Oh, my gosh! Last night's episode has to be the greatest! Seriously, one of my favorites!
General POV
A strong gust of wind blew erratically as the motel door creaked open. The lights flickered and the ground shook slightly before a sudden pause. All eyes fell upon the emotionless figure standing at the foyer, his dark eyes shifting to the five faces that watched him earnestly.
"Chris?" Max stepped forward, taking his face between her trembling hands, trying to find any hint of humanity in his expression.
"Do not fret," A hollow voice came out from Chris' mouth, the world seemed to quiver when God spoke. "the man you have adulterated yourself with is still alive. He is my vessel." Max growled through her tears, stumbling back into Crowley's shadow.
"What do you want with us?" Sam demanded, distraught at how his sister fell apart into silent sobs. God glanced at Dean, who stood by himself on one side of the room, then to the angel, ignoring Sam's question.
"Well done, Castiel, my son. My good and faithful servant."
"You planned this Cas?" Max barked while lunging at the angel, but caught coolly by Crowley who had a bored visage.
"This was already written, Maxine," Cas pleaded, refusing to meet her hate-filled glare, tightly gripping the strings attached to the brass amulet, which continued to burn red hot. "Your life is a book. It's words are inspired by God and written by the prophet."
"Which prophet, huh, Cas?" Dean snarled. "Judas?"
"So I have to die?" Max's breath hitched when she looked at Chris again.
"My daughter," God stepped forward reaching out to take her hand.
"You're God...you can stop all this without raising a finger."
"Didn't you always tell yourself," God began again. His voice—Chris' voice—working to mend the broken seams that held Max's heart together. "that you would die like your mother in order to keep your brothers safe." She nodded, her chest rising and falling heavily and a burning lump stinging her throat. "Castiel, where is the coin of the Bull-man?" The light bulbs twinkled again and an icy breeze poured in through the open door as Sam handed Cas the double-headed coin.
"Give me the coin," Crowley put his own hand out to Cas with an expectant raise of his eyebrows.
"Give it to him, my son," God urged, despite the angel's reluctant growl. "The coin will go first to the wearer of the amulet of the Bull-man." All three Winchester's shared horrified looks. A shadow of guilt shaded Dean's face and his whole body tensed when he spotted the King of Hell rubbing the piece of metal victoriously between his fingers.
"You son of a bitch," The oldest Winchester breathed out, turning to the wall and squeezing his eyes shut as if he was trying to rid the present scene just to wake up from this dream. Dean didn't wake up though. Not yet.
"Flip the coin," Cas grumbled, looking down at his feet.
"Don't you dare do it, Crowley!" Dean bellowed, whipping around with eyes that shot daggers at the demon.
"This is a hostage situation, you arrogant little thug." Crowley lashed out. "I own your sister, do you understand me?"
"Flip the damn coin," Max quietly ordered, looking from the faces of Crowley to her older brother who coiled his arm back and put a large hole in the wall. "Get this over with!"
"My daughter-"
"Stop calling me your daughter! I don't give a smooth fart if you're God. I'm not your daughter and you're not my father. And I am not afraid to die!"
"There was once a time," God lowered his voice to a tone almost of regret and woe. "when you once called me your father. When you used to pray to me and ask me to take care of your brothers and your earthly father."
"Well," She straightened herself out, keeping Sam's face in the corner of her eye. "I'm taking care of my family now. I don't need your help."
"Maxine," Cas said as a warning, edging between God and the Winchester. "Do not provoke the LORD's anger."
"Tails," Crowley pointed down at the coin which showed the cuneiform of the Bull-man. "Your turn angel. Start showing some emotions. People might mistake you for that Kristen Stewart girl."
"Wait, what does tails mean?" Sam jutted forward, grabbing Max's arm and pulling her behind him.
"That means that your sister is in the clear," Crowley smirked wickedly, but showed enough care for Max to know that he was on her side. "for now."
Sam quickly took his sister's face in his large hands, brushing away her tears and kissing her forehead as he embraced her. Dean watched from the end of the room, a hint of jealousy fleeting behind his green irises. At that moment he didn't care if the coin came out on it's head. Sam and Max were safe and that's what he'd lived his life making sure of. No matter how much his conscious resented the responsibility John Winchester had placed on him at such a tender age, Dean didn't have to be told to 'take care of Max and Sam' to know what to do.
"Tails," Cas imparted with a slightly alleviated sigh but glancing worriedly at God.
"This is only the first trial. Another tribunal will be set up at the next new moon." God said, dismissing himself without hesitation—taking his vessel with him.
A tense air fell over the five bodies in the motel room. Castiel and Crowley stood near the door, watching with somber eyes as Sam whispered comforting words to Max. Dean rubbed his face, secretly surprised that the dramatics were over for the moment.
"Maxine," The angel reached out for her but Sam whisked her away in his arms.
"Get out of here, Cas." The youngest hunter said gently but forcefully. "I think you've done enough."
"You too, chuckles." Dean now barked at Crowley. Just like that, the two supernatural beings disappeared out of sight and out of mind.
"Everything's starting to make sense now," Max mumbled into her little brother's chest, tightening her arms around his waist. "Crowley bringing me back from hell...always looking for Cas. They've been planning this for years." A sound came out from her mouth, sounding more like a whimper than the humorless chuckle that she meant for.
"Nothing's going to get you, Mackie, not while we're still around." Max looked up at her little Sammy with an appreciative smile but bitterness followed her words.
"You know, that's supposed to be my line." She stepped out of his arms, turning her head to catch Dean's painful gaze. "What now? Chris is God's meat-suit. I'm more or less up for grabs. Hey, how far are we from my condo?" Max referred to her lack of proper clothing. She stood in what she had changed the oil to the Camaro with that morning, her feet clad in black socks.
"Not far," Sam chuckled, grabbing the keys to the Impala and beginning to pull on his coat.
"Here," Dean threw his sister his jacket, watching her slip into the large sleeves without a word of thanks or even any emotion, for that matter.
"Awesome," Max sarcastically muttered as she stuck her head out into the slight drizzle. "Damn it, now my socks are going to get wet." Sam picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back, and ran through the rain to the Impala.
After his sister was comfortably settled in the front seat, Sam slid behind the wheel, noting that Dean watched from the open motel door with a look like a lost puppy on his face. With a loud grouse, the engine flipped over and Sam ran his fingers in his long hair to shake off the tiny water droplets.
"You want to talk about it or something?" He suggested, spying Max pull her feet up onto the seat and hug her knees.
"Not particularly,"
"Why Chris, Max?" Sam finally found the courage to ask. She took a deep breath, leaning against the window as they cruised down the sodden roadways of Boston. "You could have had some civvie who didn't know what was in the dark. Why didn't you?"
"Why would I want that, Sammy? Why would I want some ignorant little prick who doesn't know a revolver from a pistol? Hunting is the only thing we've ever known. We don't want to live with it but at the same time, we can't live without. That's why, Sam. Look, it doesn't matter. I'm here now and I'm in this again and I'm not going to leave anytime soon. I'm going out with my boots on no matter what."
"You sound like Bobby," Sam smiled, his dimples caving into his face slightly, but Max frowned.
"Is he really gone?" Her brother nodded, finding an open spot in the heavily crowded parking lot. Max leaned over and peeled off her socks, shoving them into her back pocket as she stepped barefooted into the damp asphalt. Sam quickened his pace to catch up with her. Max, as he had known, had always been brisk and to the point. That's what made her so different from him. Sam knew that he always had to sugarcoat things—always had to make things more tolerable. Inside he knew that no matter how smoothly he managed to explain something supernatural to others it'd always result in the same incredulous look.
Max picked the lock to her condo and held the door open for her brother. Sam vigilantly stuck his head in first before setting in. It was plain, like he had told Dean…wooden flooring and off-white French doors. There were no pictures on the wall or flowers on the kitchenette counter. Books were lined up in waist-high piles against the walls around the light blue couch, which was the only furniture in the main room.
"What's with the background music?" Sam looked around, trying to find the source of the psychedelic melody.
"Music helps Chris sleep." Max said from the kitchen, grabbing two beers from out of the fridge and handing one to Sam. "It keeps me up for most of the night but at least he doesn't have bad dreams."
"You stay awake so he can sleep?" He posed skeptically, resenting Chris for making Max sacrifice something that was vital to the human body.
"It's called love, Sam," She just replied softly. "I would do it for you too. Hey, why don't you guys crash here instead of wasting money that you could use for ammo?"
"You want us to stay with you?"
"That is what I just said, Sam. Is there a problem?"
"No. It's just that you and Dean—"
"What about me and Dean?"
"You know, Max, the whole flying against the wall thing."
"We'll be fine, Alfalfa."
"You want me to get him now?"
"Yeah," She widened her eyes sarcastically. "that'd be great."
Once Sam had gone, Max peeled off her t-shirt and walked into the bedroom. From the corner of her eyes she perceived a standing figure near the window. Looking around and realizing that she was nowhere near any sort of weapon, she turned to face the masculine body.
"Who're you?"
"You named me after you're family." The man said, cocking his head to the side so his brown eyes met hers. "I'm Chester."
"You're a skinwalker?" Chester nodded and smiled, taking a step toward Max, who stood at the other end of the room.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Max. The moment I saw you I loved you." He stopped a foot away from her, finding that she didn't curl back in fright. She knew what he could do to her. One bite was all it would take. "Has that thought occurred to you?"
"What are you talking about?" Max questioned defiantly.
"Oh, I know it has," Chester sneered. "you've thought about shoving a piece of silver into me haven't you?"
"Ches, I'm a hunter. It's instinct. You know that."
"Well, my instinct would be to bite you." Her expression didn't change, even as Chester took a final step towards her, running his hand along her bare arm and chuckled. "Even the great Lady Winchester can't take a life. The end is coming, Max. It's coming soon. I know. And Chris isn't going to make it. I never liked him, you know. He was always shoving me away, always undermining my abilities. But you never did that. You always told me that you loved me." Max had tears streaming down her face by now and reached up closer to his face.
"Life's a bitch, pudding," She whispered with a smile before pulling the trigger. Chester back away a few steps, clutching his blood stained stomach and breathing heavily.
"You're time's coming, Maxine Winchester." He moaned in agony, falling into fetal position on the ground, his blood spilling out onto the floor. With a shaking hand, Max pressed two fingers against his wrist, feeling his pulse but feeling nothing.
"Awesome," She groaned, trying to find some way to dispose of the body. Fishing out her phone she dialed Sam's number.
"Max, we're coming—"
"Uhm, Sam, I need your help."
The Road So Far...
