CHAPTER 26: Appointment With Death
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After the encounter with Apollyon in Skamania County, the brothers, Castiel and Zuriel met up back at Bobby's. They had to hold off on heading to Chicago, planning is what they needed to do right now. Going out for Death half-cocked could be dangerous. Not to mention that Zuriel's injuries weren't fully healed. Bringing the angel in his current condition might slow them down. So hopefully while at Bobby's, Zuriel will be at full strength.
In the study, everyone sat in silence. Dean plays around with Pestilence's ring, sighing with stress while Sam and Bobby discuss on the last horseman ring and how they'll get it. Dean thought the ideas the two were coming up with was pointless. Sure, getting War's ring was easy, Famine's was a bit of a pain, but Pestilence?... the horseman nearly killed them. And this is Death their talking about, the boss of all reapers. They haven't the slightest clue what he'd do to them. 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 write symbols on Zuriel's chest in goats blood. " What are you doing?" Dean asks, he saunters up to Cas.
" I may not be an angel anymore, but I am exceptionally useful at healing sigils." Castiel replies.
" The best, from what I've heard..." Zuriel implies. Once Castiel finished, the spell it shone brightly, Zuriel groans as his aches cease, the gashes and bruises begin to vanish. The blood sigil seeps into his vessel, and the light soon fades. "... Thank you.." the angel rises, fixing his shirt.
Dean gives an impressed nod, " All better now?"
" Very much, yes." Zuriel smiles.
" 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, " Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?" He huffs, " So Apollyon told you that Death's in Chicago... did he say why?" he points that question to the angel.
"... No... is it important?" Zuriel answers, furrowing his brows in the confusion.
" 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?
" Wait a second... where'd you get information like that?" Sam asked out of curiosity.
"... While you boys were busy dancing with Apollyon, I had an unwanted visit by a demon... wasn't hard to trap the bastard and get it to spill the beans."
" 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."
...
Dean pops open the trunk of his baby, then pulls up the hidden compartment of weapons. As he checks if the guns are 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, Dean rolls 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 cut in, " Remember?..." the demon peers to them both. He shook his head, seeing they didn't have a clue what he was talking about, " You two are lucky you have your looks... your demon lover, Brady?... VP of distribution, Niveus.", Sam then looks to Dean with wide eyes, ".. Ah yes, that's the sound of the abacus clacking?... we 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 Zuriel wasn't joking when he said-"
" 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..."
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 gave him. The ex-angel sighed heavily. The elder hunter gazes at Cas. " What's your problem?"
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 it and shoot.", he then hands Cas the duffel, " Now help Sam load the truck."
Dean shuts the trunk of the Impala, then turns to Sam. The younger hunter looks to his older brother. " All right, well... good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse." Dean says.
" Yeah... good luck killing Death..." Sam replies. " Well... 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 at 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. Dean's smile grew wider as he gazed at the ring he'd given him. John Winchester's old ring. Dean had been carrying it since his father died, as a reminder. He never would've thought he'd use it to propose to Castiel. But it fit perfectly on the ex-angel's finger, as if it was meant for him. "... When this is over, we'll live in a nice place where we'll both watch the sunset... The normal life.."
Castiel chuckled, then pulls Dean into a hug. " You promise?..." when the answer was yes he buried his face in the crook of Dean's neck. Perhaps due to the intensity of his emotions, tears started to well up in Cas's eyes. Castiel didn't want Dean to see that. He never liked it whenever Dean saw him cry. Dean pulls away just a little to look into his lover's eyes. Castiel suddenly plants his lips onto Dean's. The hunter returns the kiss with the same amount of passion. Finally parting lips, Castiel whispers, "... I love you...", a knot forms in Dean's throat, he lays a long kiss on Cas's forehead.
" Tick tock, Dean... Tick tock..." Crowley shouts out from the window.
"... Love you.." Dean let's go of Castiel and gets into the car. He gives one last glance to Sam before driving off.
As soon as Dean left, Sam, Bobby and Cas are 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. "... Yes to Lucifer.. Then jump in the hole.." Sam sighed to Cas's response, "... 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 wanna 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, " What?"
"... It's your brother, Adam." Castiel could tell by the expression on Sam's face that he was shocked, "... You must have considered it."
" Yeah, 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 groan, he had to tell him. "... There's also the Demon Blood..."
" What? what are you talking about?" Sam immediately asked, the words alone made him shiver.
" 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.
...
By morning the arrive at the Niveus Pharmaceuticals' loading docks. They observe everything in the van at the parking lot next door, watching from a safe distance while workers stacked boxes of the virus in the truck.
" Yup, they're loading up hotshots of Croatoan in the trucks... Okay, 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 cuts Bobby off and points out. The hunters look and spot one exiting 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 easy. Castiel then bashes the gun into the machine to keep the gate from opening. One of the guards at the docks hears the ruckus, 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.." the other demon replies. They lock down the place, trapping at least a dozen people inside with them. Sam and Bobby run up with their weapons ready. From inside they can hear screaming.
" Side door!" Bobby shouts, rushing for it, but it was locked.
" Get back!" Sam warns those by the door before shooting out the lock. The door swings open and about five people run out with panic. The hunters enter with haste and caution, eyes on the lookout for demons... Or worse. Suddenly they both hear a commotion, the voice of a man groaning in pain. Sam and Bobby slowly move pass a stack of boxes, cocking their guns, poking out from the corner. Both are taken aback as they see the workers tearing the man apart. Bastard demons had infected them with the virus.
One of the infected peers to the hunters, eyes bloodshot and filled with bloodlust. Sam had no time to feel sorry for these people, they weren't human anymore. They needed to be stopped, the virus must not leave the building. Sam and Bobby take aim. A single movement from one infected and shots were fired, Sam professionally targeted their heads. Bobby gets out a few rounds. One croatoan falling after the other. When the last one was dealt with, the gunfire ceased.
" Help! Help me!" a female voice catches their attention.
"... There's still people here." Sam heads in the direction of the screaming.
" Sam, no!"
The young hunter hands Bobby the demon knife, " Wait here."
" Damn..." Bobby watched his surroundings once Sam turned the corner. From behind a demon tries to get him, but the sound of his shoes tapping gave him away. Bobby quickly turned, jabbing the knife into its side. Killing it.
... 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 that the angel wasn't answering him. Something must've happened.
" Hey, let's stop for pizza." Crowley 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... horseman's stable, if you will... he's in there."
" 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.
" You wanna cut the cute, get to the part where you tell me where he is."
" Sorry, I don't know." Crowley turns and walks the other way.
Dean follows, " Whoa, whoa... What do you mean you don't know?!" the hunter's patients was growing thin.
" Signs pointed... 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 go 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 supossed to get 3 million people out of Chicago in ten minutes?" he peers back to the crossroads demon but he was no longer there, "... Come on..." Dean then spots him outside, by the pizza shop. The hunter narrowed his eyes, it seemed like Croley 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, "... 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 swing around, the scythe is snatched from his grip. Dean's eyes widened with disbelief. It was Apollyon. In a blink of an eye the fallen angel was at Death's side. " Sit..." Apollyon ordered, pulling out a chair. Dean's heart pounded against his chest, he nervously takes the seat. He stares at Apollyon.
" You're dead... I saw you die."
" I have a lot of tricks up my sleeves." the fallen angel replied.
" Where's Zuriel?"
" Don't worry... he's alive." he gestures his eyes to the corner, Dean followed his gaze. There was Zuriel, just standing ther staring at the wall like a brain-dead zombie, " I have him in a trance... I'll release him after our meeting..."
" What do you want?"
" I've been wanting to talk to you." Death answers.
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... this is one little planet, in one tiny solar system, in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers... I'm old Dean... very old... So, I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you." 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. Dean nervously grabs the fork and knife, cuts a piece and eats it. " Good, isn't it?" The horseman then resumed feasting.
" Well, I gotta ask... 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, I had to wait for you to catch up..."
Dean glanced to the fallen angel, "... And him?... what's his deal?"
" Apollyon too is bound to Lucifer... To keep you from finding me, but Lucifer didn't know that we both find it childish of his actions toward us... He 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're 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 give it to me?"
" That's what I said..."
" Well... 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 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 se Castiel coming over. The ex-angel was dressed in a black and white plaided shirt, jeans and boots.
Dean smiled, " 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, hope you don't mind since my other clothes were lost at North Carolina."
" No, no it's okay..."
"... Drink?" Cas offers him a beer. Dean takes it.
" Check it out..." the hunter separates the rings, Castiel observes as Dean pushes them back together, the rings magnetizing.
" Death told you how to operate them..."
" Yeah, it's nuts... of course, I got bigger problems now..."
" Really?..." Cas takes a seat.
Dean sighs, " What do you think Death does to people who lie to his face?"
" 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.. what are you afraid of?... losing?... or losing Sam?..."
...
To Be Continued
Authors Note: Just two chapters left 'till I'm finished with this story, YAY!
See you later! :3