CHAPTER 20: Appointment With Death
After their encounter with Apollyon in Wyoming, the brothers, Castiel and Zuriel were stuck at the town's motel, waiting for Zuriel to recover. The very next day, they received a call from Bobby with new information on Death. At last, some luck is on their side.
Afterwards they all left Wyoming and made their way to Bobby's.
Once they arrived, they met the elder hunter in his study to discuss their next move. While Sam and Bobby spoke, Dean was seated in a chair by the corner, playing around with Pestilence's ring, sighing with stress. Dean thought the ideas the two were coming up with was useless. With each Horseman they came across, the worse the encounters have become. And this is Death their talking about, the boss of all the Reapers. Who knows what he would do when the Winchesters finally catch up with him.
They haven't the slightest clue what they'll be walking into. And frankly, thinking about it gave Dean chills. Dean looks over to Castiel, his lover was busy tending to Zuriel's wounds. The hunter narrowed his eyes as he observes Castiel scribbles Enochian symbols on Zuriel's chest with blood.
Curious, Dean saunters up and asks, " What are you doing?"
" Using a spell to accelerate Zuriel's healing." Castiel replied.
Once Castiel finished, the spell shone brightly. Zuriel groans as it immediately went to work on his vessel, and the wounds began to vanish. The blood sigil then seeps into his vessel, and the light fades as quickly as it appeared.
Zuriel gave a relieved sigh, " Thank you, Castiel." He then rises, fixing his shirt and blazer.
Dean gives an impressed nod. " All better now?"
" Very much, yes." Zuriel replies with a soft smile.
" I don't mean to interrupt your small talk, but can we get back to business... on Death, please." Bobby announces. The three settle back into the study and listen in. " Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?" He huffs, " So, Death is in Chicago."
" He is? Where did you get this information?" Zuriel asked, furrowing his brows in the confusion.
" It wasn't easy. I had to pull a lot of strings." Bobby answered.
" Why the heck would Death be in Chicago?" Dean cuts in.
" Death's gonna wipe Chicago off the map... a storm of the millennium, and three million people are gonna die..." The elder hunter explains. Sam is taken aback, Dean drops his head to his hands with a groan. Could this get any worse?
" It's good to know we'll be walking in on an apocalyptic disaster." Dean says with a humorless chuckle, " So... what's the plan?"
Bobby sighs, " Looks like we're gonna have to take... well, everything we've got."
Dean stands, " Shoot... if we die... at least we go down with a fight."
Later...
Dean pops open the trunk of his baby, then pulls up the hidden compartment of weapons. As he checks to make sure the guns were loaded, Sam passes by. The younger hunter sits on the hood. Dean stares at his brother, the silence alone meant a conversation was gonna start, and Dean sighs. He shuts the trunk then walks beside Sam.
" I'm guessing you wanna talk..."
Sam looks over to Dean, he is a little hesitant as he speaks, " Look, Dean.. um... for the record, I agree with you... about me." Dean looks away for a moment, listening as Sam continued. " You think I'm too weak to take on Lucifer?... Well, so do I." Dean had to stop himself from interrupting, shifting on his feet, keeping quiet. Sam sighs, " Believe me, I know exactly how screwed up I am... You, Bobby, Cas... I'm the least of any of you."
" Sam..." Dean turns away.
" It's true. it is... But, I'm also all we got... If there was another way- but I don't think there is... There's just me. So I don't know what else to do... except just try to do what's gotta be done."
" And..." The brothers look over their shoulders to see Crowley, and Dean rolled his eyes. " Scene." The king of the crossroads steps over, " Something you need to see." He hands a newspaper to Sam. The hunter questioningly takes it, then looks at an add Crowley points to.
Sam reads, " Niveus Pharmaceuticals rushing delivery of its new swine flu vaccine... to quote, stem the tide of the unprecedented outbreak... uh... shipments leave wednesday.."
" Niveus Pharmaceuticals." Crowley cuts in, " Remember?..." The demon peers to them both. He shook his head, seeing that they didn't have a clue what he was talking about, " Do you recall your old pal Brady?... VP of distribution, Niveus." Sam then looks to Dean with wide eyes. " Ah good, now we're all caught up?"
" So that's why Pestilence was spreading swine flu..." Sam and Dean start piecing it together.
" But not just for giggles, that was step one, step two is the vaccine.." Dean adds, " So you're saying that-"
" That's right..." Crowley cuts him off, " That vaccine is chock-full of grade-A, farm-fresh, Croatoan virus."
Sam huffs humorlessly. " Simultaneous countrywide distribution, it's quite a plan."
Crowley shrugs. " That's the perk of being a horseman... I suggest stocking up on everything you can carry, because this time next thursday, we'll all be in zombie land."
Afterwards...
That night, the hunters were outside getting everything ready. Bobby packs at least a dozen C-4s into a duffel while Sam loaded the van. Beside them, Castiel leans against the car, staring at the double barreled shot gun Dean had given him. The ex-Angel sighed heavily.
The elder hunter gazes at Cas. " What's wrong?"
Castiel gestures his eyes to the weapon, " I, uh..." Bobby cleared his throat and steps up to Cas. He pats him on the shoulder and smiles.
" Just point and shoot." He then hands Cas the duffle. " Now help Sam load the truck."
Dean shuts the trunk of the Impala, then turns to Sam. The younger hunter looks to him. " All right, well... good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse." Dean says.
" Yeah... good luck with Death." Sam replies. " Zuriel said he'll meet you at Chicago and that by the time you get there, he'd probably would've already found Death." Sam reaches into his pocket and pulls out the demon knife, " Here, you might need it."
" Keep it." Crowley walks up, " Dean's covered." He waves a small old scythe in his hand. Dean takes it. " Death's own. Kills Demons and Angels and Reapers, oh, and as rumor has it, the very thing itself."
" How did you get that?" Castiel asks.
" Hello... king of the crossroads... So, shall we?" Crowley climbs into the passenger seat of the Impala, and shuts the door.
Dean's eyes remained on the scythe a little bit longer before slowly looking up to Sam. " Don't go dying on me, okay?" Dean then peers to his lover and smiles softly. He steps closer, then takes Cas's hand into his own. " You stay safe too, okay?"
Castiel says nothing at first, then pulls Dean into a hug. " I will."
He buried his face in the crook of Dean's neck. Dean pulls away just a little to look into his lover's eyes. Castiel suddenly plants his lips onto Dean's, and his lover quickly responds by returning the kiss with the same amount of passion.
Finally parting lips, Castiel whispers, " You be careful too, you here me?" A knot forms in Dean's throat.
" Tick-tock, Dean. Tick-tock." Crowley shouts out from the car window.
Dean let's go of Castiel and gets into the car. He gives one last glance to the others before driving off. Minutes after Dean left, Sam, Bobby and Castiel were making their way to Niveus Pharmaceuticals. During that time, Sam spent it sharing his plan on Lucifer to Castiel.
The ex-Angel remained silent to think closer on the situation. " Say yes to Lucifer, then jump in the hole?" Cas questioned. Sam sighed at Cas's response, thinking that he too disagreed with his plan as well. But instead he hears, " It's an interesting plan.."
" That's a word for it." Bobby added.
" So, go ahead and tell me it's the worst plan you ever heard." Sam says.
" Of course, I am happy to say that if that's what you want to hear, but it's not what I think."
" Really?"
" You and Dean have a habit of exceeding my expectations. From that, I learned to believe in you both. Dean resisted Michael, maybe you could resist Lucifer." Cas replies. Sam was actually surprised of the answer he got, he thought Cas would lecture him like Bobby and Dean have, but the ex-Angel seemed to understand his choices. " But there are things that you would need to know."
" Like?"
" Michael has found another vessel."
Sam looks to Castiel, shocked. " What?"
" It's your brother Adam." Castiel answered. " You must have considered it."
" Yeah, but... we were trying not to."
Cas's gaze shifted to the floor, he felt sorry for having to deliver the bad news to Sam. But there were worse things to tell the young hunter. " Sam... If you say yes to Lucifer, and then fail... this fight will happen, and the collateral... it'll be immense." Castiel wasn't even up to the worse part of it. Castiel huffs a heavy sigh, he had to tell him. " There's also the Demon Blood..."
" What about it?" Sam immediately asked, the words alone made him shiver with disgust.
" To take in Lucifer, it would be more than you've ever drunk..."
" But why?"
" It strengthens the vessel, keeps it from exploding."
" But the guy he's in now-"
" Is drinking gallons."
" And how is that not the worst plan you ever heard?" Bobby says.
The elder hunter had seen what Demon blood had done to Sam before, he's had to overhear the agony Sam went through to get it out of his system... Twice. Bobby didn't know if he'd be able to handle a third.
Later That Morning...
By morning, they arrived at the Niveus Pharmaceuticals' loading docks. They observe everything from within the van at a nearby parking lot, keeping a safe distance while they watched workers stack boxes of the virus into a truck.
" Yup, they're loading up hotshots of Croatoan in the trucks... Okay, the first truck don't leave for an hour.. We get in, plant the C-4 every 25 feet, then we pull the fire alarm-"
" Uh, that truck is leaving." Cas says as he points out the window. The hunters look to see one of the trucks preparing to exit the dock.
" Balls!. Okay, new plan."
The driver pulls up to the front gate. As he reaches out his window to swipe his card, he is smacked on the head by the butt of Cas's shotgun, knocking him out cold. Castiel then bashes the gun into the machine to keep the gate from opening. One of the guards at the docks hears the ruckus, and his eyes flash black. He knew who it was. He begins shutting the doors.
" It's the Winchesters.." The demon warns.
" Then let's bake them up a little treat." A second demon replies.
Meanwhile...
At Chicago, Dean and Crowley are on the lookout for Death. Dean had a bad feeling about this, ever since they arrived Dean hadn't been able to get in contact with Zuriel. It wasn't normal for the Angel to not answer when he called. Something was wrong.
" Hey, let's stop for pizza." Crowley suddenly breaks the silence.
" Are you kidding?" Dean replied. Who would talk about pizza at a time like this?
" Just heard it was good, that's all." They continued strolling down the block. Crowley then halts, " Up ahead. Big, ugly building, ground zero."
" How do you know?"
" Have you met me? Because I know. Also the block is squirming with reapers." The king of the crossroads steps forward, " I'll be right back." He then vanishes. Not a few seconds later and... " Death's not in there." That was fast.
" Cut the cute and get to the part where you tell me where he is."
" Sorry, I don't know." Crowley turns, and begins walking the other way.
Dean follows. " What do you mean you don't know?!" The hunter's patients was growing thin.
" I'm just as shocked as you... We'll catch him in the next doomed city."
" Millions, Crowley, millions of people are about to die any minute!"
" True, so I strongly suggest we get out of here."
Dean sighed heavily. ' Zuriel, you feathery bastard, where are you?! ' Dean thought.
Dean and Crowley head back to the Impala. The storm was getting worse by each passing minute, and Dean could do nothing to stop it. He gets into the drivers seat, then sends a dirty look to Crowley, who rolled his eyes in response.
" What now? call in a thousand bomb threats?... How am I supposed to get three million people out of Chicago in ten minutes?" He peers back to the crossroads demon, but he was no longer there. " Oh, come on!" Dean then spots Crowley outside by the pizza shop across the street. The hunter narrowed his eyes, it seemed like Crowley was mouthing something to him. " I can't hear you!"
" I said, I found him. He's in there." He says as he pops up next to Dean.
Dean slips the scythe into his jacket, then gets out the car, he was hesitant at first, but he takes in a deep breath. He leans into the window. " Are you coming or..." Crowley was gone again, that was no surprise. " Not?"
Dean figured it'd be best to go in through the back entrance. He takes a peek inside before entering the building, and the first thing he sees is a waitress laying dead behind the counter. Dean ganders around, glimpses of more bodies laid around the shop. He gets the scythe in hand, from his left he can see Death sitting at a table, eating pizza. As he got closer to the horseman, his heart raced.
" You won't be needing that, Dean." Death says.
The sound of fluttering wings makes the hunter turn on his heels, and the scythe is snatched from his grip. Dean's eyes widened with disbelief. It was Apollyon. In a blink of an eye the fallen Archangel was at Death's side.
" Sit." Apollyon ordered as he pulled out a chair. Dean's heart pounded against his chest, he nervously steps forth and takes a seat opposite of Death. He stares at Apollyon.
" You're not going to kill me?"
" No." The Archangel replied.
" Where's Zuriel?"
" He's alive if that's what you're wondering." He then gestures his eyes to the corner. Dean followed his gaze. There was Zuriel, just standing there, staring at the wall like a brain-dead zombie, " I have him in a trance... I'll release him after you've spoken with Death."
Dean's eyes did not leave Apollyon's. Clearing his throat, Dean asked, " So tell me, Apollyon, is Lucifer seeing this right now?"
Death suddenly cuts in to the conversation, " Not at the current moment." Dean slightly jolted when Death spoke, immediately turning his attention to the Horseman. " I've been wanting to talk to you."
Dean cleared his throat, " I gotta say, mixed feelings about that. So, is this the part where you kill me?"
The horseman looks up from his plate. " You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well-" He takes a sip from his soda, " Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started getting snarky." Death then places a slice on a plate for Dean. " Eat."
Dean stared at the slice, and to be honest he was a little frightened. Hell, who wouldn't be if they were in the presence of Death himself. Dean nervously grabs the fork and knife, cuts a piece and eats it.
" Good, isn't it?" The horseman then resumed feasting.
" Exactly how... old are you?"
" As old as God, maybe older. Neither of us can remember anymore. Life, death, chicken, egg. Regardless, at the end, I'll reap him too."
Dean raised a brow, " God?... You'll reap God?"
" Oh, yes, God will die too, Dean."
Dean was almost speechless by that. " Well, this is way above my pay grade.."
" Just a little."
Dean gulped, feeling hesitant to speak, " So then, why am I still breathing... sitting here with you?. What do you want?"
" The leash around my neck off... Lucifer has me bound to him, some unseemly little spell... He has me where he wants, when he wants... That's why I couldn't go to you."
Dean glanced to the fallen Archangel. " And what about him?"
" Apollyon too is bound to Lucifer... To keep you from finding me. Lucifer has made us his weapons. Hurricanes, floods, raising the dead... I'm more powerful than you can process, and Apollyon has been under Lucifer's control for millennia. We are enslaved to a bratty child having a tantrum."
" And you think I can unbind you?"
" There's your ridiculous bravado again, of course you can't. But you can help us take the bullets out of Lucifer's gun." Death then shows the hunter his ring, " I understand you want this."
" Y-yeah..."
" I'm inclined to give it to you."
" To me?... Really?"
" Yes."
" What about Chicago?"
" I suppose it can stay, I like the pizza." Death removes the ring. " There are conditions."
" Okay, like?"
" You have to do whatever it takes to put Lucifer in his cell. Whatever it takes."
" That's the plan-"
" No, no plan, not yet... Your brother, he's the one that can stop Lucifer... The only one."
" You think-"
" I know. So I need a promise, you're gonna let your brother jump right into that fiery pit." The horseman then holds out his ring. " Well, do I have your word?"
Dean stares at the ring for a long moment. " Okay, yeah... yes." He holds out his hand.
" That had better be 'yes,' Dean. You know you can't cheat Death." He drops it into Dean's hand. " Now, would you like the instruction manual?" Death asks. Dean was confused but he nodded in response. The horseman began to explain how the rings worked, along with the spell to open the cage.
The Next Day...
Everyone had returned to Bobby's house. Sam, Cas and Bobby were successful at destroying the virus, and now they had all four horseman rings. Dean was out by the shed with the rings, following the instructions Death gave him, and placing them together.
" Dean?" The hunter gazed up to see Castiel coming over. The ex-Angel was dressed in a Metallica T-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans and boots.
Dean smiled and says, " I like your new look."
Castiel looked down on himself and chuckled, " My clothes were stained with blood, Sam gave me these. They're actually yours, I hope you don't mind, since my other clothes were lost back at North Carolina."
" No, no it's okay..."
" Drink?" Cas offers him a beer. Dean takes it.
" Check this out." The hunter separates the rings, and Castiel observes as Dean pushes them back together. The rings gave a low hum as they magnetized together.
" Death told you how to operate them?"
" Yeah, it's nuts. Of course, I got bigger problems now."
" Really?" Cas takes a seat, looking at his lover, indicating that he wished to hear about it.
Dean sighed. " What do you think Death does to people who lie to his face?"
" I'm sure it's nothing pleasant... What did you say?"
" That I was cool with Sam driving the bus on the whole Lucifer plan. Do you think Death said that because he's working for Lucifer?"
" Against his will, Dean."
" Well, I'd say, take his sob story with a fat grain of salt, I mean he is Death."
" Exactly. But he's right about Sam."
Dean shot a glance at Castiel, his brows narrowed. " Seriously? I thought you'd be against the whole Sam saying yes thing, Cas."
" Believe me Dean, I am entirely against it. But we will never know what happens if we don't believe in Sam. Bobby and I watched as your brother saved one civilian after another. Sam is pure of heart, of course he has his flaws, but he is still a good person."
" I know."
" Then you understand that Sam will beat Lucifer, or die trying. I choose to believe that he will. So, I must ask you, Dean... What are you afraid of? losing? or losing Sam?"
To Be Continued...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know this is the second time for a week delay, but I've been going through a very stressful time these past few weeks. My sister is expecting her third child soon and has been having problems with the pregnancy. I've been helping her out with my nephew and niece, so I apologize for these delays.
Anyways, see you on the next update. ( That's if I have the energy left to remember... these kids are quite a handful.)