Dean rubs his eyes as the morning sun slowly comes into view at the bottom steps. He groggily beelines straight for the coffee and notices Bobby sitting in his peripheral vision.
"Morning," Bobby says.
"Morning." Dean replies huskily.
"How ya feeling?" Bobby asks.
Dean actively tunes out the question to the aroma of coffee beans. "Any word on Cas?"
Bobby sighs. "Nothing yet, but I'm working on it. Brother's been quieter this morning too."
"You've been checking on him, right?" Dean asks.
"Who do you think I am, boy?"
Dean raises his arms defensively. "Alright, alright, just checking." He pauses to sip his coffee and listens for Sam. "So, what's the plan for today?"
"Well, I was thinking maybe we could try to see who else we could summon; get some info."
"Sounds good to me."
Bobby resumes reading lore as Dean rinses out his coffee mug. While Bobby is distracted, he stealthily grabs liquor from the fridge and pours some into his wet mug.
"Hey, spike my coffee too, would ya?" Bobby calls from the other room.
Dean huffs in slight disappointment; Bobby smirks.
"What? Didn't think I would notice?" He asks.
Dean shuts off the water and spikes Bobby's cup. The air is still. All that is heard is the sound of Dean's feet hitting the floorboards as he makes his way into the study.
"Isn't it a bit too quiet?" Bobby asks as Dean sets the drinks down.
Dean stops in his tracks as Bobby confirms his same observation. The observation that Dean originally thought was paranoia, and nothing more. They look up at one another with a sudden terrible feeling inside; it was as if their hearts had sunken into their stomachs.
Sam lay motionless on the safe room floor, confirming their worst suspicions. Bobby instantly drops to the younger sibling's side and begins to asses the situation.
Dean freezes at the sight; the world around him becomes non-existent. He finds himself alongside his brother on the abandoned roads, once again. They both sing off-key to AC/DC, like there isn't a care in the world.
"Asking nothing, leave me be.
Taking everything in my stride.
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme.
Ain't nothing I would rather do.
Going down.."
"Dean!"
Dean looks over to Sammy and everything fades away. The car becomes the basement, and the passenger becomes Bobby. Everything is too real, and it hurts.
"Don't make me have to carry both you and your brother to a bed by myself here! You've got to keep it together for me; for Sam." Bobby says with a hint of forcefulness.
Dean takes a deep breath and abruptly nods. Bobby leads him carefully into the panic room. Dean hitches his breath before remembering Bobby's words.
He swallows the build up of tears. "What's wrong with him? Is he-?"
"No. No, he's not. He's breathing a bit quicker than normal, but not anything to be concerned about yet. He feels a little warm too. I'm assuming that withdrawal from the demon blood put his body in a comatose state. He probably lost consciousness because his body couldn't handle the symptoms." Bobby explains.
"Is he.. Is he gonna be okay?" Dean asks.
Bobby's lips form a tight line. "I'm not sure, but we'll definitely keep a closer eye on him."
Dean stares down at his brother, wanting nothing more than for him to sit up. For Sam to laugh it off, to say it was a joke. That everything was fine, and the world wasn't on the verge of falling apart again.
"Now, could you help me move him to the cot? The gigantuan is hard to maneuver by myself." Bobby says with a smirk.
Dean smirks and slowly hoists up Sam's upper half. His tension dissipates as he feels the familiar thumps along one of Sam's pulse points.
The two hunters stagger with Sam in their arms until they successfully lower him onto the cot, which stood on the other side of the room. They pause momentarily to catch their breath before cuffing Sam's hands to the metal framing. There is no telling what is truly wrong with Sam, or what could occur next.
"I think I'll sleep down here when night falls, just in case." Dean says.
"Not a bad idea; do you want me to?" Bobby asks.
"No, you don't have to. You need a fuller rest than I do." Dean says.
Bobby arches an eyebrow. "I could say the same to you."
Dean averts his eyes after briefly glancing at Bobby.
"I'll just leave you to your brother tonight, since you haven't really been with him in a while." Bobby says with a warm smile.
"Thanks Bobby." Dean says.
"Don't mention it. Let's get back to that coffee."
Bobby grabs some scotch from the fridge and adds it to his already-spiked coffee before sitting behind his desk. Dean is already almost chugging his cup down to the last drop.
"Remember, we have to stay focused, so don't overdo it." Bobby adds.
Dean raises his brows and gestures to the elder hunter's drink.
"I know my body better than you think." Bobby takes a large gulp before continuing. "So I've been thinking, how much can we really trust these winged dickbags Cas is working with?"
"We can't."
"Exactly. So, how do we know they aren't using Lucifer as a pawn, instead of containing him?"
Dean sits up straighter, despite already sitting up as straight as possible. "I was so worried about Sam, I didn't even think of that."
"Well, it's a good thing you got me then, isn't it?" Bobby says with a smirk.
"I don't know what I would do without you, honestly." Dean says.
Bobby playfully cocks an eyebrow. "You ain't getting soft on me, are ya?" He asks.
Dean huffs in amusement. "Anyway, if what you were saying is right, we need backup- someone else's help."
"Bingo. Now, we already tried the angels, or at least one of them. We could risk reaching out to another angel, one that we know isn't for sides," Bobby pauses deliberately.
"..Which is literally no angel other than Cas." Dean finishes.
"Exactly, which means that choice is out. So I dug some more, and figured, maybe we could ask someone who is in constant contact with the angels." Bobby says.
"A prophet." Dean says.
"Yup." Bobby affirms.
"So wait, you're telling me, that those same angels that I saw almost two months ago, might not be saving the universe, but in fact, planning to destroy it?" Chuck restates.
"Yeah." Bobby says.
"Wait, you didn't know anything about this?" Dean asks, leaning closer to the computer screen.
"No! I mean, how could I? The angels don't tell me anything. I get my informations through visions and dreams, I swear." Chuck babbles anxiously.
"It's okay, we believe you," Bobby says, "but is there a way maybe you could spy on them somehow? Like by listening in on angel radio or something?"
Chuck sighs frantically. "I mean, I've never really tried. I don't even know how."
"Damn we could use Cas right now." Dean mutters. "Okay, can you try now? Humor us."
"Uh, I guess.." Chuck says.
Chuck exhales before closing his eyes for a few moments. It isn't long before beads of sweat escape his hairline and his brows furrow. Silence is what drags time forward. His face is red by the time he sits up, completely out of breath.
"I- I can't. I'm sorry." Chuck pants.
"It's okay, Chuck, we can find another way. Just take it easy for a bit, okay?" Bobby says.
"Yeah, thanks. Uh, bye." Chuck says, still panting.
Dean closes the laptop and stares at it. "So, any other ideas?" He asks emotionlessly.
"Yeah, but I don't think you'll like the next one." Bobby says.
"I don't care, lay it on me." Dean says, moving his hands as a signal for Bobby to continue.
"We call a demon, and ask them for their help." Bobby says.
"Are you out of your mind?" Dean fumes.
"I told you that you wouldn't like it." Bobby says.
"Yeah, no kidding Bobby! What do you seriously expect out of that?!" Dean exclaims.
"We have to start somewhere. And unless if you've got any brighter ideas, that's the best I've got." Bobby says.
"Yeah? Well we can't start there, for starters. Because you can't trust those sons of bitches, you just can't." Dean says, pacing in front of Bobby. "Why can't we try a reaper? Another God? Anything, but that."
"Because, reapers deal with death and the veil, not angel crap. And I don't think the deities of different religions would have tabs on goddamn angel radio." Bobby says.
"And why wouldn't they have tabs on it? They always have tabs on one another!" Dean says.
"I think they have more important things to worry about than our God's subjects and His creations. Trust me Dean." Bobby says.
Dean sighs in frustration. "Can't we at least try?" He asks.
"We don't know what type of danger we're really in, Dean. It wouldn't be wise to waste time on options that are too big to tackle. They can probably take over other worlds, other planets. Earth is just a dot on their agenda. With demons? Well, Earth is most of their livelihood." Bobby says.
Dean sighs and throws his hands up in the air. "Fine. But if this doesn't work, we are trying my way. Got it? And no bending over backwards for this wad." He says.
"Fair enough." Bobby says.