Chapter 53

I stopped walking as I sensed Michael's presence behind me. I hung my head for a moment and turned to face him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"He's out of control," Michael stated.

I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips. "Whose fault is that exactly?"

"Now's not the time," Michael warned.

"Oh?" I arched an eyebrow. "You are the ones who have this grand plan. How's it working so far?"

Michael stared at tree for a moment. "You have to get through to him."
"Who? Sam? He's not listening to anyone," I rolled my eyes.

"The Trickster," he said quietly.

"Why do you want him to undo this?" I demanded.

"Because you'll lose the marker if he doesn't," Michael pointed out.

I frowned at Michael for a moment. The marker for Dean's soul would be transferred to the being that actually held it. The Trickster was in possession of Dean's soul, which meant that he would hold the marker.

I closed my eyes and realized that the marker was already gone. I had forgotten that that could happen. I screamed and the earth shook. Michael shook his head.

"We can hope that it will return once the timeline is reversed," he said.

"Not necessarily," I growled.

Michael vanished and I sensed Sammael appear with Azrael.

"I've lost it," I stamped my foot.

"Easy," Azrael pleaded.

"What?" I was infuriated.

"You've already caused an ice shelf to break off in Antarctica," Azrael replied.

I narrowed my gaze at him. "What are you talking about?"

"There was a huge piece of the ice shelf that broke off when you roared," Sammael explained.

"Well," I huffed. "More is going to happen when I get my hands on that Trickster."

"The marker has been transferred," Sammael nodded.

"That's probably why he did it," Azrael shrugged.

"What?" Sammael and I glared at him.

"Look at it this way," Azrael continued. "What use is keeping Dean dead this long, if not to secure the marker?"

"I hate it when he makes sense," I muttered.

"You're not supposed to hate," Azrael said pointedly.

I arched an eyebrow at him. Sammael laughed.

"I'm going to go looking for him," I sighed.
"He's got a head start," she mused.

"I know," I agreed. "Keep an eye on Sam and let me know if you see anything."

"Where are you going?" Azrael demanded.

"To find some answers," I replied.

I left them on the side of the road.

I knew that there was one place I could manage to get without much difficulty and that was Limbo. I traveled there and found myself outside of the Hall of Contracts. I entered the large building and walked slowly along the rows of shelves. I had seen a book in there once that I knew would help me. It had been the undoing of the Faustian deal and I figured that the answer would also be in it.

I stopped at the center lectern. The book lay open to the page that discussed deals made in Hell. Someone had been looking at that very section and I was curious as to who it was. However, I had no time to dally as I was on a tight schedule. I ran my fingers down the parchment and I found the section highlighted. I was not pleased by what I read but I closed the book.

"Why are you here?" a voice behind me asked.

"Raphael," I turned to face him. "I'm allowed here remember?"
"I know," Raphael nodded. "I was simply curious how it is that you're here."

"I had to check something," I said.

"You could stay a bit," Raphael shrugged.

"I need to get back," I said.

"You are upset," Raphael noted.

"Of course I'm upset," I snapped.

I walked away from him and headed back to the surface.

I spent the next month tracking the Trickster. He had taken to observing Sam from a distance and Sam became ever increasingly more ruthless and cold. The others were disturbed by this turn of events and so was I. I was forced to take a hard look at Sam and I watched him take out various supernatural phenomena with increasing efficiency. I was careful not to cross paths with any of the demons that had managed to escape from Hell. For their part, they refused to cross paths with Sam unless they could help it.

I finally caught up with the Trickster outside of a small town in Georgia. Sam was busy routing a nest of vampires. The Trickster was sitting in a bar staring at a mug of beer. I sat across from him.

"You know," he said without looking up. "I realize that he's hunting me."

"Well he seems to be hunting everything," I disagreed.

"That's just a thing to occupy his time while he hunts me down," the Trickster chuckled mirthlessly. "You should see the chart he has of me."

"Well," I shrugged. "You're the one who went down this particular street."

He looked up at me.

"What?" I asked.

"If I were to restore Dean, would you be unaffected?" The Trickster questioned.

"I would be unaffected," I replied. "I live outside of time."
"What of the others in Hell," he asked.

"I don't know," I replied truthfully. "More than likely the lesser demons wouldn't know, but the others who are much older would."
"Which presents an interesting situation with Dean's deal," The Trickster smiled.

"You have his soul," I told him. "You know what you have done."

"I also know the law regarding contracts," he arched his brow.

"Oh?" I feigned innocence.

"You know that's what I could never take with you angels," The Trickster muttered. "You all have things up your sleeves."

"So you say," I demurred.

"You're saying that you don't?" The Trickster stared at me.

I met his stare and shrugged.

"That's the thing about dealing with angels," The Trickster shook his head.

"You did interfere," I reminded him.

"Well," The Trickster stood. " I guess it's time to put an end to this."

"How?" I frowned.

He pulled out a cell phone and punched in a number. "Sam, it's Bobby. I found him," the Trickster used Bobby's voice.

I arched an eyebrow.

"Do you see him showing up otherwise?" he asked.

I remained silent.

"I don't suppose you're going to watch eh?" he grinned.

"You're going to reverse this?" I questioned.

"I might," he shrugged. "It depends."

"You might want to watch yourself from now on," I warned.

"Are you threatening me?" he challenged.

I turn my head sideways and narrowed my gaze. "No," I replied. "It's not me you have to be concerned about."

He nodded and walked away from me.

I sighed as I realized that there was nothing more to do except wait. My phone rang as I sat at the table.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Where exactly are you?" Bobby's voice grated.

"I'm in a bar in the middle of Georgia," I told him.

"Sam won't talk to me," Bobby said.
"I know," I sighed.

"He's not listening to you either?" Bobby's voice held a tinge of sadness.

I thought about the pain that was in his voice. The Trickster also had to have been aware of Bobby's feelings. He was using Sam's repressed affection for Bobby as a tool to lure him into a confrontation.

"Kelsey, you still there?" Bobby asked.

"Sorry," I apologized. "My mind was elsewhere."

Bobby chuckled. "Well, did you manage to get a hold of the Trickster?"

"He's not into reversing what he did," I said.

"You can't make him?" Bobby sounded stunned.

"No," I replied. "It doesn't work that way."

"What does he want?" Bobby pressed.

"I don't know," I whispered. "But if he reverses it, you won't know a thing."

"What about you?" Bobby asked.

"I'm different," I answered.

I ended the call on that note and traveled to where I sensed Sam was located. I found it unusual that I had been able to finally track him, but I guessed that he had dropped some of his defenses and that made it easier for me to find him.

I found myself outside of a building in Broward. This was the same place that the Trickster had taken them. I saw him leave the building and he stopped. He said nothing to me and continued. I watched as time rewound itself and I sensed Dean alive again. I walked to the motel where I had found Sam holding Dean's lifeless body and saw the Impala parked in its spot. I waited and saw them emerge from the building. Dean was in front with Sam close behind. From the set of his jaw and the rigidity of his shoulders I realized that he still held the memory of what had transpired.

"It's impossible to get through to him," The Trickster said from behind me.

"He tried to kill you," I guessed.

"I created an illusion of Bobby, and Sam staked him," The Trickster stood next to me.

I didn't look at him. "He thought that it was you," I averred.

"That isn't the point," The Trickster confirmed.

"What is the point?" I demanded.

"The bad guys know how to get around these two," The Trickster sighed.

"You've said that," I told him.

"You won't get them to listen will you," he exhaled.

"I haven't been able to get those two to listen since they hit puberty," I grumbled.

"You're not going to hurt me?" he asked.

"I'm not going to do anything that you'd like," I snapped.

"Ah," he chuckled.

I glared at him.

"Well we'll see each other," The Trickster nodded and then he vanished.

I stood in the parking lot and felt the rain touch my face.

"Kelsey!" Dean's voice broke through my thoughts.

I smiled as he came over to me and folded me into his arms. I caught my breath as I assured myself he was still alive.

"You want to hear something funny?" Dean grinned.
"Sure," I smiled.

"Sam here hugged me," Dean chuckled. "I guess I died one time too many."

"Yeah," Sam answered as he joined us. His eyes reflected his pain.

"Well we're hitting the road," Dean said. "You coming?"

"No," I shook my head. "I've got my own hunting to do."

"Fair enough," Dean said. "Come on Sammy. If we're not getting breakfast here, then we got to go somewhere I can get some food."

"Okay," Sam agreed.

Dean walked towards the car.

"You owe Bobby an apology," I told Sam.

He looked at me for a moment.

"I'm outside time Sam," I looked at him. "I have the memory of what you did and what you said."

"Kelsey," he whispered.

"We'll talk about this later," I promised him.

"Yes," he hung his head.

"Sammy!" Dean called.

Sam stared at me for a moment there was pain and torment behind his eyes but I stood where I was resisting the urge to hold him to me. Then he walked to the car and they drove off.