the middle."
"That's on them." Dean was quick to reply. "If they want to die for whatever line the boss told them, that's up to them." There was a moment of silence as he took a sip of his beer, his eyes drifting over to his brother nearby. "But we're going to make sure they don't take mankind down with them."
Bobby watched as the boys exchanged a quick glance. "What exactly are you two going to do?" He asked, his voice pulling Dean's attention away from his younger brother.
"We're going to get the two heavy hitters out of the way." Dean replied simply.
"That plan's a little ambitious, don't you think?" Bobby started as he leaned back in his chair. "How do you suppose you're going to even get close enough to Michael or Lucifer? They have army's fighting, heck, DYING for them, not to mention they're both angels powerful enough to..."
"Angels or Demons, we're going to kill whatever gets in our way." Dean replied frankly, cutting the other man short.
"You two really are going to be going down swinging, aren't you?" Bobby started, catching Dean's eyes for only a moment before the other man turned away.
"What choice do we have?" Sam quietly replied. "It's us against them, all of them."
"And we're not going to just sit around and wait for the world to end." Dean added, grabbing his duffle bag and tossing it over his shoulder. "I'm going to head down to the panic room and start engraving the rest of our arsenal." He announced before disappearing down the hall.
Bobby couldn't help but swallow hard as he listened to the other man's footsteps head down the hall. "This plan of yours, I don't like it." He said quietly, turning to face Sam as the storm continued to grumble overhead. "Going after the boss?"
"I don't like it either." Sam admitted, setting the book down on the desk in front of him. "But it's the best we've got and it does make sense."
"We're talking about the Devil and Heaven's badass here..." Bobby said, stating the obvious. "They're both ruthless, doesn't matter which way you look at it."
"I know, but if you really think about it, we technically only need to get one of them out of the way." Sam started. "Whether it's Michael or Lucifer, if we can take down one side, the Apocalypse will be over."
"Then what?" Bobby asked. "Getting rid of the boss wont stop the angels and demons from fighting each other... Who ever is left standing is still going to..."
"We'll jump that bridge when and if we get to it." Sam started, catching the older man's eyes. "If we have to kill them off one by one until they turn away, we're going to do it."
"You two are crazy, you know that?" Bobby replied, letting out a sigh as he grabbed his bottle of beer from the desk in front of him. "But I trust you and if this is the way you want do to it, I'll be right there behind ya." Though he offered the younger man a smile, the only thing he could really think of was the crushing weight on their shoulders. "You go through the maps and see if you can make out a pattern or something; I marked down what towns were infested with what. I'll go give Dean a hand getting the weapons ready."
"Thanks Bobby..." Sam replied, watching as the older man turned to leave. He let out a sigh as he walked over to the cluttered desk and started sorting through the many maps and notes. Red circles marked the towns believed to have a demonic presence while black ones marked those thought to be overrun by angels. The more papers he sorted through, the more patterns started to appear. In the towns that had been marked with both, devastation of some kind was being blamed for the countless deaths. From flash floods to unpredictable twisters, the angels and demons at war left nothing but destruction, confusion and chaos behind them. The question was, who got there first.
Though the room was silent, it was filled with the constant rumble of the storm outside, a lightning storm Bobby said had arrived the same night most of Scythe and it's entire population had been wiped clean off the map. When he heard the footsteps on the hard wood floor behind him, he grabbed the map he had been looking at. "Hey Dean, I think we..." Sam trailed off as he turned around, his eyes meeting those of the angels that had suddenly appeared. "Castiel..." He managed, his momentary sense of relief vanishing when he took noticed of the two rather large men standing there at the angel's side. When his eyes focused on the sharp blade in their tight grip, Gabriel's words about Zachariah recruiting fallen angels circled the back of his head. Knowing that there was a reason Castiel hadn't come alone, he took a few steps back towards the door and reached for the gun that was tucked into his belt. "Cas, what are you doing here?" He asked simply, eyeing the trio that were standing there in front of him.
As Dean turned the corner to join his brother in the living room, he caught Castiel's eyes and his heart hit the bottom of his stomach. "Cas..." He started, oblivious to the situation as he brushed past Sam and started to make his way over to the angel he had all but given up for dead. When Sam reached out to grab him by the shoulder, he stopped in his tracks; his gaze first drifting down to the sharp blade in Castiel's grip before noticing the gun tucked in his younger brother's hand. "Sammy, what's going on?" He quietly asked, forced to take a step back as the younger man pulled him to his side.
"What, are you doing here?" Sam asked again, his eyes never leaving the angels.
"I just came here to talk." Castiel replied simply, his gaze drifting from one man to the other.
"If that was the case then you would have come alone and you wouldn't have waited three weeks." Sam was quick to reply, keeping a firm grip on the gun in his hand. "Why are you really here?"
Dean swallowed hard as he tried to keep his mind from drifting back to the last time he'd seen Castiel. Though he was standing there in front of them now, something was wrong. "Cas are you alright?" He asked quietly, eyeing the two men standing on either side. "Last time I saw you, Zachariah had..."
"I'm fine." Castiel cut in, his monotone voice doing little to convince anyone. "I'm here because I have a proposition for you." He continued, his hard gaze settling on Sam. "If you join Heaven in the finale battle, not as vessels, but as warriors, you will be spared the carnage."
"We're trying to stop it, Cas... Not join it." Sam snapped.
"You don't seem to understand." Castiel calmly replied. He took a step forward but froze as Sam raised the gun up from his side with one hand and pushed Dean behind him with the other. "I know what you two have in mind, but it's too late to stop this." He paused for only a moment as he let his gaze drift over the younger man's shoulder to catch Dean's eyes. "This isn't about winning anymore for you two, this is about surviving. The angels are willing to give you a chance... if you want to survive this, then I suggest you come back with me; fight with us."
"Cas, I don't know what Zachariah told you, but it's a load of crap and you know it." Dean started, feeling the tension in the room rise as the angels refused to step down. "The son of a bitch manipulated you before and this is probably no different. A full pardon or a free pass, whatever it is he promised you..."
"This is simple." Castiel cut in, instantly silencing the other man. "The only way you're going to survive this war is if you come back with me..."
"We're not going anywhere." Sam said, pulling the angel's eyes away from his older brother.
"You should consider this a favor.." Castiel continued.
"The answer's No, Cas." Dean was quick to reply, his stern tone of voice leaving nothing to doubt.
The silence that filled the room was now much louder than the storm raging outside. For a moment the angels stood still, their hands still clenching their weapon of choice while Sam & Dean stood only a few feet away; Sam keeping himself and his gun between the trio and his older brother... the only thing he and Castiel seem to have in common.
"I'm sorry to say this." Castiel suddenly started, his voice dropping almost eerily. "But if you're not with us then you're against us." He declared, taking a quick glance to the angel on his right.
When that angel took a step towards them, Sam didn't hesitate pulling the trigger. Before the sound of the shot disappeared and the angel hit the floor, he loaded the gun a second time and shot dead the angel standing to Castiel's left. "NO, Cas." Sam growled, standing his ground as he watched the angel's eyes drift down to his accomplices, their wings scorched across the hardwood floor between them.
When Castiel looked back up, his eyes focused on the gun in the other man's tight grip. "How did..."
"We had a little help." Sam cut in.
"Gabriel." The angel muttered, eyeing the barrel of the gun pointed towards him.
"Cas, what did Zachariah tell you?" Dean quietly started, pulling the angel's attention away from his younger brother. "Gabe said something about the son of a bitch recruiting fallen angels... Is that what he did to you?"
There was another moment of silence and Castiel let out a heavy sigh. "If I can convince you to join us, what I've done, all of it, will be forgiven... I'll be a true angel again, I wont be hunted anymore."
"You know that's not going to happen, right?" Sam was quick to reply. "The angels are the ones that let this get out of hand... they're the ones that wanted all of this. Sorry, but we're not going to join them."
"If the angels can't have you, they're going to make sure that no one else can." Castiel quietly started. "Fighting for Heaven is the only chance you have at surviving this..."
"Cas, if this is how we die, we're going to die doing what we think is right... And I think you should too." Dean paused for only a moment as he caught the angel's blue eyes. "You know this is wrong , you helped us once and..."
"And look how that turned out." Castiel cut in, instantly silencing the other man. "They're giving me a second chance..."
"But at what cost, Cas?" Dean asked, his words almost lost in a clap of thunder. "This is a trap, it's gotta be... Whether we go or we stay, we're dead... You included."
"I'm doing this for you and I'm not leaving alone." The angel growled.
When Castiel took a step forward, Sam loaded the gun in his firm grip. "Don't make me do this, Cas." He said, his tone of voice stopping the angel in his tracks. "The last thing I want to do right now is shoot you dead but if I have to, I swear I will."
Dean closed his eyes for a moment, the sound of his brother loading the gun still echoing in his head. He swallowed hard. "Cas, I can see how much you want this..." He started softly. "But I think Zachariah's just using you." He paused as he watched Castiel's eyes narrow. "With or without us, if you go back to them, they're going to kill you."
"Dean's right." Sam started, getting the angel's attention.
"Cas I am begging you, here. Please, just stay with us..."
"You two are to blame for all of this and you've already failed me once" Castiel started, turning the blade in his hand as his eyes met Dean's. "I think I'll take my chances with Heaven."
Before either men could say another word, the angel was gone. "Damn it, Cas." Dean growled, his eyes locking on where the angel had been standing only moments ago.