Now It's On.
Council Bluffs, Nebraska.
Dan and Jill Parker were eating dinner in their dining room. Lasagna. Homemade. Dan loved his wife's lasagna. He mmm'mmm'ed a few times to let her know. She smiled and laughed at him. Then he turned to check the football score.
"Really, Dan?" Jill asked. "Can't we just enjoy this dinner?"
"Sorry, hon, I have money on this game. We're up by 7. I just want to see how it ends!"
The doorbell rang. It was their neighbor Joe. Dan and Joe embraced like the old friends they were. College buddies.
"My TV ain't working," Joe lamented. "You watching the game?"
"Absolutely!" Dan confirmed. "Come on in."
Jill shot Dan a look. "I have to wrap up dinner first. Grab yourself a beer from the kitchen."
"Thanks friend," Joe said. He went to the kitchen. Instead of grabbing a beer, he grabbed two knives. He tucked one into his jacket and cradled the other in his hand. He walked back to the dining room. Dan was practically inhaling the lasagna.
"Don't rush on my account!" Joe said. "Especially not your last meal."
Jill laughed. "You have no idea, Joe."
Joe smiled and walked up behind the couple. "But I do." He grabbed Dan's neck and slashed it. Blood poured out, down his shirt and onto his plate. Jill screamed and stood up but Joe quickly did the same to her. Then his eyes flipped beetle black. He whistled and the dining room window smashed inwards. "Get 'em," the demon inside said to his hellhounds. He turned and walked out as satisfying crunches of bones breaking intensified behind him.
There aren't many hills in Nebraska but Dean felt satisfaction as the Chevelle crested one of them. They had made good time across the long rectangular state once they cleared some overnight construction in eastern Wyoming. Alex had slept a few hours and Dean spent that time listening to the overnight farmers' report, checking for omens. The rest of the trip had been filled not with conversation but with music. He caught her tapping her toes a few times but mostly they were both in their own heads. It had been no trouble for Dean to put down the junior demon crew in Colorado, but he found himself missing his brother a little more with each passing day. Sam would come in handy right now - to help Dean unscramble Chuck's convoluted vision. To help Dean get rid of the demons they came across. To figure out what exactly Dean was supposed to be doing. As a sounding board. As a venting partner. As a brother. Even the usual piece of Sam - Dean's amulet - was lost in time. Dean was still mourning his brother. Never one to let a little logic get in the way of some guilt Dean carried the loss around like an open wound.
It was mid-afternoon when Dean and Alex arrived in town. Dean drove them to the suburban street where Alex's parents lived and pulled up to the curb of a rambler with a nice bay window. Alex popped out of the car practically before it stop. As Dean locked up the car she ran up to the front door and unlocked it. After everything that had happened the night before she just needed a hug.
"Mom, Dad!" She yelled as she walked in. Dean followed a few steps behind.
The smell hit them immediately. Sulfur. Dean trotted in front of Alex and used his arm to keep her from going any further inside. He grabbed his gun out of his jacket and put it to his lips to motion for quiet. Alex slipped in behind him and followed Dean to the kitchen, where he grabbed some salt just in case.
They checked the bedrooms. Empty. As they moved towards the East wing of the house the smell grew stronger. Dean wasn't sure if they were meeting a live demon or not. His gun was the greeting just in case. They crept towards the dining room. Dean lined up aside one side of the entrance and Alex against the other. Dean looked at her to keep her still and then vaulted into the room. He immediately looked away from the sight and uncocked the gun.
Alex followed and gasped. Her parents - or what was left of them - were splayed across the floor, practically ripped to shreds. A meal sat rotting on the table. Dean walked to the window and found traces of sulfur immediately.
"Who did this?" Alex asked in a small voice.
"Not who, what." Dean said. "Hellhounds." He knew Alex wouldn't know exactly what that meant but would get the drift. The demons were on to his plan. Did they know about Alex too? Dean wasn't sure but it made making her heavenly connection all the more time-sensitive.
"We have to bury them," Alex said.
Dean shook his head. "You don't bury them - you burn them."
She looked shocked at the revelation. "So what, these things are chasing me? Or are they chasing you? And what do we do now?"
"We find out if those things are still in town. And if they are, we get a few answers from them and then we get rid of them. Then we move on."
"Do you know why these demons are chasing us?"
"No." Dean lied.
Alex left the room and walked back towards the den. Dean followed. She opened his top desk drawer and grabbed a key. She unlocked the munitions cabinet. She opened it and started removing the guns, handing one back towards Dean. He looked to her for answers. She shrugged. "If whoever, or whatever did this is chasing us, we're gonna need all the help we can get," she sighed.
Hotel room of the moment.
Dean re-entered the hotel room they'd booked (two twins, natch) with some food. Alex, who was sitting at the room's table, dabbed her eyes with a wash towel. Dean looked down.
"I'm not much for talking but if you want to..."
Alex cut him off. "No, no, I'll be fine. Something tells me you're not exactly the tender type anyway."
Relieved, Dean put the bag down on the table and doffed his jacket. Alex poked around the contents of the bag - two cheeseburgers, a huge thing of fries and an ice cream for desert. Sighing, she grabbed a fry. Dean then plopped down a container in front of her. Alex smiled.
"Salad in a cup, huh? How'd you know?" She started shaking it.
"Well, my brother eats like a girl so I thought there was a good chance."
"Your brother, right. The one who is maybe dead and maybe the Devil and maybe stuck in some other time and maybe trapped with the devil down in some cage?" The words were coming from Alex's mouth but she was incredulous.
"I know it sounds crazy," Dean said. "It is crazy. But that's how it went down."
"And you're from the future, but your angel friend sent you back here to stop the Apocalypse from starting?"
Dean took a big bite from his cheeseburger. "Pretty much."
Alex chewed on both her salad and her thoughts. "This is way more interesting than my Cultural Significance of Religion class."
"Your major was religion?" Dean asked.
"No, Anthropology. I was studying past cultures for my masters. My thesis was a contrast of religious icons during Greek and early Renaissance times." Alex replied.
Something clicked in Dean's mind. "So do you speak Greek?"
"Yeah. And Latin. And a few other languages." Alex said, nodding.
Dean smiled. This dead weight was suddenly proving her mettle. "Did you have any luck looking through the weather reports?"
Alex nodded. "Just like you said - electrical storms about two weeks ago. Farmers reporting all sorts of stuff, cows dropping left and right. Crops wiped out. Tornados across the eastern half of the state. And then there was this..." She spun her laptop around. Dean read the story from the Omaha World-Herald. A quadruple murder the day before. A college kid flipped out on his parents and a neighboring couple, killing them all. One person survived, the neighbor's kid. It was a morbidly historical day for the town as a gas station also blew up, killing three more.
"Seven deaths in a day? That's about as common in Nebraska as a skyscraper." Alex spelled it out. "I knew the shooter too. Tom Bello. I went to high school with him. Dated him for a little while."
"I need a suit," Dean said.
Alex stared at him blankly. "This is a fine time to be worried about your wardrobe Dean!"
Dean stood up. "What can I say? These things concern me. Gotta play the part. Do you have a black dress?" Alex's stare grew more intense. "And is there a copy place around here somewhere?"
Midwest suburbia.
The door opened, and Dean and Alex stood at the threshold. He was in a sharp black suit and she was in a long black dress. She recognized an old friend. "Hey Maria," she said. "Just wanted to stop by to pay our respects."
Maria opened the door and the faux couple entered the wake. Plenty of neighbors were there for Alex to recognize.
"We just need to talk to someone who was there," Dean hissed to her. "Don't keep us stuck here too long." She nodded and sought out the neighbor's son, Todd. They found him outside sitting by himself.
"Todd," Alex snapped to him reality. "I'm so sorry for your loss." She took his hands.
"Alex, I had no idea you were even in town." Todd said lazily, looking up. "Yeah, my parents, they...went out of town for awhile and asked me to look after the house. I can't believe all this," he motioned to the people, the events, everything. She had more in common with Todd than she cared to share at that moment.
"Yeah, Tom, he just, he just snapped. My parents were playing Scrabble or something with his parents. All of a sudden I hear these screams. So I ran over and he was slitting their throats. And he was...I don't know, chanting or something."
Alex shot Dean a look.
"Had Tom been acting strange at all before that?" Dean asked. "Not like himself?"
Todd shook his head no. "It came out of nowhere."
Another couple stepped in to pay their respects. Dean used it as the excuse to leave. Not too far though. He stopped at the car, popping the trunk to get something out. "Stay here," he ordered Alex.
"What, why?" she asked. He kept her in place with his hand.
He rounded the fence, ducked the caution tape and slid open the back door to the Bellos'. Inside, he took out the EMF reader Bobby had given him and waved it around. Nothing. The living room was a mess of broken furniture and sprayed, dried blood. Then he caught sight of the western wall. A sigil. On the wall. Instinctually he started looking for other clues.
Dean quickly pushed the broken chair and table off the rug and pulled it back. Sure enough he found a Devil's Trap on the floor.
Not-so-high security lockup.
After some insistence by local resident Alexis Parker, she and Dean were back in street clothes and allowed to visit Tom in his cell. Despite repeated warnings from the Sheriff that he was a dangerous guy, Tom Bello looked more excited to see Alex than she was to see him.
"Alexis!" He said. "Alex, you're alive!"
"So are you!" Alex said back happily. "Tom, what the hell happened?"
Tom clammed up when he saw Dean. "Who's the dude?"
"Oh, this is Dean. He's...he saved my life the other night Tom. He's cool."
"Listen to me Alex. You're not safe. You have to get as far away from Nebraska as you can."
"Whoa, everyone cool their wheels," Dean mixed up the saying, as per usual. "We're not going anywhere; you're definitely not going anywhere," he motioned towards Tom. "Let's back up here. What happened yesterday?"
"There is no time for this. She has to get out of here. Now."
"Tom," Alex tried again. "I know this is going to sound crazy. But Dean, he's a hunter. A demon hunter. He's here to help. We don't want to run. We want to find the demons that did this to your family."
Tom slid back in his cell and plopped down on the bench, looking down. Then he looked to Dean. "Hunter?" he said. Dean nodded. "Me too. So's my dd." This was the first Alex was hearing of it, the shock clear in her face.
"I got called home from school when the omens started," Tom said. "My Dad had been tracking a group of demons that was roaming the country, killing single targets. There didn't seem to be any kind of relation between the targets. Sometimes multiple people in a family died, sometimes not. No good clues, nothing. It had been a year of it. But he finally figured it out." Tom got back up and approached Dean and Alex, motioning them to lean in. "All the people the demons were killing? Vessels. Angel vessels. Some psychic helped him figure it out. They were killing the last person in the bloodline so that even if the angel could come down they were left with a weaker body. I don't know what the endgame is. My Dad called me back because they were in town. I got home last night.
"They, well I guess you probably already know, I think they were looking for your family, Alex. I went to your parents' place but it was too late. The hellhounds had already gotten them. So I headed back home. The Collins were over. But it wasn't them anymore. It was the demons. And my parents - they'd gotten them too. I tried exorcising them but they'd bound themselves to their hosts. So I did what I had to do."
"Did they tell you anything?" Dean asked.
"Nothing that made sense. Something about stopping judgment. I have no idea what that means."
Dean didn't know either.
"My parents, where did they take their bodies?" Tom asked.
"At the morgue, I'd assume," Alex said.
Tom shook his head no and looked to Dean. "You have to burn them."
Dean nodded. "We'll get them."
Nighttime on idyllic, quiet, possessed campus, Omaha.
Unsure of her bluffing skills, Dean had made Alex wait in the car while he chatted up a local university professor. She was dozing off, exhausted from the day's events and the close air inside the vehicle. She was awakened by rapping on the window. It was a university cop. Alex rolled down the window.
"I'm sorry miss. You shouldn't be here," the cop said.
"Sorry sir, I'll move the car." Alex replied.
"No, you shouldn't be here," the cop said again, and Alex found herself faced with a black-eyed demon. It forced the car door open. Alex tried to run even with nowhere to go but ended up right in the demon's arms. She screamed just as Dean exited the building.
"Alex!" He ran towards the car but his path was blocked by a demon.
"Any closer and the girl gets ganked right here. You want to see her alive again? 47 Leavenworth. Two hours," the demon said.
And with that the demons vanished, taking Alex with them. Dean slammed his fist against the car. "Sonofabitch!" Dean's phone rang. Not the one Bobby gave him. The newer flip. What now? He grabbed it out of the glove compartment.
"Yeah what?" He raged into it.
"Dean?" A familiar voice. Dean snapped to attention.
"Cas? Cas, is that you?"
"Yes, Dean. I can't hold this connection very long. Where are you?"
"Omaha. Nebraska."
"When are you?"
"I don't know man, 2005 apparently. Where the heck are you?"
"I'm not sure where I am. 2005..." Dean heard static. "Cas, don't lose me!"
"Listen, I found Chuck. He told me to find this girl, Alexis. I guess she's some kind of vessel. Who is she, Cas? Chuck said something about her being a game-changer. Can she bring Sam back?"
"...angel of...amulet is the key...can't find you without..."
Dean's face twisted into anger. He was tempted to throw the phone but knew it was his only connection to Castiel for the moment.
"You're breaking up. I can't hear a damn word. Look, I'll keep the phone with me. Find me as soon as you can, Cas. I'm getting the girl and we're heading for Bobby's."
"...Dean...don't go back to Bobby's."
"What? Cas? Why the heck not?"
"..." And then the connection dropped.
Dean flipped it shut. So Castiel was alive. And Sam too, maybe. Something bad at Bobby's. Something about his amulet. He clearly had to get it back. First thing was first though.
Masonic Manor. Omaha. 47 Leavenworth.
Dean parked a block away. He popped the trunk and armed himself. Gun? Check. Knife? Double-check. All that was missing was a brother hunter. Sam wasn't much for the hand-to-hand combat but Dean could have used his brother's help just then. Or his dad's. No sense pouting about it though, so Dean grabbed the rest of what he needed and made his way towards the temple.
The door was of course open. Dean made his way down the hallway until he spotted an open meeting room door. One door was open. He peeked around the end of the closed one and saw Alex passed out in the head Mason's chair. She was roped in with a gag on. Behind her the altar had several candles lit and the wall was covered with three scary looking Mason portraits. He didn't see any demons but he knew they were around - possibly one in her.
He went into the room anyway. The door slammed shut behind him. The sound awakened Alex, who shook her head at Dean and tried to speak through muffles. Dean looked around. "Come on, you sons of bitches, let's get this show on the road already!"
"Whenever it's convenient for you, Dean," said a voice behind Dean. The cop.
Dean wheeled around.
"I can't believe my luck!" The demon continued. "I come to this little farm town looking for one vessel, and I end up landing two! And not just any two...two of the most powerful angel vessels, neutered before their time." The demon chuckled. "This could not have worked out any better if Lucifer had planned it himself."
Two more demons stepped out of the shadows, blocking Dean's path to Alex.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Dean lied.
"Oh, sure, sure," the demon shush shushed him, "Events are unfolding differently this time, Dean. Isn't it funny? You thought you were coming back here for a chance to stop it before it started. But the truth is it will always start, and it will always start with you. Why prolong the inevitable? We can just get this all over with now."
"So, you know who I am," Dean retorted, "but I don't think I've had the pleasure."
A smirk in return. "They call me Ipos. But it's not me you should be worried about. It's who I serve."
Not a name Dean knew but he had enough information for now. He took a swing with his knife. Ipos ducked back and one of the other demons charged towards the hunter. Dean quickly twisted the knife around and stabbed the demon in the gut, twisting the knife for good effect. Dean yanked it out as the demon staggered back. The third demon was racing up so Dean grabbed his gun.
Ipos had used the time to get back up to Alex, who was struggling to break free. "Two great options here but I think we'll start with you," he said, slipping his own knife out from below his uniform. "Say hello to Semiazas for me when you get to hell."
The ground shook and Dean watched a white light appear over Ipos and Alex. He had seen this before. "Alex - close your eyes!" He yelled, and she did. Dean quickly stabbed the third demon and then fled behind the back altar to shield himself.
From within her skull light projected out Alex's eyes and they flew back open in a blaze of blinding light. "I serve no demon!" She cried.
Dean heard it, and with hand in front of his face for protection saw what looked like an angel waking from within Alex.
Ipos, alarmed by this development, fled his meatsuit. With the threat gone the light dissipated and Alex once again fainted back in the chair.
Dean checked around to see if Ipos' smoke remained but he was long gone. He ran up to Alex and tried to wake her, gently and then finally with a light slap to the face. Nothing. He untied her and slung her over his shoulder. Was this girl like Anna - an angel all along?
The fire burned brightly with 4 bodies in it. Dean had already taken care of Alex's parents yet here they were sending two more couples off. It was disturbing to say the least. Alex didn't remember anything that had happened since being kidnapped. Or so she told Dean - his gut found it suspicious. When he filled her in she looked genuinely surprised though, so he eased back. It didn't matter that much. Conscious player or newbie to it all, Dean's plan was unchanged. Get the girl back in full angel form so she could reunite him with his brother and Castiel.
"What now?" Alex asked sadly, nursing a deep cut on her arm from the demon.
"I need to get something back that I lost," Dean said. "An amulet."
"When did you lose it?"
"A few years from now. But in this time I still have it. So I all I have to do is find me."
"Your memory is that good?"
"No. But I know someone who can find me..."
Dean walked away from the pyre and towards the car. Alex watched it burn for a few more seconds, the flames lighting up her eyes. Then she too turned and walked for the car. They both got in. Dean turned it on and they headed out of town.