Tag to "Strange Bedfellows" and set shortly after "Malleus Maleficarum" and teaser for "Even Stranger Bedfellows"

In the week following their confrontation with the witches coven and its demonic leader, both brothers were unusually subdued. Dean was as quiet and withdrawn as he had been following the death of their dad; and Sam made almost no effort to try and draw him out of his shell. The revelation that Ruby had once been human was deeply troubling and raised way too many questions that hit far too close to home.

Sam's thoughts spun around in circles. 'Just how did a human become a demon? Were they already well along on the path or was it being trapped in hell that started the transformation? And how long did it take to completely lose one's humanity?' And try as hard as he could to avoid it, his thoughts always ended up with, 'What's going to happen to Dean? Is that how he's going to end up too?'

It was hard enough accepting the fact that his brother was going to 'burn in hell' for his sake; the thought that Dean might eventually turn into something that he passionately hated and, even worse, was responsible for the destruction of his beloved family was the cruelest of ironies.

Dean had taken the Impala on a fast food run, leaving his brother behind at their motel room with a stack of newspapers to check for any signs of a new job. The best indication of how troubled things were of late was the fact that both brothers now welcomed any opportunity to be alone with their thoughts.

Sitting at the small table piled high with newspapers propped next to the laptop, Sam pushed back his chair and started reaching into his pocket. Figuring that Dean would be gone for awhile, Sam decided it was a good opportunity to check in with Bobby again and see if the veteran hunter had made any progress on deciphering the books that the Trickster had given him. Ruby had saved their asses once again, but Sam was losing hope that she could actually deliver on her promise to save Dean. More and more Sam was pinning his hopes on the ancient tomes.

Sam's call went straight through to voice mail. "Hey, Bobby. It's Sam." "Um... Just wondering how things are going. Find anything promising? Well... um... Dean's out for a bit and I had the chance to call. Sorry for bothering you. I know you'd let me know as soon as you had something. Bye."

Sam mentally kicked himself for leaving such a lame message. Once he got around to checking his messages, Bobby would be on the phone back to him in the time it took him to speed dial the number... worried about both of them. The older hunter wasn't kin to them, but he had taken on the mantle of surrogate father for both young men and, truth be told, was doing a better job than John Winchester had managed for a number of years.

Sam often wondered what it was that had made it so difficult for their father to be a dad. It wasn't a lack of love or caring that caused him to act the way he had. His final act of sacrifice to save Dean's life was proof of how deeply the man cared for his sons. Couple that with his clawing his way out of hell to help Dean defeat the Yellow Eyed Demon and then that final moment of farewell.

Sam found it hard to refer to that demonic fiend as Azazel. His hatred for the evil being still burned deep in his soul and he knew it was mainly due to the uncertainty created by the dreaming vision he received in Cold Oaks. Was he truly tainted by demonic blood? Would both he and Dean end up as damned souls? Was he fated to this course... and was he taking his brother down with him?

There had to be some way out of this mess. Sam truly wanted to believe in the power of good, something to offset the evil that he knew existed. But he was starting to understand Dean's cynicism. They never seemed to get a break and things had a nasty habit of going from bad to worse..

"No good deed goes unpunished" could well be the Winchester Family Motto. In his younger days he was certain that it should be "Salt and Burn"; back when he actually believed that he could find a way to escape all this. Escape to Stanford and blend in ... be normal. Back in his days of ignorant bliss. Look where that got him. Look what it got Jess. And now it was going take down Dean?

Over his dead body if it finally came to that. Better he and Dean take their chances with Reapers than Demons. Sam wasn't ready yet, he was still searching for a way to save Dean. But while Sam was preparing himself to become more like Dean in order to wage war against the demons, he was honest enough to admit to himself that he might well take a different route when Dean's deal came due.

It was a measure of his desperation that he was consorting with demons and tricksters. He ruefully shook his head at the thought of regarding former sworn enemies as potential allies. What a switch...

Sam suddenly bolted upright from his seat, almost upsetting the table and the items on it. It was a long shot and he'd need to understand a lot more about the nature of demonic deals, but maybe what they really needed now was a delaying action, a way to keep Dean here in the big fight and still keep to the letter of the deal, if not the intent. And do it without Dean being the one to renege on the deal.

Sam dialed Bobby's number once more, while putting his thoughts together. Maybe they were looking for the wrong clues in the books. Maybe the trickster had already given him the clues to look for when it appeared with the books that night. Maybe he was completely off base, but he had follow his gut on this.

Once more getting Bobby's voice mail, Sam left a brief message outlining his idea. Returning the phone to his pocket, Sam pushed the newspapers aside and turned his attention to the laptop. He had some serious research to conduct before Dean got back.

While Sam's finger flew across the keyboard, a small fly landed on the frame of one the tacky paintings that graced the motel room's walls. Satisfied that Sam had finally started to figure things out, the trickster decided it was time to get back to his "girls" and have himself a little snack. He'd check in on them in a day or so to see what progress they made.

Absorbed with reading the screen, Sam never noticed the fly's presence much less when it suddenly vanished.