May 14th, 2009 - Kripke's Hollow, Ohio
They arrived at Chuck's house early the next morning. Dean knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He tried the doorknob and the door swung open.
The hunters stepped inside the house. Every piece of furniture had been overturned and papers were scattered across the floor. Large splatterings of blood coated everything in sight. Amy felt her stomach turn as she looked around. She hadn't been in this part of the house when Cas had been killed.
As they wandered through the kitchen and into the study, Dean stopped at the kitchen door. He drew the demon knife, running it across his arm, before using his other hand to draw an angel-banishing sigil on the door.
They wandered into the study. Something creaked behind them and they froze. Turning around, they found nothing and continued further into the house.
Dean and Amy trailed behind Sam as they walked into the study. Amy darted her eyes around, looking for any sign of Chuck.
'Come on, Chuck. Where are you?' she thought.
Amy's question was quickly answered as Chuck suddenly jumped out from the room Sam was walking towards and hit the hunter on the head with a plunger.
Amy stifled a laugh as Sam stumbled back, holding his head. "Geez! Ow!"
Chuck looked at Sam in shock. "Sam," he said, sounding relieved.
"Yeah!" Sam shouted, obviously annoyed.
"Hey, Chuck," Dean greeted.
Chuck was wearing the same outfit he had on the last time Amy had seen him. The only difference now was that he had small amounts of blood on his face.
"So...you're okay?" Chuck asked, panting heavily.
"Well, my head hurts," Sam pointed out, still holding his head.
"No, I mean—I mean, my—my last vision," Chuck stammered. "You went, like, full-on Vader. Your body temperature was one-fifty. Your heart rate was two hundred. Your eyes were black."
"Wait, what?" Amy asked. Panic flashed in her eyes as she looked up at Sam.
"Your eyes went black?" Dean asked sternly.
Sam looked back over his shoulder at his brother. "I didn't know," he mumbled.
Dean looked around the room. "Cas, he uh-"
"He's dead," Chuck confirmed. "Or, gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him." He looked down, shaking his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"You're sure?" Dean asked hopefully. "I mean, maybe he just vanished into the light or something."
Chuck shook his head. "Oh, no. He, like, exploded. Like a water balloon of chunky soup."
"I did not need that visual, Chuck," Amy muttered. Chuck glanced at her apologetically.
Sam sighed. He spotted something and leaned over to get a closer look. After a beat, he waved his hand over his left ear.
"You got a—"
Chuck waved a hand over his right ear. "Uh...right here?"
Sam pointed to the other side of Chuck's head. "Uh, the..."
"Oh." Chuck moved his hand over to the other side and felt his hair. "Oh, god," he groaned. He pulled something bloody out of his hair, holding it up. "Is that a molar?" he asked, his voice on the verge of a wail. "Do I have a molar in my hair?" Chuck let his arm fall to his side. "This has been a really stressful day."
Dean looked around the room. "Cas, you stupid bastard," he muttered.
Sam turned around. "Stupid?" he asked. "He was trying to help us."
"Yeah, exactly," Dean snapped.
"So, what now?" Sam asked.
Amy turned to Chuck, noticing a worried look on his face. "Chuck?" she asked. "Everything okay?"
At this, Sam and Dean stopped talking and turned to Chuck.
"I-I can feel them," Chuck stammered out.
"Who?" Dean asked.
"Thought we'd find you here," a voice Amy was not in the mood to hear said behind her.
Amy turned around with Sam and Dean to see Zachariah and two other angels there. Zachariah kicked something metal out of the way, before turning to the other room.
"Playtime's over, Dean," Zachariah said. "Time to come with us." He took a step forward.
Dean pointed to Zachariah, stopping the angel in his tracks. "You just keep your distance, asshat."
"You're upset," Zachariah noticed.
"No shit, Sherlock," Amy said, crossing her arms.
"You sons of bitches jump-started judgment day!" Dean shouted.
"Maybe we let it happen. We didn't start anything." Zachariah turned to Sam and winked. "Right, Sammy?"
Sam shifted uncomfortably on the spot and Amy narrowed her eyes at Zachariah.
Zachariah turned back to Dean. "You had a chance to stop your brother, and you couldn't. So let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it was all our faults and move on. 'Cause like it or not it's Apocalypse Now. And we're back on the same team again."
Dean nodded slowly. "Is that so?"
"You want to kill the devil," Zachariah said. "We want you to kill the devil. It's...synergy."
"And I'm just supposed to trust you?" Dean asked. "Cram it with walnuts, ugly," he snapped.
Zachariah frowned. "This isn't a game, son. Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast—before he finds his vessel."
Amy glanced over at Sam. She saw Chuck do the same.
"His vessel?" Sam asked. "Lucifer needs a meat suit?"
"He is an angel." Zachariah chuckled as he turned to the angels behind him. "Them's the rules." He stopped laughing and turned back to the others. "And when he touches down, we're talking Four Horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies, the greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean, but you need our help."
Dean frowned. "You listen to me, you two-faced douche. After what you did, I don't want jack squat from you!"
Zachariah took a menacing step forward. "You listen to me, boy! You think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?"
Zachariah suddenly stopped talking as blood began to drip on the floor next to Dean. "You're bleeding," he said pointedly.
Dean smirked. "Oh, yeah—a little insurance policy in case you dicks showed up." He pulled out the sliding kitchen door that he had drawn the banishing sigil on and slammed his palm down on it.
Amy quickly turned away, shielding her eyes. She heard Zachariah scream "No!" as a flash of bright light engulfed the room. When the light was gone, she looked back to see that Zachariah and the other angels were gone.
"Learned that from my friend Cas, you son of a bitch," Dean shouted.
"This sucks ass," Chuck said.
"Seriously," Amy muttered. She turned to Sam and Dean. "Now what?"
"Let's find a motel nearby," Dean said. "We can figure things out from there."
"I think I saw a motel down the street when we drove up here," Sam recalled. "Uh, not the one we stayed at last time," he added at Dean's look.
Dean nodded. "Okay, yeah. We should get going, then. Before those sons of bitches come back."
Sam and Dean began making their way through what was left of the living room. Amy trailed behind them, following them to the front door.
As she reached the front door, Amy caught a glimpse of something moving in the corner of her eye. She turned around to see the living room cleaning itself up. Something moved under her foot and she lifted it up to see a shard of glass fly over to the broken window nearby, fixing the hole in the pane. She glanced over at Chuck, who was busy repairing his house. Without another word, she headed outside and got back in the rental car with Sam and Dean.
Dean drove them to the Regent Inn Hotel down the street. They checked into room thirty-five and headed inside. Sam dropped his bag on his bed, then left, saying there was something he needed to do.
Amy sat with Dean in silence as they loaded up their guns. Sam returned ten minutes later, pulling out two small bags and tossing one to Dean and the other to Amy.
"Hex bags," Sam explained as Amy examined the bag Sam had tossed her. "No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter."
"Where'd you get it?" Dean asked.
"I made it."
"How?"
Sam hesitated and Dean looked up at him. "I...I learned it from Ruby," he finally admitted.
Dean put his gun down and stood up. "Speaking of," Dean said as he approached Sam. "How you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?"
"I-it's weird. Uh, tell you the truth, I'm fine," Sam admitted. "No shakes, no fever. It's like whoever...put me on that plane cleaned me right up."
"Supernatural methadone," Dean concluded.
"Yeah, I guess." Sam paused. "Dean—"
Amy sighed. "Here we go," she whispered to herself.
"Sam." Dean turned away. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything."
Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? "I'm sorry"? "I screwed up"? Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right—"
"So why do you keep bringing it up?!" Dean snapped, turning back to Sam. "Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it."
Sam nodded.
"All right, so, say this is just any other hunt. You know? What do we do first?"
"We'd, uh, figure out where the thing is."
Dean nodded. "All right. So we just got to find...the devil."
"He's not gonna go very far without a vessel," Amy said. "Our best bet is probably somewhere around Ilchester."
Sam pulled out his laptop. "I'll look for any weird weather patterns around there." He sat down at the table and opened up his computer.
May 15th, 2009
The next morning, Dean flipped on the T.V., switching to the news. Amy sat on the bed next to him to watch.
"How would you then explain an earthquake, a hurricane, and multiple tornadoes, all at the same time, all around the globe?" a reporter asked.
"Two words," another reporter said, holding up two fingers. "Carbon emissions."
Dean scoffed. "Yeah, right, wavy gravy."
There was a knock on the door. Dean pulled out his gun while Sam went to open the door.
"Maybe it's Chuck?" Amy whispered.
Dean shook his head. "He would have called ahead."
Sam opened the door and Amy saw a woman with blonde hair, wearing a green plaid shirt under a brown jacket, standing in the doorway. Amy recognized her instantly. Becky.
"Oh, boy," Amy whispered.
Dean leaned over to her, staring at Becky, who was breathing too heavily to even speak. "You know who that is?"
Amy nodded. "Unfortunately."
"You okay, lady?" Sam asked.
"Sam...is it really you?" Becky asked, her voice breaking.
Sam looked back at Dean and Becky took the opportunity to step forward, placing a hand on Sam's chest. Dean put his gun away.
"And you're so firm," she said with a laugh.
"Uh, do I know you?" Sam asked.
Becky pulled her hand back. "No. But I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're-" she turned to Dean, frowning, "—not what I pictured." She turned to Amy last, looking her up and down. "Neither are you." Becky smiled back up at Sam. "I'm Becky."
Becky pushed past Sam and walked into the room. "I read all about you guys," she said. "And I've even written a few-" she glanced down, letting out a childish giggle, before clearing her throat. "Anyway, Mr. Edlund told me where you were."
Dean stood up. "Chuck?"
"What did he say?" Amy asked, standing up as well.
"He's got a message, but he's being watched," Becky said as Sam closed the door. "Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old."
Sam crossed his arms, obviously wanting the conversation to be over. "Right. Just, um...what's the message?"
"He had a vision." She closed her eyes and moved her hand through the air as she relayed the message to them. "The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it."
"The Michael sword?" Dean asked.
"Becky, does he know where it is?"
"In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs."
"In a...huh?" Amy asked. "You sure you got that right?"
Becky nodded. "It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said. I memorized every word." She stepped closer to Sam and put a hand on his chest. "For you."
Sam glanced at Dean and Amy, then back at Becky.
"Um, Becky, c—uh, can you...quit touching me?" Sam stuttered out nervously.
Becky closed her eyes, rubbing her hand along Sam's chest. "No."
Amy cleared her throat. "Well, I guess we better get going then," she said. "Long drive ahead of us."
Dean picked up on the hint. "Uh, yeah." He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Big, long, super long drive so we, uh, we need to leave right...right now. This very second." He grabbed Becky by the arm, pulling her off of his brother. "Thanks for stopping by." He opened the room door and pushed Becky out into the hallway.
Becky leaned over at Sam as Dean closed the door. "I love you," she whispered. The door closed in her face.
Amy burst out laughing as Dean turned back to the room. "Oh my god, I can't," she said in between laughs.
"You know who that was?" Dean asked.
Amy nodded. "Becky Rosen. She's read Chuck's books, is in love with Sam, and is maybe," she held up her hand, holding two fingers close together, "just a teeny, tiny bit," lacing her fingers together, she finished her sentence, "absolutely, extremely obsessed with him. You know, if you couldn't tell from...that."
Sam cleared his throat. "So, uh, forty-two dogs," he said, changing the subject. "What do you suppose Chuck meant by that?"
Dean pulled out his phone. "I'll call Bobby. He might be able to help with this. I'll tell him to bring Baby, too."
Sam nodded in agreement. Dean flipped open his phone and dialed Bobby's number. He walked over to the other side of the room as he put his phone to his ear.
Sam had moved to the table and was now flipping through his dad's journal. Amy sat down across from him. "Find anything?"
Sam frowned at her. "It's only been a minute."
Amy shrugged. "Are you sure your dad's journal would have the answer to that riddle, though?"
Sam shrugged, turning back to the journal. "Dunno. Dad wrote a lot of stuff in here. It's possible something might give us a clue."
Dean walked back over to them, ending his call with Bobby. "Alright, thanks, Bobby. We'll see you in a bit." He hung up the phone.
"Bobby's on his way," he told them. "Should be here by this evening."
Sam nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna keep looking through dad's journal. See if there's anything in here that could help us."
"Anything I can do?" Amy asked.
"Just sit tight for now," Dean said. "There won't be much to do until Bobby gets here with his books."
Amy nodded. She stood up from the table and made her way over to the bed, grabbing the remote. Throwing herself down on the mattress, she flipped on the T.V and began flipping through channels.
Later that evening, there was a knock at the door. Dean opened it to reveal Bobby on the other side.
"Hey, Bobby." Dean let out a laugh as Bobby pulled him into a hug.
Bobby slapped Dean on the back. "Good to see you boys all in one piece." Sam grinned as Bobby pulled him into a hug as well.
Amy walked over. "Hi, Bobby," she greeted, grinning as Bobby pulled her into a hug last.
Dean closed the door. "You weren't followed, were you?"
"You mean by angels, demons-" Bobby turned to Sam "-or Sam's new superfan?"
Sam let out a nervous laugh. "You heard."
"I heard, Romeo," Bobby confirmed. He turned to Dean. "So...sword of Michael, huh?"
"You think we're talking about the actual sword from the actual archangel?" Dean asked.
"I don't remember there being an actual sword in the show," Amy said, thinking out loud.
"Well, you better friggin' hope there is. I've got some books in the car that might help. Let me run down and grab them real quick." Bobby headed out of the room.
Dean made himself a cup of coffee while Bobby went back downstairs. A few minutes later, Bobby returned, holding a small pile of books. He set the smaller ones on the bed and put the largest one down on the table by the window, sitting down. Sam and Amy each pulled a chair up to the table, sitting on either side of Bobby.
Bobby opened it up to a painting of who Amy figured was Michael, holding a sword. "That's Michael. Toughest son of a bitch they got." Sam flipped to a different picture.
Dean walked behind them, holding his coffee. He leaned in to look at the picture and scoffed. "You kidding me? Tough? That guy looks like Cate Blanchett."
"Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me," Bobby retorted. "He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword." Bobby pointed to the sword in Michael's hand. "So if we can find it..."
"We can kick the devil's ass all over again," Sam finished. "All right. So, where do we start?"
"Divvy up and start reading," Bobby said, "try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense."
Bobby watched as Sam stood up and headed for the pile of books in his eyes. Amy saw anger flashing in his eyes.
"You've really got some nerve, kid," Bobby growled to Sam, "you know that?"
Sam turned around. "What?" he asked.
"Killing Lilith?" Bobby asked. "Starting Armageddon even after you were warned about Lilith and Ruby?"
Sam looked over at Dean and Amy. They stayed silent.
"You're right," he finally said. "I killed Lilith, and I set Lucifer free. Amy tried to warn me about this, but I didn't listen. I brought this on."
Bobby rose from his seat and walked closer to Sam. "You're damn right you didn't listen," he said. "You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."
Sam's breath was shaky. "I'm sorry."
Bobby moved closer, getting in Sam's face. "Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off...I want you to lose my number."
"Bobby!" Amy exclaimed in shock. Dean held out a hand to stop her, shaking his head.
"You understand me?" Bobby continued.
Sam nodded. The expression on his face didn't change. He had been expecting this. "There's an old church nearby," he said shakily. "Maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there."
"Yeah. You do that."
Sam hesitated for a moment, before turning and heading out the door. Bobby watched him leave, before heading back to the table.
Amy didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She silently grabbed a book off the bed and sat down, opening to the first page.
An hour later, Bobby broke the silence. The three hunters had been focused on researching anything they could find on the sword.
"I never would have guessed that your daddy was right," Bobby said.
"About what?" Dean asked, not looking up from his book.
"About your brother."
Dean looked up at that.
"What John said—you save Sam or kill him. Maybe..." Bobby trailed off.
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe we shouldn't have tried so hard to save him."
Dean sighed. "Bobby."
Amy frowned. Something about this didn't seem right. This didn't sound like the Bobby she knew. He would never willingly suggest they leave Sam for dead. Everything about this was wrong.
"He ended the world, Dean," Bobby argued. "And we weren't strong enough to stop him proper. That's on us. I'm just saying, your dad was right."
Realization crossed Dean's face. "Dad." He hurried over to his bag and pulled out a Ziplock bag full of cards. "It's got to be in here somewhere." He opened the bag and reached inside.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Dean pulled out one of the cards. "Here." He walked back over to them. "I don't believe it."
"What is it?" Amy asked.
"It's a card for my dad's lockup in upstate New York." Dean handed Bobby the card. "Read it."
Bobby took the card, reading it. "Castle Storage. Forty-two Rover Hill."
"Castle on a hill of forty-two dogs," Dean and Amy said simultaneously. Dean took the card back.
"So you think your dad had the Michael sword all this time?" Bobby asked.
"That's one hell of a souvenir," Amy commented.
Dean shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure what else Chuck could have meant."
"Yeah. Okay." Bobby smiled menacingly. "It's good enough for me."
Bobby suddenly punched Dean, knocking him through the barrier between the kitchenette and the beds. Dean groaned as Bobby yanked him up, slamming him back down on the ground.
Amy rushed forward, grabbing demon-Bobby around the neck, but she was easily thrown off. The demon turned to her. He grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her into the air, before throwing her hard into the wall behind her.
The demon turned back to Dean, grabbing him by the throat and pulling him to his feet. Amy saw his eyes go black.
The room door opened and two more demons entered. The male demon closed the door behind them, standing in front of it.
Amy recognized the female demon instantly. Pink shirt under a black jacket, and brown hair that went a little past her shoulders. Meg.
Meg smirked at Dean. "I always knew you were a big, dumb, slow, dim pain in the ass, Dean." She turned her head, eyeing Ruby's knife on the table. "But I never dreamed you were so V.I.P." She picked up the knife and pointed it at Dean. "I mean, you're gonna ice the devil? You? If I'd have known that, I'd have ripped your pretty, pretty face off ages ago."
"Ruby."
"Try again," Meg said. "Go back further."
"Meg," Amy snarled, drawing Meg's attention to her. She struggled to her feet.
"I'm sorry," Meg said with a chuckle, "do I know you?"
Amy stood her ground, staring at Meg. "Nope," she stated. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "But I know you."
Meg smirked. She turned to the demon by the door. "Make sure she doesn't try anything."
The other demon gave Meg a small nod. Before Amy could react, he was behind her, holding her arms behind her back.
Meg turned back to Dean. "These are the days of miracle and wonder, Dean. Our father's among us. You know we're all dreaming again for the first time since we were human? It's heaven on earth." She tilted her head. "Or hell. We really owe your brother a fruit basket."
"My god, you like the sound of your own voice," Dean interrupted.
Meg ignored him. "But you, on the other hand, you're the only bump in the road. So every demon—every single one—is just dying for a piece of you."
Dean smirked. "Get in line."
"Oh, I'm in the front of the line, baby." Meg leaned close to Dean's face. "Let's ride." She grabbed Dean's chin, planting a kiss on his lips.
Dean groaned in frustration, coughing as Meg pulled away. "What is that? Peanut butter?" he asked.
"You know, your surrogate daddy's still awake screaming in there." Meg turned to demon-Bobby, handing him the demon knife. "And I want him to know how it feels slicing the life out of you."
'Bobby' raised the knife to Dean's throat. Dean started to struggle and the demon pinned him to the wall.
"Dean!" Amy struggled against the demon holding her, trying to break free from its grip. "No!"
'Bobby' turned back to Meg.
"Now!" Meg yelled impatiently.
The demon raised the knife in the air to stab Dean.
"Bobby! No!" Dean shouted.
"No!" Amy screamed as the knife was swung down. However, it missed Dean completely, burying itself in Bobby's stomach.
Bobby flashed with light a few times, before collapsing to the ground.
Dean immediately ran forward, punching Meg in the face. Amy kicked the demon holding her in the knee and elbowed him in the stomach. The demon dropped her and she spun around, landing a punch in the face before being thrown back into the wall. He walked up before she had a chance to get back up and began repeatedly punching her in the face.
Sam entered the room. He wildly looked around, seeing Bobby on the ground with a knife in his stomach and Dean and Amy getting beat up by demons. "No!" he screamed.
Meg stopped beating Dean and stood up, turning to Sam. "Heya, Sammy," she said. "You miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you."
"Meg?"
Meg grinned. Sam swung a punch but missed. Meg kicked him in the crotch and knocked him to the ground.
Dean quickly got up and rushed to the demon beating on Amy. He kicked him off of her and she rolled out of the way, scrambling to her feet as Dean punched the demon in the face.
Meg knelt down in front of Sam. "It's not so easy without those super-special demon powers, huh, Sammy?" She punched Sam in the face.
Amy kicked the feet out from underneath the male demon. Dean pulled the knife out from Bobby's stomach and stabbed the male demon in the chest. The demon flickered, before collapsing. Dean turned to Meg.
Meg stood up as Dean approached her. She backed away, before throwing her head back and letting out a scream as the black smoke rushed out of her mouth. The woman swayed for a bit, before collapsing to the ground.
Amy rushed over to Bobby and felt his pulse. It was still there. "He's still alive," she told the others.
Sam and Dean rushed over. They pulled Bobby to his feet and Amy pulled open the door for them.
They hurried out to the Impala. Sam and Dean lay Bobby down in the backseat and Amy squeezed in next to him as Dean sped to the hospital.
The Winchesters carried Bobby into the hospital. Amy had to run to keep up as they burst through the doors.
"Need some help here!" Dean called frantically.
A nurse ran over to them. "What happened?"
"He was stabbed," Sam explained.
The nurse looked over her shoulder. "Can we get a gurney?" she called.
Two other nurses rushed a gurney over. The first nurse grabbed it and pulled it over to Bobby.
Sam and Dean lay Bobby down on the gurney.
"Hang on, Bobby," Dean said. "Hang in there. You're gonna be okay."
The two nurses who brought the gurney rushed Bobby off. Sam, Dean, and Amy attempted to follow, but the first nurse stopped them. "Just wait here," she instructed.
"He's our friend," Amy said, panic rising in her voice.
"We can't just leave him," Sam added.
The nurse held out her hand. "Just don't move," she ordered. "I've got questions." She walked away, eyeing them suspiciously.
Sam rubbed a nervous hand through his hair and leaned back against the wall. He was breathing heavily.
"Sammy, we got to go," Dean said.
Sam shook his head. "No. No way, Dean."
"The demons heard where the sword is," Dean continued. "We got to get to it before they do if we're not too late already. Come on!"
Sam nodded and the three of them quickly made their way out to the car. They climbed back in and Dean started the engine, speeding off towards New York.
Buffalo, New York
A few hours later, they reached the Castle Storage place in New York. They got out of the car and circled around to the trunk, silently loading shotguns and pistols.
Dean led them to John's storage unit. Sam and Amy stood watch for demons while he unlocked the door.
Amy held her shotgun at the ready as she followed Sam and Dean into the storage unit. There was a devil's trap directly in front of the entrance and two dead bodies that lay sprawled across it. They moved further into the unit, looking around for any sign of more demons.
"I see you told the demons where the sword is."
Amy turned around, aiming her shotgun at the noise. Zachariah stood behind them with the two angels from Chuck's.
"Oh, thank god," Dean said sarcastically. "The angels are here."
Dean walked forward, stepping over one of the corpses. "And to think...they could have grabbed it any time they wanted." He waved a hand, closing the sliding door. "It was right in front of them."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"He means Dean," Amy informed him.
Dean turned to her. "What?"
"Oh, she's right," Zachariah said. "Again. We may have planted that particular piece of prophecy inside Chuck's skull, but it happened to be true. We did lose the Michael sword," he admitted. "We truly couldn't find it. Until now. You've just hand-delivered it to us." He turned to Dean.
Dean scoffed. "We don't have anything."
Zachariah stared at Dean in disbelief and took a deep breath. "It's you, chucklehead," he revealed. "You're the Michael sword."
Dean stared at the angel, not saying anything. After a moment, he turned to Amy. "Did you know about this?"
Amy nodded. "I forgot about it in the midst of everything happening yesterday, but yeah, I knew."
"What, you thought you could actually kill Lucifer?" Zachariah asked. The amused tone in his voice didn't go unnoticed. "You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No. You're just a human, Dean." He stepped over the other corpse as he walked around the devil's trap. "And not much of one," he muttered.
"What do you mean, I'm the sword?" Dean demanded.
"You're Michael's vessel," Amy explained.
Dean cast Amy a quick glance, before turning back to Zachariah. "How? Why—why me?"
"Because you're chosen!" Zachariah exclaimed. "It's a great honor, Dean."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, life as an angel condom. That's real fun," Dean said sarcastically. "I think I'll pass, thanks."
Zachariah shook his head. "Joking," he whispered. "Always joking. Well...no more jokes."
The angel raised one hand, his fingers pointed like a gun and aimed at Dean. He suddenly shifted his hand over to Sam. "Bang."
Amy heard a loud crunch and Sam fell the ground. She saw Zachariah aim his hand at her and say "bang" again.
Amy felt the bones in both of her legs snap in half. Pain shot through her legs as they buckled underneath her, dropping her to the ground.
"God!" Sam groaned out in pain.
"Sam!"
"You son of a bitch!" Dean snapped.
"Keep mouthing off, I'll break more than their legs," Zachariah threatened. "I am completely and utterly through screwing around. The war has begun. We don't have our general. That's bad. Now, Michael is going to take his vessel and lead the final charge against the adversary." He took a menacing step forward. "You understand me?"
"How about you guys fuck off?" Amy asked through the pain in her legs. "Is that an option?"
"How many humans die in the crossfire, huh?" Dean demanded. "A million? Five, ten?"
Zachariah shrugged. "Probably more. If Lucifer goes unchecked, you know how many die? All of them. He'll roast the planet alive."
"There's a reason you're telling me this instead of just nabbing me," Dean realized. "You need my consent. Michael needs my say-so to ride around in my skin."
Zachariah stared coldly at Dean. "Unfortunately, yes."
Dean shook his head. "Well, there's got to be another way."
"There is no other way," Zachariah said forcefully. "There must be a battle. Michael must defeat the serpent. It is written."
"Yeah, maybe. But, on the other hand..." Dean paused for a moment. "Eat me. The answer's no."
Zachariah sighed. "Okay. How about this? Your friend Bobby—we know he's gravely injured. Say yes, and we'll heal him. Say no, he'll never walk again."
Amy glanced up at Dean. He seemed to be considering the option. "No," he finally answered weakly.
"Then how about we heal you from...stage-four stomach cancer?"
Dean suddenly started coughing. He doubled over, coughing a small pool of blood into his palm. "No," he strained.
"Then let's get really creative. Uh, let's see how...Amy does without her lungs."
Amy suddenly found herself unable to breathe. She tried to draw in air, but to no avail. The air had nowhere to go. She rolled onto her back, trying desperately to fight the panic growing in her empty chest.
"Are we having fun yet?" Amy heard Zachariah ask. "You're going to say yes, Dean."
"Just kill us," Dean groaned.
"Kill you?" Zachariah laughed. "Oh, no. I'm just getting started."
There was a sudden flash of bright white light. Amy didn't turn to see who it was. She was too busy focused on the fact that she was slowly dying. She heard fighting next to her.
"How are you..." Zachariah trailed off.
Amy heard Castiel's voice. "Alive?" he asked. "That's a good question. How did these three end up on that airplane? Another good question. 'Cause the angels didn't do it. I think we both know the answer, don't we?"
Amy closed her eyes as she drifted off into unconsciousness. The voices of Castiel and Zachariah now sounded distant and muffled.
The next thing Amy felt was cold air rush into her lungs and the pain in her legs subside. She opened her eyes, but continued lying on the ground, taking several breaths.
After a few moments, she slowly stood back up. Castiel stood in front of them, no longer dead.
"You two need to be more careful," the angel told them as he walked forward.
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that," Dean agreed. "Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought."
"I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel." Cas glanced over at Sam. "And once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you."
Cas turned to Sam and Dean, placing a hand on their chests. Sam and Dean suddenly gasped.
"What the hell was that?" Dean asked, clutching his chest.
"An Enochian sigil," Cas explained as he turned to Amy. "It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer." He placed a hand on Amy's chest, and she felt a painful sensation shot through her chest. It felt weird, like someone had just pushed hard on her ribs.
"What, did you just brand us with it?" Dean asked.
"No. I carved it into your ribs," Cas stated.
"Cas..." Amy trailed off. "We thought you were dead."
Castiel paused. "I was," he finally admitted.
"Then how are you back?" Dean asked.
Instead of answering, there was a gust of wind and Cas disappeared.
They stood there in silence for several seconds. Finally, Dean spoke.
"We should get back to Ohio. We can visit Bobby in the hospital tomorrow, see how he's doing." He walked towards the door leading out of the storage unit, sliding it open. Sam and Amy followed him out to the Impala.
Kripke's Hollow, Ohio
They got back to the hospital around 8PM. Dean led them to the reception desk and got Bobby's room number. He led them to room 113 and they headed inside. Bobby was sitting in a hospital bed. There was a doctor standing in the room, talking to Bobby.
The hunters leaned against the wall as the doctor told Bobby there was a chance he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
"Unlikely to walk again?!" Bobby snapped. "Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed!"
The doctor quickly ran out of the room, looking terrified.
"I'll use my game leg and kick your friggin' ass!" Bobby called after the young doctor. "Yeah, you better run!" He looked over at the others. "You believe that yahoo?"
"Screw him. You'll be fine," Dean told him.
There was a long pause.
"So, let me ask the million-dollar question," Sam finally said. "What do we do now?"
Bobby's face fell. "Well... We save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, heaven or hell, we're boned."
"What if we win?" Dean asked confidently.
Amy and Bobby turned to Dean, staring at him.
"I'm serious," Dean said when he saw their faces. "I mean, screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet." He started slowly walking around to the other side of Bobby's bed. "This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves."
"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?" Bobby asked.
"I got no idea," Dean admitted. "But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, and I'll figure it out."
Amy shook her head in amusement. "You're insane."
"It's been said." Dean pat Bobby on the shoulder. "Listen, you stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit."
Dean headed for the door. Sam and Amy followed.
"Sam?"
Sam stopped at the foot of Bobby's bed. Amy and Dean turned back into the room to hear what Bobby had to say to him
"I was awake." There was a long pause. "I know what I said back there," Bobby continued. "I just want you to know that...that was the demon talking. I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever."
There was another long pause until Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Bobby."
Bobby gave Sam a small smile. "You're welcome. I deserve a damn medal for this, but...you're welcome."
Sam turned away from the bed and they walked out of the room, heading out to the parking lot.
"You know," Sam said as they walked outside. "I was thinking, Dean—maybe we could go after the Colt."
"Why?" Dean asked. "What difference would that make?"
"Well, we could use it on Lucifer," Sam suggested. "I mean, you just said back there—"
Dean cut him off. "I just said a bunch of crap for Bobby's benefit." He stopped in the middle of the road, turning around to face Sam. "I mean, I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance, and you know that. I mean, hell, you of all people know that." Dean turned back around and began walking towards the car.
Amy opened her mouth to say something, but decided now probably wasn't the best time. When would be the best time to tell them that Lucifer was one of the things the Colt couldn't kill? After they got it? Sometime before? How far before they went after Lucifer did they get the Colt? Wasn't there someone who was killed when they tried to go after Lucifer with the Colt in the show?
"Dean..." Sam trailed off. Dean stopped again, turning back around. "Is there something you want to say to me?"
There was a long pause before Dean finally spoke. "I tried, Sammy. I mean, I really tried. Amy tried. I tried. But I just can't keep pretending that everything's all right. Because it's not. And it's never going to be." He paused, looking his brother in the eyes. "Even after learning the truth, even after we learned early on that Lilith was the final seal, you still chose a demon over me and Amy and look what happened."
"I would give anything—anything—to take it all back," Sam said quietly.
Dean sighed. "I know you would. And I know how sorry you are. I do. But, man...you were the one that I depended on the most. You had every chance to back out and you let me down in ways that I can't even..." Dean trailed off, struggling to come up with the words. "I'm just—I'm having a hard time forgiving and forgetting here. You know?"
"What can I do?"
Dean chuckled. "Honestly? Nothing," he admitted.
Sam looked down and gave a small nod.
"I just don't...I don't think that we can ever be what we were. You know?"
Sam nodded again.
"I just don't think I can trust you."
At this, Sam looked back up. Shock flashed across his face.
Dean shook his head as he turned and walked away. Amy slowly followed without a word as Dean paused at the trunk of the Impala and looked back at Sam, who hadn't moved. He opened the driver's door and got in.
Amy slid into the back, sliding down until she was lying across the seat. She didn't feel like saying anything at that moment and angering Dean.
After a few, long moments, Sam finally moved. He walked solemnly to the Impala and opened the passenger door, getting into the front. He turned his head away from Dean, looking out the window.
Nobody said a word as Dean started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. They started driving down the road, looking for a new motel to stay the night in.