Ch. 50- The Final Seal Pt. 1

"Hey," said Dean after the beep, "it's me." He paused for a moment. "Uh…look, I'll just get right to it. I'm still pissed, and owe you a serious beat down, but… I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm not Dad. We're brothers, you know, family. No matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sammy, I'm sorry-" The recorder cut off just after that. Dean hung up his phone looking miserable.

As the nurse opened her eyes, she struggled against the table she was laying on. Soon Sam walked into sight.

"What, no devil's trap?" the demon with in asked.

"I don't need one." replied Sam.

"Look at you!" she said staring at him. "All rioted up. It's like A-rod and Madonna over here." She glanced at Ruby, who stood by in the shadows.

"Where's Lilith?" snapped Sam annoyed by her apparent lack of fear.

"I'm not scared of you." she retorted.

"Yeah, you are, actually." said Sam picking up on the little bit of fear within her. "And for good reason." She gave in a little to it, but still kept her head.

"Look, what's my upside?" she asked. "Okay, I tell you, you kill me. I don't tell you, you still kill me. I get away somehow, Lilith will definitely kill me. So where's my carrot?"

"I think you should be worrying about is what happens before you die." snarled Sam. He raised his hand and turned it slowly. The demon screamed horribly from the pain. It only took a little while of this before she began to beg for him to stop.

"Stop! Stop! Please!" she cried.

"You'll tell me where she is?" asked Sam.

"Fine! Fine!" she replied. "Just… let me die."

"Deal." Sam agreed. The demon sighed and breathed heavily.

"Tomorrow night…" she said after a moment. "Midnight. She's going to be at a convent… St. Mary's, Ilchester, Maryland."

"A convent?" asked Sam in disbelief.

"Lilith…" gasped the demon. "She's going to break the final seal."

"What is the final seal?" snapped Sam.

"I don't know!" she replied. He raised his hand again. "I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW! I SWEAR!" she screamed. "Oh! Please! I'm begging you! Kill me, please!"

"Fine." Sam granted, and just as he was about to Ruby pulled his hand down.

"Wait!" she called. "You can't."

"Why not?" Sam asked as the demon cried in the background.

"Because we gotta take her with us." replied Ruby. "It's the final run on the Death Star, and you need more juice than I got."

"You promised." gasped the demon.

"Sorry, sister." said Ruby. "You're a walking, talking can of whoop-ass." Ruby began to walk away.

"You bitch!" snapped the demon to Ruby.

"I know." replied Ruby. "Just can't trust anyone these days." The demon began to panic, but suddenly a thought accrued. She looked to Ruby as Sam joined her by the door.

"Well," she began with a slight smile, "least you won't be able to crack me open that easy."

"That so?" asked Ruby.

"Don't forget, it's not just me you're bleeding." she reminded. "In fact, I think I'm gonna take a little… siesta in the subconscious. Hand over the wheel for a little bit."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sam. Ruby stared on knowing just what she meant.

"Cindy McCellen, R.N., come on down!" she said as if it was a game show. She went unconscious for a moment. Sam and Ruby glanced at each other, then looked back to Cindy as she awoke. "What…?" she asked feeling strange. She looked at the ceiling above her. "Where am I?" she asked. She tried to get up, but found she was held down by an invisible force. "Oh, my God, I can't move. What's going on?" She looked to Sam and Ruby. "Help!" she cried. Sam froze and grew uncomfortable with the thought of bleeding this woman. "Help me, please!"

"Great!" snapped Ruby softly as Sam began to hyperventilate. He looked at her, then back to Cindy.

Boredom and annoyance had sunken in. Dean walked over to a small white angel statue. With just two fingers he knocked it over, and smirked as it shattered on the floor. It had been hours since he left Sam that voicemail. He expected to have heard back by now.

"You asked to see me?" asked Cass from behind him. He stared at the broken statue Dean had knocked onto the floor. Dean turned to face him. He himself looked down to the shatter angel, and looked away slightly ashamed. He cleared his voice and tried to looked at Cass, but couldn't bring himself to.

"Yeah, listen, I, uh… I, I need something." Dean stuttered.

"Anything you wish." replied Cass. Now Dean dared to look at Cass.

"I need you to take me to see Sam."

"Why?" asked Cass.

"There's something I gotta talk to him about." replied Dean.

"What's that?" asked Cass.

"The B.M. I took this morning!" snapped Dean sarcastically. "What's it to you? Just make it snappy!" Dean came closer.

"I don't think that's wise." said Cass looking away. Dean stepped closer yet.

"Well, I didn't ask you for your opinion." Cass looked away blatantly annoyed, then looked to Dean trying to contain it.

"Have you forgotten what happen last time you met?"

"No." replied Dean. "That's the whole point." There was a moment of silence. "Listen, I'm going to do whatever you mooks want, okay? I just need to tie up this one thing. Five minute, that's all I need."

"No." said Cass regretfully.

"What do you mean, no?" asked Dean. "Are you saying that I'm trapped here?"

"You can go wherever you want." replied Cass.

"Super. I want to go see Sam."

"Except there."

"I want to take a walk."

"Fine. I'll go with you."

"Alone."

"No." Dean inhaled sharply and began to walk passed Cass towards the double doors of the room.

"You know what?" he snapped. "Screw this noise. I'm out of here." Cass turned.

"Through what door?" he asked. Dean stopped in his traces and turned to face Cass in disbelief that he could be that dense or blind. But when he turned back the doors were gone. Dean whirled around back to Cass, but he was gone too.

"Damn it!" growled Dean.

Sam looked at his phone as Ruby drove on. 'One new voicemail from: Dean' it said. Cindy's screams could be heard from the trunk.

"What are you, a 12 year old girl?" snapped Ruby. "Just play it already."

"Mind your own business." Sam snapped back, looking away from his phone. After a moment Sam sat back and sighed in frustration. "God, I wish she would just shut up!"

"Well, that can be arranged." replied Ruby. Sam looked at her sternly. "I don't get it. All the demons you cut with the knife, what do you think happens to the host? How's this any different?"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" replied Sam.

"I know that you're having a really tough time with this, Sam, but we're in the final lap here." she reminded him. "Now is not the time to get persuader."

"Would you drop the frickin' attitude?" snapped Sam. "I'm about to bleed and drink an innocent woman while she watches."

"And save the world as a result!" Ruby added. Sam shook his head and looked back at it.

"I don't know." he said unsurely. "I… I just… I'm starting to think… maybe Dean was right."

"About what?" asked Ruby feeling Sam's urge to back out.

"About everything." There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

"We're going to see this through, right, Sam?" she asked. Sam didn't answer, he just listened to Cindy's screams. "Sam?"

Dean began to beat one of the walls with a thick wooden stand. After a few hits, he looked on in shock as the walk was instantly repaired before his eyes.

"Son of a bitch!" he snapped throwing the stand down.

"Quit hurling feces like a howler monkey, would you?" came the voice of Zachariah. Dean turned to face him. "It's unbecoming." He stormed over to Zachariah with determination.

"Let me out of here!" he snapped.

"Like I told you, too dangerous out there. Demons on the prowl." he replied.

"I've been getting my ass kicked all year! Now you're sweating my safety? You're lying! I want to see my brother."

"That's… ill-advised."

"You know, I'm so sick of your crap riddles and your smug, fat face. What the hell is going on, huh? Why can't I see Sam? And how am I going to ice Lilith?" Zachariah sighed.

"You're not." he replied. Dean looked at him confused. "Going to ice Lilith."

"What?"

"Lilith's going to break the final seal." Zachariah turned away. "Fait accompli at this point, Train's left the station." He walked over to an elegant loveseat smugly. As he sat down the mirror on the wall reflected his image repeatedly. Dean took a few steps closer in dismay.

"But me and Sam," he began. "We can stop-" Suddenly Dean realized the horrid truth. "You don't want to stop it, do you?"

"Nope." replied Zachariah with a smile. "Never did. The end is nigh. The apocalypse is coming, kiddo, to a theater near you." Dean stood there as it sank in. The pleasure on Zachariah's face only made this worse. His lips quivered with rage, sorrow and the still present shock.

"What was all that crap about saving seals?" he asked. Zachariah gave a careless 'I don't know gesture with his hands.

"Our grunts on the ground…" he started. "Well we couldn't tell them the whole truth. We'd have a full scale rebellion on our hands. I mean think about it. Would we really let 65 seals get broken unless senior management wanted it that way?"

"But why?" asked Dean looking away.

"Why not?" replied Zachariah with glee. "The apocalypse!" he said dramatically. "Poor name, bad marketing- puts people off." he added as if listing the side effects of a new product. "When all it is, is Ali/Foreman… on a slightly larger scale and we like our chances." Dean looked around at the paintings on the walls. They all were depictions of the apocalypse. "When our side wins," Zachariah went on, "and we will, it paradise on earth. What's not to like about that?" Dean looked at him.

"What happens to all the people during your pissing contest?" he asked.

"Well…" said Zachariah standing up. "Can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. In this case… truckloads of eggs, but you get the picture." There was moment of uncomfortable silence between them. "Look…" said Zachariah coming near Dean. "It happens. This isn't the first planetary enema we've delivered." Dean jaw clinched. He looked over to a wooden statue. "Uh, no, Dean. You probably shouldn't try to bash my skull in with that thing." Dean glared at Zachariah with a hate, a loathing, he had never held for anyone, not even Alastair. "Wouldn't end up too pleasant for you."

"What about Sam?" Dean asked. "He won't go quietly. He'll stop Lilith."

"Sam…" sighed Zachariah. "Has a part to play. A very important part. He may need a little nudge in the right direction, but I'll make sure he plays it."

"What does that mean?" Dean asked worried taking a step closer. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Sam, Sam, Sam. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia. Forget about him, would you?" Zachariah put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "You have larger concerns." He pulled Dean over to a painting on the wall as he spoke. "Why do you think I'm confiding in you? You're still vital, Dean. We weren't lying about your destiny. Just… omitted a few pertinent details. But nothing's changed. You are chosen. You will stop it." He paused. Dean looked on with have confusion added to his long list of emotions. "Just… not Lilith or the apocalypse, that's all."

"Which means?" asked Dean needing clarification. Zachariah looked to the painting now.

"Lucifer." he said in a hushed grandness. Dean looked to the painting. It was of a fruity looking warrior angel who had pinned a red feathery bird like creature to the ground and was about to slay it. This painting sparked many obscene statements in Dean's mind, but he was unable to utter a single one. "You're going to stop Lucifer. Your our own little Russell Crowe, complete with surly attitude. And when it's over… and when you've won…" Dean looked at him, "your rewards will be… unimaginable. Peace, happiness… two virgins and seventy sluts." Zachariah gave him a slap on the back and began to laugh at his own joke. "Trust me, one day, we'll look back on this and laugh." he said walking away.

"Tell me something." called Dean sternly. This caused Zachariah to holt in his tracks. His smile slowly faded. "Where's God in all this?"

"God?" asked Zachariah as if he had never even heard the name. "God has left the building." he said after a brief pause. Dean's eyes widened as Zachariah disappeared. He looked back to the painting seriously. His mind raced.

Dean pulled out his phone and began to try to call Sam, but there was no reception. After a while of trying he heard a voice from behind him.

"You can't reach him, Dean." said Cass. "You're outside your coverage zone." Dean closed his phone.

"What are you going to do to Sam?" he asked trying to control his anger. Cass began to draw near.

Nothing." Now to the side of Dean he still stood a good distance away. "He's going to do it to himself." Dean looked to Cass.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. Cass didn't answered, but Dean could tell he knew by the way he looked down. Stepping closer Dean spoke again. "Oh, right, gotta toe the company line." Cass haft looked at Dean. It was a look of shame and misery. "Why are you here, Cass?"

"We've been through much together, you and I, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry it ended like this." said Cass.

"Sorry?" Dean repeated. Cass knew what just busted into Dean's mind. He stood there as Dean snorted and was about to turn away, but surprisingly Dean punched Cass in the face. It turned his head. Cass felt a slight sting, but shook it off. 'I deserved that.' he thought to settle his annoyance. Dean on the other hand let the pain scroll on his face seeing as he wasn't facing Cass. He opened his right hand and held it in his left. "It's Armageddon, Cass. You need a bigger word than 'sorry'." He turned back to face Cass with his composure regained.

"Try to understand." Cass explained. "This is long foretold. This is your-"

"Destiny?" snapped Dean. "Don't give me that holy crap! Destiny, God's plan… It's all a bunch a lies you poor, stupid son of a bitch! It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and you in line!" Cass listened. He was insulted, but felt a rush of truth. "You know what's real?" Dean asked him. "People, families, that's real, and you're gonna watch them all burn?"

"What is so worth saving?" Cass asked. Suddenly he remembered that Eve had asked him that all those months ago. He stood ridged for a moment the pain and guilt swelled inside of him. " I see nothing here, but pain, guilt, anger, confusion! I see it inside you! I feel it inside-" He stopped and stepped back trying to regain control of his emotions. A tear rolled from his eyes. He turned away touching his wet cheek.

"Cass?" asked Dean. "Where's Eve?"


Author's Note: To be continued in The Final Seal Pt. 2. Sorry it took so long to post this much. Let me know what you think please. Thanks for reading