Sioux Falls, South Dakota
28th November, 2009
Beth and Castiel were sitting in Bobby's backyard, facing each other with their eyes closed as Castiel explained to her how to extend her grace to heal wounds, mainly on herself. She wasn't very good at it so far, if the still bleeding cut on her hand was anything to go by.
Beth opened her eyes with a disappointed huff. "Cas, this isn't working. I cannot do it."
"We should take a break. Becoming frustrated will get you nowhere," Castiel replied calmly, also opening his eyes. Beth opened her mouth to respond when the familiar sound of the Impala met her ears. The male angel barely had time to heal Beth's hand before she tugged it free and scrambled to her feet. She took off running towards the house with Castiel trailing after her.
Ellen just barely managed to step aside to avoid being barrelled over by an overexcited Beth as she came charging through the house.
"Dean! Sam!" Beth yelled happily. She flew down the steps and collided with Dean.
"Wow! Easy there, Princess," Dean chuckled, hugging her briefly before she moved on to hug Sam and Jo.
"Did you get it? Did you get the colt?" Beth asked as she stepped back.
"We'll discuss it inside," Sam interrupted. The others nodded, grabbing their bags from the trunk. Sam wrapped an arm around Beth's shoulders as he walked up the porch with her and into the house. Jo and Dean trailed behind them.
"Hey boys, Jo," Ellen greeted as the four of them entered the study. "How'd it go?"
"Long story short? Crowley gave us the Colt," Dean explained.
"He just handed it over?" Beth asked in disbelief as they were joined by Castiel, Jesse and Bobby.
"Yeah, turns out he wants Lucifer dead just as much, if not more, than we do," Jo said, sharing in Beth's surprise.
"We still need to come up with a plan," Bobby interrupted.
"Before we do that, I'm gonna take a shower and catch up on some sleep," Dean said, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he headed for the stairs.
"In that case, I'm gonna do some more exploring." Beth turned and made for the back door, Jesse and Castiel choosing to follow her outside.
Ellen and Bobby stayed in the study, a bottle of whisky and two glasses already out on the table. Sam went upstairs after his brother, fully intending on catching up on sleep as well.
Later that night, Ellen, Jo, Beth and Castiel were all in the kitchen, sitting at the table as Ellen poured some more shots for them.
"What's the point of this?" Castiel asked clueless.
"To see who can drink the most without getting drunk first," Beth explained, sitting on the chair next to him.
"I'm an angel, I doubt the alcohol will affect me," Castiel pointed out. Beth just shrugged and told him to enjoy the game anyway.
After Beth and Jo had downed all of their shots, Jo got up to fetch some beers from the fridge. Castiel went up against Ellen to see who would win the next round.
"Wanna make a bet on who'll win?" Beth whispered to Jo as the blonde stopped beside her, handing over a beer. Ellen was currently setting up more shots as her daughter turned to smirk at Beth. "I bet ten dollars that Cas outlasts Ellen."
"My money's on my mom," Jo said and shook Beth's hand, sealing the deal. "Have you seen her drink?"
They both turned their attention to Ellen and Castiel as Ellen went first, drinking all her shots in rapid succession. Ellen raised a challenging eyebrow at Castiel as a smirk settled on her face.
"You're up, angel boy."
Castiel didn't need any more encouragement, he set about gulping down the shots as though they were water instead of alcohol. There was a beat, and then, "I think I'm starting to feel something," Castiel said in wonder, a look of surprise crossing his face as he glanced down at the shot glasses and then at Beth.
Beth let out a giggle of amusement at his expression before she turned to Jo. "Looks like you win," she said, pulling a crumpled ten dollar bill from her pocket and slapping it into a smug Jo's outstretched hand.
"Everybody get in here!" Bobby shouted from the study after Dean had finished getting turned down by Jo next to the fridge. "It's time for the line-up. Usual suspects in the corner."
"Come on, Bobby. Nobody wants their picture taken," Ellen complained as they all filed into the room. Jesse appeared from upstairs and immediately made his way over to Beth.
"Hear, hear," Sam concurred to wind Bobby up. Beth elbowed him gently in a scolding manner, though she offered him a grin to show she was joking.
"Shut up. You're drinking my beer," Bobby grumbled. "Anyway, I'm gonna need something to remember your sorry asses by." He wheeled himself backwards towards the group.
"Ha! It's always good to have an optimist around!" Ellen chortled in good humour.
Bobby was in front of Jo and Dean, who had an arm around each other. Ellen was beside Bobby and in front of Sam, who stood between Dean and Castiel and had a hand resting on the angel's shoulder. Beth was on Castiel's right, her arm around his waist with his around her shoulders. Jesse was in front of them with Beth's free hand on his shoulder.
"Bobby's right," Castiel said stoically. "Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth."
The smiles slipped from their faces as the weight of Castiel's words sunk in and the little hope they had died out. The camera clicked a second later, and with a bright flash, the picture was taken but the happiness was all gone.
"We're really gonna die tomorrow, aren't we?" Beth asked quietly, standing in the salvage yard with her arms braced against an old car.
"It's very possible," Castiel admitted with a frown. Beth looked up at him with sadness flickering through her eyes.
"Cas… I don't wanna die without you knowing how much I care about you," she murmured, reaching out to take his hand. "I didn't expect to feel like this about you. I can't even really explain it because I don't know what it is. But all these months of just knowing you has been the best experience I've ever had."
"You've taught me more about humanity than I could've ever learned from Heaven," Castiel said with a sad smile pulling at his lips. "I'm going to feel sad if anything happens to you tomorrow."
Beth returned his smile with a melancholic one of her own. "Will you spend our last night on earth with me? I'd be grateful for the company."
"There's nothing I'd rather do," Castiel replied truthfully, wrapping an arm around Beth and holding her to him.
"Thank you."
Carthage, Missouri
29th November
The group, minus Bobby and Jesse, made it to Carthage, Missouri early afternoon the following day. Beth rode in the Impala with Sam and Dean while Castiel went with Ellen and Jo.
"This place seem a little empty to you?" Ellen asked through her open window as she stopped the truck beside the Impala.
"We're gonna check out the P.D," Dean replied. "You guys stay here and see if you can find anyone."
"Gotcha," Ellen nodded in understanding. The Impala drove off then, leaving behind Castiel, Ellen and Jo.
Beth was too busy staring around with wide eyes to pay much attention to the short conversation between the two hunters.
"Dean… Sam?" She spoke up from the backseat.
"What is it?" Sam turned to face her and Beth looked up to meet his eyes.
"Do you see them?" She asked shakily. Sam and Dean shared a concerned look at her words before Sam looked back at her.
"See who?" Dean questioned.
"They're everywhere," Beth whispered, staring at all the strange people dressed in suits or smart dresses with blazers. "I… I think they're Reapers." Something in Beth's gut told her she was right, that the things she could see that they couldn't were servants of Death and they were waiting for something important to happen.
"The sooner we get this done, the better," Dean mumbled as he sped up and hoped they'd get to the station soon.
A little while later, Beth and her brothers were standing on the sidewalk in the main part of town when Ellen and Jo pulled up.
"Station's empty," Dean told them with a defeated shrug.
"So is everything else," Jo replied.
"Where's Castiel?" Beth asked, immediately taking note of the angel's absence.
"You haven't seen him?" Ellen asked in concern.
"What? He was supposed to be with you," Sam pointed out.
"He went after the reapers," Ellen explained as she and Jo climbed out of the truck and grabbed their guns.
"Reapers? Huh, guess you were right, Beth," Dean said with a surprise noise. Beth glared at him in response. "Can you still see them?"
"Yes. They're still here… some of them are leaving, I think," Beth replied, watching curiously as some of the reapers started walking away in the opposite direction of the group.
"You can see them?" Jo questioned curiously.
Beth nodded lightly. "Probably due to my being half-angel and all."
"…Awesome." The blonde nodded her head, a look of interest on her face.
"This is great. We've been in town 20 minutes and we've already lost the angel up our sleeve," Dean sighed.
The five of them were walking through the deserted town, each of them carrying rifles and a duffel bag.
"We still have Beth," Jo pointed out. "She could come in handy if we need it."
"I'm standing right here," Beth said in exasperation. "And I'm not that good at controlling it yet."
"D'you think Lucifer got Cas?" Sam asked his brother quietly, following Beth with his eyes as she walked ahead.
"I don't know what else to think," Dean replied, matching Sam's volume.
"I hope he's okay," Sam said, worried. "It'll destroy Beth if something bad has happened to him."
Before Dean had time to contemplate Sam's words, the sound of high heels tapping against the ground met their ears.
"There you are." The familiar voice had Beth's skin crawling in fear as she turned to find Meg standing a few feet away with large, incredibly deformed looking hounds on either side of her. There were at least 5 or 6 more of them placed strategically on the street.
"Meg," Beth growled, tightening her hold on her gun as she tried not to let her fear show.
"You guys shouldn't have come here," Meg said casually.
"I could say the same thing for you." Dean walked a few steps forward, clicking the safety off of the Colt.
"Dean, she's got us surrounded," Beth said in warning. A loud growl filled the air, confirming Beth's words.
"I didn't come here alone, Dean-o," Meg told him in a teasing voce.
"Hellhounds," Dean said flatly, a slight twinge of panic welling in his stomach.
"Yeah Dean, your favourite." Meg nodded. The other hellhounds started growling and barking as well, looking as though they couldn't wait to get their teeth and claws into Dean and the others. "Come on boys, Beth," Meg continued. "My father wants to see you."
"I think we'll pass, thanks," Sam shouted at her.
"Your call," Meg shrugged, not bothered either way. "You can make this easy or you can make it really, really hard."
"When have you know us to ever make anything easy?" Dean asked rhetorically after gaining a nod of encouragement from Ellen.
"On her right," Beth whispered, knowing what Dean was about to do. Her older brother aimed the gun and fired at the spot that was on Meg's right and their left. Blood splattered from the hellhound as the bullet pierced its heart and it let out a loud whine of pain as it tumbled to the ground.
"Run!" Dean commanded and they all took off running as fast as they could.
The hellhounds chased after them, their thunderous paws pounding against the ground as their snarls filled the air, promising revenge for their fallen brother. Dean suddenly got tackled from behind and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Dean!" Jo shouted in horror when she realized he'd been taken down.
"Jo, stay back!" Dean ordered. Jo ignored him, too busy firing the gun in her hands at the monster that had attacked her friend.
"Jo! Look out!" Beth yelled out, slinging the strap attached the riffle over her neck and slipping her arm through it so she could move with her arms free. Beth took off a second too late and another hellhound collided with Jo, knocking her to the ground and teared into her left side with razor sharp claws. "Get off her!" Beth tackled the demonic beast, sending them both tumbling away from the wounded blonde. Sam and Ellen immediately began firing in the direction of where they assumed the other hounds were based on the growls in an attempt to keep them away from Beth and Jo.
Beth faced the animal without fear, her eyes glowing with rage. She threw herself forward at the same moment the hound lunged for her, they collided with a loud thud. It took Beth a few minutes of grappling with the beast, trying to avoid its claws and receiving a nasty bite to the shoulder before she managed to embed the knife from her belt into its neck. She barely even flinched as she sliced its throat open and hot, black blood sprayed her face, neck and clothes.
"Beth!" Dean shouted. Beth turned her head to find her brother picking Jo up and heading after Sam and Ellen as they ran for a nearby hardware store.
Beth got up and rushed after them, helping Sam slam the doors shut and braced her weight against them long enough for Sam to grab a nearby, thick looking chain and wrap it tightly around the handles to pin the doors shut.
Sam and Dean were quick to grab bags of salt from a red wheelbarrow beside the door and started spreading it in front of the doors and windows. Beth hurried over to where Jo was sitting against the counter with Ellen kneeling beside her. The brunette carefully peeled back Jo's hand to get a look at the wounds. She blanched as blood immediately gushed from the deep cuts and spilled over Beth's hands. She raised her head and met Ellen's eyes with her own panic filled ones as she placed Jo's hand back over the wound.
"We need to stop the bleeding… or slow it down at least," Beth said as she peeled her jacket off and shrugged out of her hooded sweatshirt and bunched it up, pressing it firmly against Jo's side after getting Jo to move her hand.
"Boys, we need some help here!" Ellen yelled.
Dean and Sam stopped beside them as soon as they finished salting the points of entry. The brothers both paled dramatically as they took in the true extent of Jo's injuries.
"Hey, Jo. You're gonna be okay," Beth said soothingly, squeezing Jo's free hands as the blonde let out pained noises. "We need some water and bandages and the flask from Dean's bag," she ordered, taking charge as Ellen sat on her daughter's other side in a state of shock. Her brothers went off to do as she said with question. When they set what she needed down beside her and walked off to give her space, Beth moved her hoodie aside and said a silent prayer when she discovered the bleeding had slowed down quite a bit. "Jo, you should have a drink, it might help you relax." Beth offered the flask to her and Jo took it shakily, taking a long swig from it and trying to restrain a cry of pain as the younger woman gently started cleaning the cuts with strips of fabric she'd torn off a spare shirt from her bag. "I'm sorry, I'll be as quick as I can."
"I-I think my mom needs this more than I do," Jo joked weakly gesturing between the flask and her pale, motionless mom.
"That's probably true," Beth agreed with a shaky smile. Ellen seemed to snap out of her daze when she realized Jo was watching her and she reached out with a hand and tucked Jo's dark blonde hair behind her ear.
After the wound was clean, Beth taped a large Ace bandage over it and placed her hoodie over Jo's body to keep her warm. Beth slumped back against the counter beside Jo, suddenly feeling exhausted.
"Beth, you okay?" Sam asked in concern.
Beth's eyes snapped open in surprise at the closeness of his voice. "I'm fine… It's just my shoulder." She peeled back the neck of her purple turtle neck to show him the bite mark.
"It's not too deep," Sam said in relief, peering at the wound. He briefly borrowed the flask of whisky from Jo and poured a little bit over Beth's injury. Beth let out a hiss of pain, barely managing to resist the urge to pull away as Sam set a bandage over it and taped it down. "That should hold until we can get somewhere to stitch it up."
"Thanks, Sammy," Beth whispered, curling her fingers around his.
"Any time," Sam replied quietly, moving to sit in front of her and continued to hold her hand, offering up whatever comfort he could.
A few hours later, the group were still trapped in the store. Sam and Dean were standing near the door, talking lowly amongst themselves. Jo and Ellen were still sitting on the floor and Beth had taken to pacing, trying to come up with a way they could escape the store and get Jo to a hospital, or somewhere safer at least without the hellhounds catching on. So far, she had nothing.
"Stop," Jo's voice cut through Beth's train of thought and she ceased her pacing to look down at the almost grey face of Jo. Her brothers turned to look at the blonde at the same time. "Guys, stop. Can we be realistic about this please?" The blonde groaned as a white-hot pain ran through her. "I can't move my legs. I can't be moved. My guts are being held in by an Ace bandage. We gotta get our priorities straight here," Jo paused, swallowing down a wave of fear. "Number one, I'm not going anywhere."
"Joanna Beth, you stop talking like that," Ellen said, a hint of warning in her voice.
"Mom," Jo replied sharply. A look of defeat crossed her face. "I can't fight. I can't walk. But I can do something." A heavy weight settled in Beth's stomach and tears pricked her eyes when she realised where Jo was headed. "We've got propane, wiring, rock salt, iron nails, everything we need," Jo continued.
"Everything we need?" Sam repeated in confusion.
"For making a bomb," Beth explained flatly. "She wants to be bait for the hellhounds while the rest of us escape."
"No," Dean refused point blank. "No, Jo. That's not gonna happen."
"You got another plan?" Jo countered. "You got any other plan? Those are hellhounds, Dean. They've got all of our scents and those bitches will never stop coming after you. We let the dogs in, you guys hit the roof, make a break for the next building over and I can wait here with my finger on the button. Rip those mutts a new one… or at least get you a few minutes head start anyway."
"No. I-I won't let you," Ellen shook her head, voice catching.
"This is why we're here, right?" Jo asked. "If I can get us a shot on the devil, Dean, we gotta take it."
"Jo, beating him isn't worth losing you," Beth said quietly, meeting Jo's dark brown eyes.
"Beth's right," Ellen said desperately, turning to Sam and Dean. "It's not—"
"Mom," Jo cut her off. Ellen turned back to face her daughter. "This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult, you might wanna take it."
Ellen let out a heart-breaking sob that had Beth pressing a hand to her mouth to hold in a whimper of her own as she watched the sad scene before her. The two Harvelle women seemed to share a moment of understanding as Ellen took Jo's hand and offered her a watery smile.
"You heard her," Ellen said finally, glancing back at the Winchesters. "Get to work."
So they did, Beth and Sam gathered everything they would need with a heavy heart as Dean set about building the bombs.
A while later, the bombs were built and spread out around the store. Sam moved aside as Dean approached and crouched down beside Jo, the detonator in hand. Beth stood to the side, holding Ellen's hand in comfort.
"Okay, this is it," Dean said heavily, meeting Jo's warm brown eyes. "I'll see you on the other side. Probably sooner than later."
"Make it later?" Jo gave a weak chuckle and offered her rifle to Dean. He set it aside and took Jo's hand, closing it around the detonator. Dean cupped Jo's face and lay a gentle kiss on her forehead.
Beth watched from the sidelines, tears in her eyes. She'd been wondering if there was something between her brother and Jo. Now she knew. Her older brother leaned in and kissed Jo again, though this time on the lips. Ellen moved away from Beth and took Dean's spot beside Jo. The weak blonde stared up at her mom questioningly before realization struck as her mom shook her head in refusal.
"Mom. No," Jo argued weakly.
"Somebody's gotta let them in," Ellen said, causing Beth, Sam and Dean to pause as her words sunk in. "And like you said, you're not moving. You got me Jo. And you're right, this is important but I will not leave you here alone."
Beth quietly finished putting on her jacket and slinging her gun and duffel bag over her arm as Jo let out a sob, blinking up at her mom sadly.
"Dean," Sam spoke up.
"Get going now boys, Beth," Ellen ordered, clearing her throat.
"Ellen," Dean said, a hint of pleading in his voice.
"I said go." Ellen turned to them as they went to leave. "Dean? Kick it in the ass. Don't miss."
Dean nodded in agreement and turned away without a word. He herded his brother and sister through the back door and up the stairs that led to the roof.
The Winchester jumped the small gap between the two roofs and rushed down the fire escaped on the other building as fast as they could. When they hit the ground, the move carefully, relying on Beth to tell them where the hellhounds were. Thankfully, there were none in sight.
The hardware store exploded minutes later with a deafening boom, causing the trio to duck instinctively before they turned to watch the rising flames in devastation.
"Dean," Beth said softly, gaining his attention. "We have to go."
Dean nodded, and with one last regretful look towards the store, took off running after his siblings.
It took longer than expected to reach the farm due to them being on foot, but they made it there eventually and took shelter behind some trees once they realized Lucifer was up ahead, digging a huge hole in the ground.
"I guess we know what happened to some of the townspeople," Dean said, glancing around at all the men standing a few feet from Lucifer.
"Okay," Sam said, taking a deep breath. Dean echoed the word quietly. "Any last words?"
"Nah, I think I'm good," Dean replied with a shrug.
"Me too, Beth?"
"I wanna be the one to empty that gun into his face," she replied with conviction. She didn't so much as flinch as they turned to her in surprise.
"What?" Dean asked, not sure he'd heard her right.
"I wanna do it," Beth sighed, holding her hand out expectantly. At the looks on their faces, she rolled her eyes. "He's responsible for Jo and Ellen's deaths. Because of his demons, Bobby ended up in a wheelchair, he's done God-knows-what to Castiel and… I just really wanna shoot something."
There was a beat and then Dean said, "Fair enough," and handed over the Colt.
"Thank you," Beth replied, cradling the gun carefully.
"Well, here goes nothing," Dean sighed. He took Beth's arm and started guiding her through the trees so they could get a better view of Lucifer.
The second Sam had Lucifer's full attention on him, Beth shared a brief look of worry with Dean before she started stalking silently from the trees and towards the devil. Lucifer had just finished telling Sam he'd never hurt him when he became aware of a presence beside him. He turned his head at the exact moment Beth cocked the gun and aimed it at his forehead.
"You won't do it, Bethany. You won't shoot me," Lucifer said. Beth could hear a hint of taunting in his voice.
"Fuck you," Beth said coldly, thinking of Ellen and Jo and the rest of her family. They all depended on her to do this. So, she pulled the trigger. The bullet lodged itself in Lucifer's skull and he collapsed with a thud.
Beth let out a ragged breath, surprised that she'd actually managed to go through with it. She dropped the hand holding the gun to her side and glanced up at Sam, a small smile breaking through. A sharp gasp suddenly filled the air as Lucifer jolted back to life. Beth's smile faded and she was overcome with terror as he looked up at her with furious eyes.
"Ow," Was the first thing he said as he pushed himself to sit up and then to stand. He pressed dirty fingers to the bullet hole as he turned on her. "Where did you get that?" He growled. Beth had no chance to respond as he punched her hard in the face and she flew back into a tree before falling down to the ground and hitting it roughly. Her vision turned black and she passed out. Her oldest brother followed suit seconds later as Lucifer clicked his fingers and Dean's world went black.
When Beth came to, she was aware of a burning pain on the right side of her face. She could feel pain in her shoulder as well.
"Bethany?"
Her eyes fluttered open immediately at the familiar voice. "Castiel," She breathed out, and then everything came rushing back. She let out a choked sob as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, paying no mind to the pain in her head. She could tell with one look that she was in the spare room at Bobby's house. "It's over, Castiel. We failed… I-I couldn't kill him. Ellen and Jo died because of him and I couldn't even kill him. They were all depending on me to do it."
"It's not your fault," Castiel murmured. He drew her to him the second her tears started to fall. Beth curled into him, clinging to him as though her were her life line. "We all thought the gun would work."
"If I was useful at all, I could've healed Jo and she and Ellen would've lived," Beth argued.
"Don't talk like that," Castiel said firmly. He curled his fingers around her chin and tilted her head back to look her in the eyes. "When I was first created, I was just as out of control as you are now. The first time I tried to use my grace to summon something, I almost succeeded in blowing up Michael's favourite study. But, instead of getting mad at me, he understood how difficult it was to control it. He continued to train me because he knew it would take time and patience and that's what I'm going to do with you."
Beth leaned closer and kissed him softly. Castiel reciprocated without hesitating, his fingers tightening around her chin.
"I don't deserve you," Beth whispered sadly when the kiss ended, her forehead resting against his. "I wish I did, but I don't. You're too good for someone like me."