Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural
Bleeding Storm
Taking it slowly after Missouri went down the stairs, Dean helped Sam get up and washed and dressed, as Sam was still finding it hard to get everything to work again after so long lying still. With his pair pushed back, clad in a tshirt, joggers and his hoodie, Sam followed Dean down the stairs to the sitting room, Dean keeping a hand on his wrist as he did so to steady him.
"Oh it's good to see you up and about Sam. Come on, I've made you some breakfast." Missouri said happily as he appeared at the door of the kitchen, now standing on his own two feet, and he sat down at the table while she plied him with a plate of sausages, egg and a potato scone.
"Thanks Missouri." He said as he beheld the food, and got tucked in, as Dean was also served some breakfast.
"Hello stranger. You look a lot better than you did when we got here." Bobby said, flickering to life beside Sam, and Sam smiled up at him, his mouth full of egg.
"That isn't hard, he looked like he was on death's door when he got here. One benefit though, maybe Dean will stop looking so miserable and stop being so antisocial now his brother is awake." Missouri said teasingly, and Sam grinned as his brother blushed.
"You know, this is why we don't come here very often, you always pick on me." Dean protested, and Sam laughed.
"Well, you always pick on me, it's only fair someone other than Bobby gets the occasional shot." He pointed out.
"It isn't fair, she always takes your side!" Dean moaned, his voice surly, and Missouri and Bobby smiled at each other.
"So did Ellen. But Bobby and dad always liked you best." Sam pointed out, and Dean shook his head.
"That isn't the point." He said childishly.
Bobby, Missouri and Sam all looked at each other in confusion.
"Well what is the point then? Because I'm the youngest I shouldn't be anyone's favourite?" Sam asked whiningly, and Dean chewed it over, then nodded with a grin on his face.
"Exactly."
"That doesn't even make sense, and it isn't fair." Sam said, and Bobby rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry Sam, you just charm the older women in your life, you're the sweet one all the woman like, Dean has player written all over him, it turns us against him." Jody said as she limped through into the kitchen, and Sam got up and hugged her.
"Wow, you don't look so good." He said, taking in her plastered arm and leg.
She patted his cheek fondly.
"Hey, I looked a damn sight better than you, you gave us quite a scare. Dean didn't let anyone touch you, he was like some sort of guard dog, he growled if we went near him." She said, delighting in watching Dean's face flush with embarrassment.
"Really?" Sam asked in delight, smiling widely.
"Well, I wasn't that bad, I..." Dean protested, and Missouri winked at him.
"Don't worry boy, I won't tell them that you tucked Sam in every night. Whoops." She said, and Dean glowered at them.
"See, this is why it isn't fair, they all pick on me." He moaned, and they all laughed, and Sam looked around as three more people entered the already crowded kitchen.
"Sam, welcome back!" Garth said, shaking his hand.
"Wow, Garth, great to see you." He said, and Marion then shook his hand and pulled him into a one armed hug.
"You gave us quite a scare. Now I'm probably the only guy in existence who can say he's driven a car with a Winchester seizing in the back." He said cheerfully, and he was shunted out of the way as Dr Cox, looking much more human coloured than the night they had arrived, entered and checked the cut on Sam's head.
"Yes, healing nicely. Take the tablets a few more days, and take it easy, and by easy I man stick around the house, no hunting or strenuous activity whatsoever. And then you'll be as right as rain." He said confidently, taking the cup of coffee Missouri passed him.
Dean had told him what it was like the night they had arrived. Missouri had called them, sensing that Dean needed a place to stay, and had offered her home. The coach, remarkably unpursued since Washington, had glided into town and had been parked, albeit with a tight squeeze, in the barn beside Missouri's house. Marion had then helped carry Marion in, while Garth and Cox between them had carried Sam in, despite Dean's protests, and they had eventually come back for him and the luggage. Cox had then attended to Sam, whose fever had picked up on the journey, and he had had a coughing fit which had made his head bleed, so he'd had to deal with that. Once Sam had been settled, Cox had given Marion, Dean and Jody the once over, and after being offered a glass of whisky by Missouri, had drunk it and had just sat staring at the wall, shell shocked by all that had happened. Marion had soon dozed off and Missouri had helped Jody to the spare bedroom, and after Dean had struggled up the stairs to the attic, he had curled up protectively around his brother and had only left the room to go to the bathroom since then.
However, now Marion was mostly mended, Dean's wounds were healing, Jody was getting there, and Cox had been given a beginner's guide to the supernatural by Bobby and Garth, and he seemed a lot more cheerful about things.
"Alright, we need to figure out what the hell we're going to do about the mess we're in. Let's go next door." Dean said, and they trouped out, and Sam stuck behind to help Missouri with the tea and coffee she was making for everyone.
"It's great to see you again Missouri." He said happily, and she smiled at him.
"It's good to see you too Sam. You've gotten even more handsome, just like your brother. You could have visited more often though." She scolded, and he flashed his puppy dog eyes at her.
"I wanted to, but with everything to do with the deal, then the Apocalypse, then Eve, then the Leviathans, and remember I rarely get to drive or decide where we go, we've hardly had the time. I'm sorry Missouri." He said, and she smiled at him fondly.
"Figures it would be your brother's fault. Come on, let's get this staff meeting started." She said, and Sam noted that she had two more cups than she had guests.
"Missouri?" he asked, and she winked at him.
"Psychic remember? Be a honey and get the door would you?" she asked, bustling through, and Sam shook his head, and reached the door just as it rang.
He was about to open it when Dean stomped through, eyes slightly worried, relaxing when he saw Sam, and Sam smiled. He was in his maternal, overprotective mode again, not wanting to let Sam out of his sight for a minute. Shaking his head in amusement, he opened the door to see two of the unlikeliest companions he had ever thought to see.
The one on the left was the small, brown haired, irritable form of Meg, the demon who was meant to be watching Cas. Why Dean had summoned her, he didn't have a clue, but nevertheless here she was.
The one on the right was a man with broad shoulders, a salt and pepper haircut, and small, mean, grey eyes. Sam hadn't seen the man in years, not since the last time he had been entrusted to look after Sam while Dean and their dad went on a hunt. And the man hadn't been the best of carers and had lured a witch to his house, and Sam had gotten hurt in the blast when he had killed her. Their dad had been furious, as they had entered just as the witch had been blown up, and had lost his temper, and a fourteen year old Dean had smacked the man in the mouth, knocking out several teeth before warning him if he ever let Sam get hurt again, he would gut him.
"Meg." Dean said in greeting, and she smiled grimly.
"Well, you going to invite me in? I'm getting frostbite out here." She said, and Sam stood aside to let her in.
"Sam. Dean. Been a while." Joshua said, nodding at them but not extending his hand, and Sam watched in amusement as Dean took a protective step in front of Sam.
"Joshua." Dean said, nodding in response, which Sam also did.
Joshua was part of the old breed of hunters, a man totally obsessed with killing the next creature and not caring who got in the way. He was also similar in temperament to their father, arrogant, obsessive, secretive and had very little tolerance for any viewpoint other than his own. He was also rather fond of using his fists to settle arguments, a fact that had seen him rather exiled from the groups the boys usually travelled in. Ellen had once described him as a 'dim witted, arrogant, thuggish bull', and had forced him from the roadhouse at gunpoint for being too drunk and too violent along with it.
Joshua roughly shouldered past Dean, making him stagger a little on his healing ankle and Sam quickly proper him up.
"You ok?" he asked, and Dean nodded.
"Yeah. I see he hasn't changed. Sammy, watch what you say around him ok?" he asked softly, and Sam looked at him in concern.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously, and Dean glowered through the walls.
"Because he's of the same mould as dad for a start, and I know that'll piss you off. And...he was friends with Steve Wandell." He said quietly, hating the flicker of hurt and self hatred that appeared on Sam's face as he was mentioned.
Steve Wandell had been a solitary hunter, but he and Joshua had worked together on a few cases. Sam, who had disappeared, had been possessed by Meg, and had killed Steve, in Meg's plan to try and force Dean to kill him. He'd freed Sam, though Sam had never forgiven himself for all he had done back then, torturing Jo, killing Steve and attacking Dean.
"Great. And let me guess, he'll be on the same band wagon as Walt and Roy who thinks we're to blame for everything goes wrong in the world?" Sam asked bitterly, and Dean scowled darkly.
"Wouldn't surprise me." He said and beckoned Sam to follow him through.
"Good. Now, maybe you boys can explain what the hell is going on." Meg said, ignoring the searching look Cox was giving her.
Sam looked at Dean, who was giving him a hard commanding look, and Sam reluctantly sat down on the free couch, Dean plonking down beside him.
"Basically what's going on is what we're screwed. We have bad guys coming out of our ear holes. We have angels, demons, vampires, dragons, FBI and Leviathans all chasing us. On top of that, I'm wanted for mass murder and for the murder of Sam. I reckon the few people we can count as friends are virtually all assembled in this room, and we don't have anywhere left to run. And three of the big bads we have chasing us, Lilith, Raphael and the Leviathans, we don't have the faintest idea how to kill. So basically, I'm open to suggestions." Dean said, looking around at them all.
"I take it run and hide isn't an option?" Cox asked, and Sam shook his head.
"Not a viable one." He said grimly.
Bobby frowned, ignoring the mistrusting look Joshua was giving him.
"Well, we have two options. We either run and get the hell out of dodge, or we stand our ground and fight. Two problems though. Problem with the first choice is, with the Leviathans preparing to make their big move, we wouldn't be gone for very long before it came back to bite us in the ass. And Dean's already said the problem with the other option, we have too many bad asses after us, and the worst ones of the lot we don't know how to kill." He said darkly.
"Not to mention they all seem to have personal vendettas against the boys." Jody said worriedly.
"Well, that's why it's good that Joshua's here, and your demon friend. You boys need all the help you can get." Missouri said, looking mistrustfully at Meg, though that was slightly better than Joshua's response.
He had pulled a gun from his belt and was aiming it right between her eyeballs.
"You called a demon to this? What sort of a hunter are you, working with a demon? You see a demon, you kill it, you don't bring it home for tea and biscuits." Joshua snapped at Dean, who got up, and snatched the gun from Joshua's hand before turning the gun on him.
"Stop being such an ass Joshua, you just got here. And I called Meg because she might know a way to get rid of Lilith. Do you?" he asked, sitting back down, though not giving Joshua his gun back, who was glowering at him.
Meg frowned.
"None that I can think of. And believe me hunter," she said contemptuously to Joshua, "I don't like the fact that I need to work with the boys either. But, the enemy of the enemy is my friend. They want Raphael, Lilith and the big mouths dead, and Crowley too, and that makes us golfing buddies. Deal with it. Anyway Dean, there aren't any surefire ways to kill Lilith, and even if you could exorcise her, it would only make her more powerful and more pissed when she came back." She said worriedly, and Dean cursed.
Garth looked around the room, smiling.
"Come on guys! Lighten up! Yeah, we've got a load of nasties after us. Big deal! Look around this room. We have a ghost, we have a rather attractive demon," he said, indicating Meg, and Bobby, Dean, Sam and Meg all looked at him incredulously, "we have a doctor, a psychic, two sheriffs and four hunters, two of whom are the best in the world. We can handle this." He said cheerfully.
Joshua looked at the kid, unimpressed.
"And considering who's after these boys, which I've been roped into," he began, but Missouri cut him off.
"If you don't stop your bad mouthin I'm gonna whack you with a spoon." She warned darkly, and he sulked at being told off by her and then resumed his speech.
"All the people in this room aren't going to make much difference. And besides, if these boys are as good as you naively seem to think, then they wouldn't have so many enemies chasing them." Joshua said smugly.
Sam glowered at him.
"You know Joshua, you're still an asshole. Shut your mouth." He said, standing up, and Joshua wisely went quiet, seemingly unaffected by the glares he was receiving from everyone in the room.
"Right, we can kill the dragon at least. We still have the sword we used on the last one, it's at the lockup, so we get that, we can get rid of one of the nasties." He said, and Marion looked at him, impressed.
"You have a sword that can kill a dragon just lying around?" he asked, and Sam and Bobby grinned.
"Not really. They have a bit of a sword. Dean blew it apart." He said, and Dean rolled his eyes.
"We needed it in a hurry and I didn't have time to wait for king Arthur to come along and take it out of the stone." He said defensively.
"Either way, he blew up a priceless artefact." Sam said with a smile.
"I'm never living that one down am I?" Dean asked miserably, and Sam shook his head.
"Alright, so we can get rid of the dragon. If it comes to it, we can kill the humans too I suppose, and I must say, shooting Charlie seems a good idea at the moment, little idiot." Marion said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"And we can deal with the vampires too." Bobby said, looking worriedly at Sam.
"You still got Ruby's knife?" Meg asked, and Dean nodded.
"Yeah, but that won't work on Lilith, she's too powerful." He said, and she shrugged.
"Hey, means we can get rid of whatever bozos she has working for her." She reasoned.
"And we have an angel sword, but that won't work on Raphael." Dean pointed out, and then Sam frowned.
Jody got there first.
"Right, I take it you boys have dealt with Lilith and Raphael before, how did you get rid of them last time?" she asked, and the boys looked away from each other.
"Well Cas got rid of Raphael, he absorbed all the souls from Purgatory and destroyed him. Which means that option is out." Dean said.
"And Sam used his powers on Lilith last time." Meg said in sick delight, and he and Dean glowered at her.
"Oh yes...I heard about your demonic powers boy. People began wondering which side you were on. Wondered myself." Joshua said suspiciously, but Dean silenced him with a look.
"And his powers are gone, so we can't use them anyway." He said firmly, and Sam nodded, glowering hatefully at Meg.
"And I wouldn't use them again even if I had them anyway." He said, and she shrugged.
"Just as well I suppose. No one strong enough to give you the boost you'd need, and she would be expecting it." She reasoned, eyeing the suspicious look Joshua was giving Sam out of the corner of her eye.
"I heard about that. Your addiction. Friends of mine vanished after they asked you about it. Any idea why that was?" Joshua asked, getting to his feet, trapping Sam against the wall, and the others rose, but Dean got there first and bodily shoved Joshua back down onto the couch beside Meg.
"Let me make one thing quite plain to you Joshua. I don't care what your problem is with Sam. Missouri called you because she thought you might be useful. So, until you are, you're just going to sit there and shut up. Sam's been through all that stuff, and he's dealt with it. All his debts were paid when he saved this worthless rock. And if you so much as lay a finger on Sam, I will kill you. Got it?" he snarled, and Joshua nodded, while Sam sat down, glowering at the elder hunter.
"Ask yourself this Dean...would your father have let Sam live after all he's done?" Joshua demanded, and Dean turned to glower at him.
"I don't know. But if he did want to kill Sam, he would have had to kill me too. And what's more, it took the two of us, it wasn't just him. Our father could treat us the way you are, but you aren't him. So sit down, shut your mouth and stare at the wall until this is all over." He said, shooting him a venomous look as he sat down beside his brother.
Bobby then broke the tense silence.
"What about an angel sword? If we could get a higher ranked one, we might be able to kill Raphael." He reasoned, but Sam shook his head.
"We would need an archangel's blade to kill Raphael, and we're fresh out of those. Raphael isn't exactly going to let us borrow his so we can kill the bastard, Michael and Lucifer's will be in the cage with them, and Gabriel...Gabriel's might be out there somewhere." He said mostly to Dean, who frowned.
"Wouldn't it have disappeared when he died?" he asked, and Sam shrugged.
"I don't know, but if it's still out there, we need to find it, it'll be the only way we can get rid of Raphael." He reasoned.
"But how do we get our hands on it? We're short our resident angel, so I doubt we'll be able to go back in time to get the damn thing." Dean said, and Sam sighed.
"Well, with Balthazar gone, there's only one place we might be able to get a weapon like that." He said, and Marion looked at him sceptically.
"Somehow I doubt it'll be the local Amm-U-Nation. Where do you get an archangel killing sword?" he asked, and Dean groaned, and said in unison with his brother,
"Crowley."
XX
"You want to summon the king of Hell in my living room?" Missouri asked in distaste, and Meg nodded enthusiastically.
"I agree you don't want Crowley appearing in the living room. Remember, he sort of wants to use my skin for his curtains." She said, and Sam looked at her irritably.
"You think we want to summon him? We're not exactly his biggest fans, but given a choice between him being in charge down there and Lilith, I'd rather have him in charge." He said, and even Meg had to admit, Hell had taken a swing for the better since Crowley had taken over.
"So you're quite friendly with the ruler of all demons. Funny, you wouldn't expect hunters to be friends with one demon, let alone two." Joshua said from his perch on the couch, and Jody glowered at him.
"Are you deaf or just stupid? They don't like Crowley, they don't particularly like Meg, but they work with them from time to time against things that are a lot worse than what you're used to dealing with. Dean told you to shut your mouth, so why don't you?" she asked as Dean dropped blood into the bowl.
"Scram Meg, hide upstairs or outside if you want, the last thing we need is you pair going at it in Missouri's living room." He said, and the demon shot him a cold look before retreating up the stairs.
"You regularly summon the king of hell?" Joshua asked belligerently, and Dean glowered at him.
"What part of shut up don't you grasp? Shut your hole you ass. And no we don't." He said, and Joshua shot Sam a suspicious glance.
"One of the demon friends you made?" he asked him, and Sam turned around and punched him, sending him to the floor with a grunt of pain.
"Stay down there and stay quiet if you know what's good for you." Sam bit out, savouring the glare Joshua was giving him, and the look of reluctant pride that Dean was.
He smiled slightly and turned to the table, as Dean finished the ritual, and with a blaze of black smoke, Crowley appeared before them.
"Hello boys." He said in greeting, casting his eyes over the people assembled in the room and taking in Missouri's living room.
"Crowley." Sam said in greeting as Crowley sized up Marion and Garth.
"You boys must really be getting desperate, scraping the barrel of friends now aren't we?" he asked, and Dean looked at him coolly.
"Well, so many of your old comrades killed all the old ones. And these new ones are just as good." He said, and Marion, Jody and Cox all looked slightly pleased with themselves.
"Charming. Well I assume you boys didn't summon me to discuss your rather eclectic bunch of new friends. What do you want and more importantly why should I give it to you?"
"We need your help. We've got more problems than ever, and we don't have any way to go about killing them." Dean said, and Crowley looked at him sceptically.
"And what could be so bad that you need my help with?" he asked.
"Because remember the big bad angel you and Cas worked together to destroy? Turns out before Cas went poof, when he put the souls back, he let Raphael back out." Sam said, quite content with letting Crowley think Cas was still dead.
Crowley's eyes widened in surprise, the only emotion he showed before transforming his face back into the cool, collected mask it usually was.
"And you now have an archangel after you, who let me guess, wants to restart the Apocalypse and you're thinking that I won't want another angel running around and getting in the way." He asked in a bored voice, and Dean nodded.
"Yeah."
Crowley smiled.
"Well boys, I don't know what to tell you, but I've got no interest in getting involved with you or your angel chums." He said, and was about to smoke out, when Sam raised a hand, and Crowley, curiosity getting the better of him, looked at him sceptically.
"You do know who we're talking about right? Raphael seems to think Cas is still alive. Now, while we know better, he doesn't. And he wants Cas' head on a platter. Which means, if something happens to us, there's only going to be one place for him to go looking for the errant angel." Sam said smugly, and Dean gave Crowley a wicked grin.
"And if he gets rid of us and comes calling on you, I dread to think how much of a mess an archangel can make down there, and with Lucifer trapped in the cage and you being the strongest demon there is, well let's face it, no one on your side would stand a chance against a runaway archangel now would they?" Dean asked, and Crowley shot him a dirty look, knowing he was right.
There was no one left in Hell who could combat an archangel, and if Raphael did decide to venture into hell, hell wouldn't be strong enough to endure for long. He hated it when these arrogant little thugs outwitted him, not that it had happened very often.
"You might have a point. What do you need?" Crowley asked reluctantly.
"We need an archangel's sword to kill Raphael. We know Gabriel had one on him when he died, and we were hoping you could get it for us." Sam said, and Crowley pondered.
He had indeed heard rumours that the sword had vanished after Lucifer had slaughtered the pagan gods at their conference. And if it had been taken, then there was every chance that he could get his hands on it. He was king of the crossroads after all.
"And if I do get it for you, what do I get out of it?" Crowley asked.
"Well I would think that would be obvious. They'll kill Raphael for you, er, your majesty." Marion said nervously, as Crowley turned to survey him and grinned.
"Him, I like, he shows some respect, tepid though it is. Alright, I will look for the sword, but I can't make any promises." He said, and he was about to leave again when Dean stopped him this time.
"And we need another weapon, something that will kill a very powerful demon." Dean said, and Crowley snorted derisively.
"Word of advice Dean boy, you want to kill me, telling me you need me to give you the weapon to do it isn't the way to go about it." He advised, and Sam shook his head.
"It isn't you we're after. Castiel let a fair few things loose when he bust open Purgatory. Lilith was one of them." He said, and this time, Crowley reacted.
He went very pale, his eyes bulged in fear and looked at Sam and Dean pleadingly, as though seeking assurance that it wasn't true.
"Lilith?" he rasped, and Dean nodded.
"Yeah. So we need something incredibly powerful to kill her too." Dean said, and Crowley grimaced.
"You denim clad nightmares really are a thorn in my backside. And Jolly Green can't get his powers back, and the only demon whose blood would give him enough power to kill the vicious bitch is mine, and sorry Moose, but I don't really relish the thought of you sucking on anything of mine." He said, and Sam made a disgusted face.
"Trust me, the feeling's mutual."
"You have any way to kill her?" Bobby asked grumpily, and Crowley shook his head.
"Not that I can give you. Like I said, the only thing you peasants might be able to do is get Sam hooked on demon blood again, and even then there's no guarantees." He said, and Sam and Dean both glowered at him.
"We're not doing that again." Sam intoned, and Crowley rolled his eyes.
"You humans, you have principles only when it suits you. Look at Wall Street and the Bank of England. They had no principles, they've made millions and are now screwing over everyone else. They'll all make fine demons someday. And you, giraffe, you didn't care last time when you were sucking on demon blood, killing hunters and hunting Lilith, so why start caring now?" Crowley asked, and Dean was suddenly aware of how intently Joshua was studying Sam and stood closer to his brother, eyeing Joshua warily.
"Because last time sent the world straight to hell, lost people I cared about, and nearly lost me my big brother. I am not doing it again. And speaking of which, if we do manage to kill her, will it restart the Apocalypse?" Sam asked worriedly, and Crowley frowned as he thought about his answer.
"Hmm, no way to tell. If Raphael is actively trying to kick it all off again, possibly. But then, this is all academic anyway seeing as there's no way for you to kill her, I can't get you anything that will help. Two reasons for that, firstly there's nothing that you'd be able to use, and you won't use demon blood, and you aren't sucking me off. And secondly, even if there was a weapon for you to use, I could hardly just give it to you, the demons will wonder what the hell is going on if I start looking for demon killing weapons, and some of them might support a change in leadership if they learn Lilith is alive." He said.
"Exactly. If she kills us, if we don't stop her, you lose your throne, and something makes me think she won't be happy that you usurped a throne that used to be hers. She'll obliterate you like she will us. So Crowley, if you don't want the evil bitch to roast your ass, you better come up with some way to help us." Dean said, and Crowley grimaced.
"I can't help with Lilith. There's nothing I can do, for several reasons. But, I will agree that she has to go. Tell you what. I'll find the sword for you, free of charge. Then, you kill Raphael...but only after he destroys Lilith. If he can." Crowley said, and Sam shook his head.
"Somehow I don't think he'll smite her until he gets us and Cas, which means he'll go through you first. Are you sure there's no weapon you can get us?" he asked, because he would feel a lot safer if they had a way to kill both her and Raphael.
Crowley thought about it.
"There's a weapon you could use, theoretically, but I can't get you it, you gave it back to it's owner." He said, and Dean's eyes widened.
"Death's scythe." He said in realisation, and Sam paled.
Death's scythe belonged to the horseman Death, and was very powerful, able to kill angels, demons and was the only thing that could kill reapers. Which meant, it could theoretically be used on Lilith. If they could get their hands on it.
"That's the one. So...in exchange for making sure I keep my throne and don't have to deal with Raphael, you get Gabriel's sword. Deal. Sign here." He said, conjuring a scroll.
"Quite the bureaucrat aren't you?" Jody asked, slightly impressed with the corner he had backed the boys into, despite herself.
"Flattery darling, will get you everywhere." He said with a smile, and she blushed a little.
"Oh brother." Bobby grumbled.
"This is all that's in the agreement, no missing souls, no hellhounds, nothing, a simple straight forward trade, we dust Raphael and Lilith in exchange for the sword?" Dean asked, and Crowley cursed.
"You see through all my little ploys don't you? Very well agreed, I won't keep Big bird's soul until the job's done, I would only get endlessly interrupted anyway by the thug's whining. Simple trade, I get you the sword, you get rid of Lilith and Raphael for me. No losing souls, no hellhounds if you renege on the deal, but, and this is a big but, if you fail, then I get your soul Dean. Let Sam have the privilege of a soulless brother this time round." He said, and Sam shook his head desperately at Dean, but Dean nodded.
"We'll just have to make sure we don't fail then." He said, and signed the scroll, his signature flaring with fire.
"You're a bastard Crowley." Sam growled, and Crowley smiled.
"Thank you Moose, as I said, flattery will get you everywhere. And since you're so nice, I will give you a little bonus that will become clear in the fullness of time, but only if you sign right now." He said, and Sam looked at Dean worriedly, as if seeking permission, and Dean nodded encouragingly, and Sam reluctantly signed it.
"What sort of bonus?" he asked, and Crowley smiled.
"Hope you don't have to find out. Pleasure doing business with you as always." He said with a smug grin and a salute, and was gone in a puff of smoke.
"Well, I liked him." Jody said happily, and Missouri shot her a look of amused irritation.
"And I could see why." She said tartly, and Jody blushed.
"You have no taste in men." Bobby said darkly, crossing his arms huffily, and she smiled sweetly up at him.
"Couldn't have done, I kind of liked you." She said, and Marion snorted in amusement.
"She never did." He said, and she smacked him with her good hand, while Bobby gave him an affronted look.
"How many hunters have you killed then boy?" Joshua demanded coldly, and Sam glared at him.
"He meant Walt and Roy, everyone heard what they did to them. That's all Joshua." Garth said, glaring at the older man to back down, which he did so reluctantly, and Sam gave him a look of thanks.
"So, will this king guy come through?" Cox asked curiously, his head spinning, and Dean nodded.
"Yeah. Like Jody said, he is a bureaucrat, and he's made a deal. I'm more worried about the bonus he put into the contract. Trust me, any bonus of his can't be good." He said grimly, to Sam's grim nod.
"You can stop hiding now Meg!" Sam called, and she appeared a second later, glaring at Sam irritably at the insinuation
"So, did the big cheese have any idea on how to kill Lilith?" she asked, and Sam shook his head.
"Nothing that we can use, other than using me as a weapon and I'm not doing that." He said, and Joshua looked at him curiously.
"Oh, so you won't do it now, but you could do it before and condemn a lot of people to death?" he asked peevishly, and Sam's fist tightened, but before Joshua said anything else, Cox stabbed a syringe into his neck. Joshua gave him a furious look before slumping back, unconscious.
"You know, I never considered malpractice before, but that was kind of fun." He said musingly, throwing the syringe into the bin.
"What did you do to him?" Meg asked, poking the hunter.
"Oh, only gave him a mild sedative, shut him up, belligerent wanker. Whatever else Sam might have done, seems to me he's paid his dues or had no control. So he should just drop it, and now, we can concentrate, he was getting on my nerves anyway with his constant interruptions." He said, and Sam smiled at him.
"Thanks doc."
"Want me to slit his throat?" Meg asked curiously.
"Don't tempt me. And speaking of Meg, not a word about the hunter you made Sam kill, or I'll send your sorry ass straight to Crowley, got it?" Dean demanded, and she shot him a cold look before nodding.
"Fine. But I'm just saying, I'd kill him for free. He was one of the ones I was looking for when I murderer all your daddy's friends." She purred, and Dean took a step towards her, fist rising, but Sam stopped him.
"No. It's what she wants." He said softly, and Dean relented.
"When you say you made Sam kill this hunter, how does that work exactly?" Cox asked in interest, earning him surprised looks from the rest.
"What? I'm new to all this, and I'm a doctor, I want to know how things work, I'm nosey that way." He defended, and Meg smiled.
"See, this is a man who knows how to treat a girl. I doubt he's the sort to kiss a girl then throw her on a fire." She said bitterly, referring to Castiel.
"Huh?" Cox asked, and Sam shook his head in exasperation.
"Never mind sugar." She said, and Garth looked at Dean curiously.
"Alright, so if Crowley comes through with the sword, how do we kill Lilith? Sorry to say it, but she sounds a hell of a lot scarier than Raphael." He said worriedly, and Dean nodded.
"She is, and she's gunning specifically for Sammy. But Crowley did say that there is one weapon we can get out hands on that could do it, kill her again, without Sam's powers or Raphael smiting her. Death's scythe." He said, and Cox looked at him, confused.
"Wait, when you say Death do you mean tall skeletal guy, hooded robe with a big scythe?" he asked, and Dean nodded.
"Yeah."
"Oh my..." Cox said, going pale, as did Marion, Jody, Garth and Missouri.
"But he doesn't have the hooded cloak or the big scythe, it's only a small one." Bobby assured them.
"It's bad enough you want to summon the king of hell into my sitting room, and now you want to summon Death himself? That's a bad move." Missouri said worriedly.
"Too true, because he isn't fond of being summoned. But Dean...we need to stop Lilith either way, I don't see if we have much of a choice." Sam said, looking only at his brother.
"But didn't you say that killing her might start the Apocalypse again?" Jody asked, and Dean frowned.
"Yeah. That's the problem, because if Raphael is multitasking and breaking seals while hunting us while hunting Cas, then killing her will break the final seal." He explained.
"And that means what exactly?" Marion asked, and Sam shuddered.
"It means Lucifer and Michael can bust out of their cage, and can incinerate the planet as they bring about Armageddon, and considering how they get on down there, I doubt they'll even bother to inhabit us, they'll come straight out and obliterate us all." He said, his throat dry and his voice shaking in fear.
"Great. So, do we kill her, yay or nay?" Jody asked, and Garth looked at them.
"Can't you just exorcise her?" he asked hopefully, and Sam shook his head.
"No. She's way too powerful for that. Besides, it would send her back to hell if we did." He said, and Cox looked at him in confusion.
"Surely, sending the evil bitch who blew up half a hospital with her eyes to hell is a good thing?" he asked, not quite getting why it wouldn't be.
"Yes, for a while." Meg conceded, while Bobby shook his head.
"But not for long. If we went her back to hell, firstly, it would put her back in hell, which means she could take Crowley's throne, and I reckon he'd find some way to screw the boys over royally before she took him down, he'd probably kill them or leave them soulless or something. And even if she didn't take back her throne, and Crowley didn't consider it a violation of their deal, she would come back and be seriously, utterly pissed." He said darkly, and Dean sighed.
"We don't have a choice then do we? She has to be killed, no matter what, she's too powerful and she won't let up until Sam and I are in the ground. Which means we have to summon Death." He said nervously, and Missouri shook her head.
"Oh no, sounds like a bad idea to me. I don't want Death in my sitting room, you know how many bad omens that could cause?" she asked, looking for something she could use to bless the house.
"Yeah, he might not be happy with me being a ghost either, you know, denying him business and all." Bobby added.
"And I've got no wish to meet him, I kind of spend my days working to keep people from dying, he might see me as an irritant." Cox said nervously.
"And he won't be my biggest fan being Team Lucifer." Meg said.
"And I've got no rush to see him, after all, I died once and I'd rather not do it again." Marion said frankly.
"Copy that." Jody said.
"And he's a bit out of my league, you know, you guys are the best hunters in the world, I'm a very far second." Garth said, standing.
"Wait, you guys are all going to run off just because we're summoning Death?" Dean demanded, and Sam looked at Dean hesitantly.
"Um, you mean you're summoning Death." He said nervously, and Dean turned to him with an irritated expression.
"What? Why am I summoning Death alone?" he demanded, and Sam grinned at his brother.
"Well, he likes you, you have a rapport with him. The two times he's seen me, once I was screaming because I didn't want my soul back and the second I was hallucinating, and we pissed him off by binding him. He's seen you more often." He reasoned, and Dean glowered at him.
"Yeah, doesn't mean he likes me! He thinks I'm insignificant. And you want to get me to summon him after we bound him last time? I don't think so!"
"But Dean," Sam said whiningly, knowing this would make his brother cave, "we know he prefers you. And besides, I was recently nearly dead again. What if he comes and decided he can't be bothered coming back and just reaps me here and now?" he asked, and Sam knew he had won as he saw Dean's lip tremble.
"No fair, using my protective instincts against me." He pouted, and Sam grinned.
"I'll still be here unlike the rest of these cowards, its just you who'll be doing the summoning." He said brightly, but Dean still glowered at him.
"Coward. I don't like you anymore." He said, turning to the table to prepare to summon Death.
"Liar." Sam said fondly, helping his brother with what he needed.
"I think I'll go and check the coach." Missouri said, and Garth followed her.
"Yeah, I could do with some fresh air. Coming Jody?" Marion asked, and when she nodded he helped her to the door.
"Come on, I'll give you a crash course in demonology." Meg promised Cox and dragged him through to the next room, as she seemed to have taken a liking to him.
"That better be all you do!" Dean yelled after them and looked at Sam apprehensively as he helped him prepare the ritual.
"You ok?" he asked in concern, and Sam nodded.
"Yeah. It's just, with Lilith and remembering all the demon blood stuff, everyone who I hurt, like you..." he said softly and Dean squeezed his shoulder.
"Hey, that's over now Sammy, ok? We're past it. You ok with him being around?" Dean asked, indicating Joshua, and Sam shrugged.
"He's an ass, and he acts like dad. Not a good combination for anyone. And he seems to hate me, he doesn't seem to trust me, is suspicious of me, he thinks I'm still demonic, and he seems like he wants me dead. I can't really blame him though. After all, he is right, I did kill hunters." Sam said softly, and Dean shook his head.
"Sammy, Steve was Meg. Walt and Roy had it coming. And Gordon was a vampire, and his friends were their own stupid fault anyway. And he'll discover just how stupid it is to try and hurt you if he tries anything." He vowed dangerously, and Sam smiled.
"Thanks Dean. Hang on, we need marjoram, I'll see if Missouri has any." He said, shuffling through to the kitchen.
"Bobby?" Dean asked, glaring at Joshua's slumped form.
"Yeah?"
"Keep an eye on Joshua for me. If he tries anything, tries to hurt Sam in any way, I'll kill him." Dean said, and Bobby nodded.
"Agreed." The ghost said gruffly, not at all liking the presence of the other hunter, and Sam returned with the herbs and sprinkled them into the bowl, and Dean, after exchanging a worried look with Sam, began the chant.
The entire room went very cold all of a sudden, and Sam, Dean and Bobby looked around nervously, before Death, tall, skeletal and bemused, appeared before them.
"Oh not again. I seem to recall telling you I would kill you if you summoned me again." Death said in greeting, and Sam shook his head.
"No, you only threatened to kill him if he tried to bind you again, and see, no bonds? Sir." He added respectfully, and Death smiled a little.
"I suppose you're right. I see that you have a little problem with the Leviathans. I did tell that stupid, arrogant little G.I Joe what would happen if he wasn't careful, and now, once again, this paltry little rock is in danger of Armageddon, as the Old Ones are about to devour the entire world." He said in a disappointed tone, sitting down and pouring himself a cup of black coffee.
"Yeah, we got Cas to put the souls back, but the Leviathans held on." Dean admitted, and Death added sugar to his coffee before lifting it to his lips.
"Yes, they always were dangerous, clever creatures. You do know of course that their leader is about to destroy America? And once he has conquered America and has his all you can eat buffet line, he'll move on to the rest of the world. Eventually, only Britain will be left, and there won't be enough humans left to fill up the place. I warned him, warned you, and once more you didn't heed my warning." Death said calmly, and Dean gulped.
"We did, we just...underestimated the Leviathans. They're better than we gave them credit for." He said, and Death nodded.
"Yes, they always were vicious, clever, hungry little monsters. And before you ask, if that is indeed what you summoned me here for, I will not kill the one you call Roman for you, it isn't my place to interfere, and if this planet is about to turn into a killing field, I'll soon be working massive amounts of overtime and would rather conserve my strength."
"But, theoretically, you can reap Leviathans?" Sam asked, and Death nodded.
"Yes Sam I can. God wouldn't have made something neither of us could get rid of, but he loved them too much too, because if he was so afraid of the disgusting little monsters, amusing though they might be, he should have exterminated them. But no, despite me being able to reap them, I had to be because he feared that if they learned of his plans to create angels and humans then they would turn on them, he decreed they should be imprisoned, along with their mother." He said, smiling a little as Dean and Sam's eyes widened.
"Wait, Eve was their mother?" Sam asked huskily, and he nodded.
"Very good Sam, yes. And she was very fond of her babies. If I were you, next time you encounter Roman, I wouldn't mention her. He always was a mummy's boy. He might be a trifle displeased that you killed her." Death advised, and Dean and Sam exchanged nervous glances.
"So, you can reap them. Great." Dean said in false cheer, and Death fixed him with a steely gaze.
"Dean, if this is the prelude to trying to bind me so I will fight your battles for you, I will obliterate you where you stand." He said darkly, and Dean shook his head urgently.
"Oh no, no, nothing like that. Respectfully, we'd like to ask you for a favour." He said, and Death arced an eyebrow sceptically.
"A favour? If it's to do with your ghost friend skulking in the shadows over there, there's nothing that can be done, his fate is already decided. And as for the hunter in the couch over there, he isn't dead yet so I won't do anything with him either." He said, and Sam shook his head, then gave Dean a look.
Dean looked at him pleadingly, then consented.
"We don't want anything to do with them. We'd like, respectfully, to borrow your scythe." Dean said nervously, and he could tell from the small flicker of surprise that the request had caught Death off guard.
"My scythe? And what exactly do you intend to do with that?" he asked curiously.
"Well, I expect you know that we have bad guys coming out of our asses, and we don't really know how to kill some of them. Your scythe might be the only thing that can." Sam said, and Death nodded.
"Yes, my scythe will be able to kill all of the enemies after you, but I presume you really want it for Lilith. After all, there's no sure way to kill her now that your powers are gone, unless you get that arrogant little angel to do it, but somehow I doubt he will be accommodating." Death sniffed, and Dean looked at him excitedly.
"So it will work on her?" he asked, and Death nodded.
"Yes it would. If you can get close enough to use it, and that only depends on if I let you borrow it." He said softly, and Dean looked at Sam, and both of them looked at him pleadingly.
"And can we?" Dean asked, smiling hopefully.
Death stood, looking at them impassively.
"I will consider it. Expect my answer within three days. Oh, by the way Sam, Tessa isn't happy with you, she's been put on probation because you escaped after Zachariah killed you. She also isn't happy that she didn't even get Dean's company when that insane priestess caught you. And even less happy that you didn't die with your blood clot. I think she rather likes you boys. Can't imagine why myself. Now, I must be off." He said, and vanished.
"Well, at least he's considering it." Dean said, clearing away the things.
"Poor Tessa." Sam said sadly, and Dean shook his head.
"Sorry Sammy, but considering she gets marked up for taking you and me on, I'm not really that concerned." He said, and Sam rolled his eyes.
"Bet you'll change your tune next time you die." He said, and Dean grinned.
"Yeah, maybe. Let's go and get the others in." He said, and making sure Sam was in front of him, in catching distance, they went outside just in time to see three people who had just parked cars in the street.
"Billy!" Dean said in surprise as he saw the bulky hunter, complete with grey beard, climbing out of his truck.
"Hi Sam." A young hunter by the name of Diamond said, smiling at Sam, who smiled back, blushing slightly.
"Aunt Marge!" Garth cried and ran to give his aunt a hug.
"Hello boy. We heard you boys were in a bit of trouble, and when Garth told me where you were, I volunteered us to help." Marge said in greeting.
"So, what's the problem?" Diamond asked, flicking her blond hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah, we came all this way for a good scrap, so what's going on?" Billy asked, and Sam and Dean grinned at each other.
Well, they weren't completely friendless. Beckoning them all inside, they began to bring their assembled allies up to speed.
XX
It was quiet in the house. Missouri and Jody were now sharing the main bedroom, with Jody sleeping on a slide out mattress beneath it. Marion and Cox were sharing the guest room, with one of them sleeping in the window seat one night and sleeping in the bed the next. Bobby disappeared as he always did at night. Garth had taken the coach with Marge, Billy and Joshua, much to their disgust. Meg was sleeping on the sofa in the living room, and Diamond was sleeping on the other one. And Sam and Dean were in the attic, Dean having finally moved to his own bed now his brother was awake.
It was pitch black when the door opened. Scenting the air, they climbed through the house, following the way up to the attic, and opened the door quietly. Dean and Sam were both curled up in bed, Dean's camp bed blocking the way to the door, while he was facing his brother, as if watching over him until he had gone to sleep. A rag was pressed against Dean's mouth, and his eyes flew open, and he began kicking his legs, pulling at the hand, sending the covers flapping to the floor off of his boxer clad body, but his fight didn't last long, and his eyes rolled back and he fell into deep unconsciousness.
Sam hadn't heard the brief, silent struggle. He was curled up in his covers, rolled into a ball as they approached. He rolled onto his back, and they froze, thinking he was about to wake up and raise the alarm, but all he did was bring his covers slightly up his bare chest. And then they struck.
Sam's eyes flew open as a rag was pressed to his mouth, his eyes bulging in surprise. He saw who his assailant was and tried to escape, tried to raise the alarm, but the chloroform was already in his system, and his eyes fluttered before he went limp.
He was then thrown bodily over a shoulder and taken from the room, leaving an unconscious Dean behind.
XX
"Wake up! Wake up!" Dean's frantic voice was yelling at dawn the next day.
"Dean, you're going to wake up the entire neighbourhood! What's the matter?" Missouri asked as she stomped out of her room to see the mostly naked hunter looking around frantically.
"Where's the fire?" Marion asked, leaving his own room and rubbing his eyes, as Bobby flickered in.
"It's Sam. There were people in our room last night, they knocked me out. And when I woke up this morning, Sam was gone!"
The boys just cant catch a break can they? Sam's just woken up and he's been kidnapped, but by which enemy has he been taken, and how long will they be able to keep him before the others are on to their tail?
Joshua is a belligerent asshole is he not, the sort of irritating John Winchester (who I never liked) type, and that can only mean trouble. But at least we have a few more friends, and speaking of, is there romance on the cards for either Winchester?
All our friends bar two are assembled, next one might show up next chapter, I'll see, but the other one is a little later on. And I think we have enough enemies to be going on with, what with seven meant to appear, but you never know.
And speaking of enemies, what is Crowley up to? What bonus did he put in the contract? I hope I got him right, I am quite fond of Crowley and wanted to get him just right but I dont know if I did or not. And will he find the angel sword, and will the deal bite the boys in the ass?
And what of Death? Will he lend them the scythe or not?
Time will tell the answers to all questions!
I will hopefully update tomorrow, I hope you're enjoying so far, next time we have an encounter with a couple of our enemies for you to look forward to as well, havent decided how many of them yet though.
Anyway, please read and above all else review, as the action is going to start hotting up very soon!