April 29th - May 2nd, 2007
We were on the road to another case, but Dean decided to stop for burgers when we pulled up to the Sunnyside Diner.
"Hey, don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?" Dean asked as he handed Sam some money.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Dude, we're the ones who are gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions."
Dean grinned, and Sam sighed as he got out of the Impala.
"Hey, see if they've got any pie," Dean said.
Sam glared and shut the door.
"Bring us some pie!" I shouted after him.
"I love me some pie." Dean sighed to himself.
We watched as Sam walked in and talked to a man at the front counter when the radio became static. Dean glanced down and fiddled with it.
Then when I looked back up, I realized there was no one in the diner anymore. "Uh, Dean? Where's Sam?"
Dean looked up quickly. "What?" He grabbed his gun out of the glove compartment and got out, then he walked around to my door. "Come on. I'm not letting you disappear on me too."
I quickly got out and followed behind Dean.
When we walked into the diner, the first thing I noticed was a customer sitting face first in a pool of blood at a booth.
Dean drew his gun. "Sam?"
As we walked toward the back of the diner, we both noticed the employees were also dead, lying behind the counter with their throats slit.
We continued walking through the kitchen and to the back, but we still didn't see any sign of Sam.
Dean opened the back door and looked around. "Sam?!"
I looked down and noticed a powdery-yellow substance on the doorknob. "Hey, Dean." I pointed to it.
He walked over and examined it. "Sulfur." He looked at me, and I nodded.
We hurried back out to the Impala, Dean made one last effort to call for Sam before he got in, but it was no help.
We decided our best option was to meet up with Bobby. So, on the way, Dean called to fill him in on what was going on. Dean had also made a phone call to Ash, hoping that he would be able to detect something in the area. We met Bobby a few hours later on a back road and exchanged information.
We peered down at Bobby's map that had been placed on the hood of the Impala.
"This is it. All demonic signs and omens over the past month," Bobby said.
"Are you joking? There's nothing here," Dean said, frustrated.
Bobby nodded. "Exactly."
Dean shook his head. "Well, come on, there's gotta be something. What about the— the— the normal, low-level stuff? Ya know, exorcisms, that kind of thing."
"That's what I'm telling you: there's nothing." Bobby shook his head. "It's completely quiet."
"Well, how are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?" Dean asked.
Ring! Ring!
Dean urgently answered his phone, "Ash, what do you got?" (...) He groaned. "Oh, come on, man! You've gotta give us something. We're looking at a three-thousand-mile haystack here." (...) "Well, what?" (...) "Come on, I don't have time for this!" (...) "I guess we're going to the Roadhouse." He hung up and then looked at Bobby and me. "Come on."
When we turned the corner to the Roadhouse, the entire building was a giant smoking pile of rubble.
"What the hell?" Dean asked, shocked.
We got out and walked up to the Roadhouse. We couldn't believe that nothing was standing. Dean had just gotten off the phone with Ash an hour before.
"Oh, my god," Bobby said, utterly horrified.
We started searching around to see if we could find anything.
"You see Ellen or Nate?" Dean asked.
Bobby shook his head. "No. No Ash, either."
Dean suddenly stopped and bent down. "Oh, Ash, damn it!" He was holding Ash's watch, which was attached to a very burnt corpse.
We made our way back to the Impala.
"This is..." Bobby shook his head.
"What the hell did Ash know? We've got no way of knowing where Ellen and Nate are. Or if they're even alive." Dean shook his head. "We've got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us. Now, how the hell are we gonna find Sam?"
"We'll find him," Bobby said.
Dean clutched his head in pain, exactly the same way Sam did when he had visions.
"Dean?" I asked.
He groaned and doubled over in pain on the hood of the Impala.
"What was that?" Bobby asked when Dean composed himself.
Dean shook his head. "I don't know. A headache?"
"You get headaches like that a lot?" Bobby asked.
"No. Must be the stress." Dean chuckled. "I could have sworn I saw something."
"What do you mean? Like a vision? Like what Sam gets?" Bobby asked.
"What? No!" Dean shook his head.
Bobby shrugged. "I'm just saying."
"Come on. I'm not some psychic," Dean said and then grasped his head in pain again.
"Dean?" Bobby ran over to him. "Dean! Are you with us?"
Dean groaned and stood up. "Yeah, I think so. I saw Sam. I saw him, Bobby."
I gasped. "It was a vision."
"Yeah. I don't know how, but yeah." Dean nodded. "That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels."
"What else did you see?" Bobby asked.
"Uh... there was a bell," Dean said.
"What kind of bell?" Bobby asked.
"Like a big bell with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know." Dean shrugged.
Bobby squinted. "Engraving?"
Dean nodded. "Yeah."
"Was it a tree? Like, an oak tree?" Bobby asked.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, exactly."
"I know where Sam is," Bobby said.
Dean and I looked at Bobby with curious expressions, and then we all got into the Impala.
We went back and grabbed Bobby's truck. About an hour later, we pulled up in front of a wooded area.
"Well, it looks like the rest of the way's on foot," Bobby said.
The three of us got out and walked around to the trunk of the Impala. Dean and Bobby grabbed guns.
Dean looked down at me. "You know the drill."
I nodded.
Dean looked at Bobby and me. "Let's go."
We made it to an opening in the woods, we could see what looked like an old frontier town in the distance.
"Sam!" Dean yelled.
"Do you think he's here?" I asked. "It looks pretty empty."
Dean looked down at me. "I don't know, but it's all we've got for now." He looked back up. "Sam!"
"Dean!" We heard Sam yell and then saw him walking hurriedly towards us while clutching his shoulder.
"Sam!" we yelled and then started running toward him.
Then a man walked up behind him with a large knife.
"Sam, look out!" Dean yelled and then ran faster.
Sam hesitated at Dean's warning, and then the man stabbed him in the back. Sam looked down at his stomach, almost in disbelief, and then fell to his knees.
"No!" Dean and I yelled.
Tears formed in my eyes. The man looked up at us and then took off, running into the woods behind him.
"No, Sam!" Dean yelled as he slid to his knees in front of him.
As Sam collapsed forward onto Dean's shoulder, Bobby and I reached them. Bobby ran off into the woods, chasing after the man. I collapsed to my knees next to my brothers.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sam. Sam! Hey! Hey, hey. Come here. Let me look at you," Dean said, sounding completely panicked. He placed his hand on Sam's back, and when he lifted it, his hand was completely covered in blood.
I moved around to the back of Sam and took off my jacket, putting pressure on his wound. I immediately started crying harder when I saw how much blood there was.
Dean pushed Sam back while still holding him up so he could look into Sam's eyes. "Hey, look at me. It's not even that bad. It's not even that bad, all right? Sammy?"
Sam didn't respond, and his head just wobbled.
"Sam!" Dean shouted. "Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be good as new. Huh? I'm gonna take care of you. I'm gonna take care of you. I've got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother?" He grabbed Sam's face. "Sam? Sam! Sam! Sammy!"
Sam's body slumped forward onto Dean.
"No, no, no. Oh god, oh god," Dean said, tears streaming down his face. "Sam!
About a day had passed since Bobby and Dean had carried Sam into one of the houses within the small abandoned town.
They found a bedroom and set him down on the bed. Bobby had been coming and going from a town to pick us up some things. Mostly Dean just wanted alcohol, and I wasn't starving.
I was ready to give Sam a proper hunter's funeral, I didn't want to let him go, but I couldn't stand seeing him dead on the bed in front of me. I had barely entered the room that he was in, but Dean hadn't left his side. I felt bad that I wasn't in there with him, but seeing Sam lifeless, just made me cry more.
Bobby returned from town with fast food. "Brought you guys some food."
I shook my head but didn't say anything.
"No, thanks. I'm fine," Dean said, from the other room.
"You two should eat something," Bobby said.
"I said I'm fine," Dean snapped.
Bobby sighed. "Dean... I hate to bring this up, I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time... we bury Sam?"
"No," Dean said.
"We could..." Bobby sighed. "Maybe—"
"What? Torch his corpse? Not yet," Dean said.
"I want you to come with me," Bobby said.
"I'm not going anywhere," Dean said.
"Dean, please," Bobby begged.
"Would you cut me some slack?" Dean asked.
"I just don't think you two should be alone here, that's all. I gotta admit, I could use your help," Bobby said.
Dean scoffed.
"Something big is going down... end-of-the-world big," Bobby said.
"Well, then let it end!" Dean yelled.
Bobby shook his head. "You don't mean that."
Dean stood up and got in Bobby's face. "You don't think so? Huh? You don't think we've given enough?" He gestured to himself and me. "You don't think we've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, you'd turn around and get the hell out of here."
Bobby shook his head.
Dean shoved Bobby. "Go!" He turned with his head down and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, just go."
"You know where I'll be," Bobby said and turned.
I stood up and followed Bobby to the door. Dean turned around, and we made eye contact, but neither of us said anything.
I closed the door behind Bobby and me and then followed him to his truck. Bobby looked at me but didn't say anything. We both climbed into his truck, and then he started down the road.
As we drove, I spotted my bloody jacket lying on the ground where we had found Sam. "Wait!"
Bobby gasped and suddenly stopped. "What?"
I hopped out of the truck and ran over to my jacket. I stared at it for a moment before picking it up. I needed something to say goodbye to Sam. I walked back over to the truck and climbed in. Bobby looked at me sadly and then started driving again.
Bobby had found a way in and out of the abandoned town, so on our way out, we had stopped at the Impala to grab my bag, and then we continued on our way to his house.
Once we were there, we made our way into the house, and I walked back into his guest bedroom and closed the door behind me.
Knock! Knock!
"Maddi, I'm just gonna be out here if you need me." Bobby sighed.
I pulled my backpack out of my duffel bag and put my jacket, and Harry Potter movies and books in it.
I dumped my duffel bag over and packed a few clothes and a couple of random snacks into my backpack. I picked up the random matches that had fallen out of my bag onto the bed and put them into my pocket.
"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked me.
I looked up to see Sully standing on the opposite side of the bed.
"Why are you back?" I asked.
"I know what happened to Sam," Sully said sadly.
"Sully, I know what you're trying to do, but I really don't need this right now," I said and then walked over to the window.
I opened it and pulled the screen out. I climbed out of the window and started off into the woods.
"Maddi, you should really go back," Sully said.
"I need to do this," I said.
"What are you doing?" Sully asked.
I didn't answer and kept walking as he trailed behind me. We had walked for a while before he spoke again.
"What are you doing?" Sully asked.
"I need to say goodbye," I said.
Sully sighed. "Maddi, I—"
"Please, just stop talking," I snapped.
Eventually, I came to a small opening. I walked into the center, took my backpack off, and set it on the ground. I searched around for dry leaves and twigs. Once I gathered some, I returned to the center of the opening.
I set up the twigs and dry leaves and then placed my books and movies on top. I pulled out my jacket and looked at the bloodstains with tears in my eyes, then I set it on top of everything. I pulled the matches out of my pocket and lit one, watching the flame flicker.
Sully cleared his throat. "I know you told me to stay quiet, but starting a fire in the middle of the woods is dangerous."
"I don't care," I said and then placed the match at the bottom of my pile.
I watched as the flame grew, and once the books caught fire, the rest was completely engulfed shortly after. I sat there for a while and cried, watching as everything I had left of Sam burned.
Once everything had burned down to a pile of ash, I stood up, grabbed my bag, and started walking.
"Aren't you gonna go back to Bobby's?" Sully asked.
"No," I said.
"Where are you going then?" Sully asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know."
"Maddi, I think you should go back." Sully put his hand on my shoulder and stepped in front of me.
I shook my head, tears in my eyes. "I can't."
"Why not?" Sully asked, looking tearful himself.
"Because I'm losing everyone I love." I looked down and started crying. "I can't lose Dean too."
Sully knelt and looked into my eyes. "Running away isn't going to change that. If you leave, he's going to lose you too."
"I think it would be easier for us to be apart, I don't think I can handle seeing him die too." I cried.
"You need each other right now," Sully said, "You need to go back, Bobby is worried and looking for you."
I shook my head and started walking. "I can't."
"Maddi, please... I know you're hurting now, but you have to trust me. You and Dean need each other," Sully said.
I stopped and started crying harder.
"Don't make this decision on a broken heart," Sully said.
"Maddison!" Bobby called for me in the distance.
I started running back to Bobby's. The closer I got, the louder his yelling became.
As I was running, everything was blurry, so I tripped over some roots, scratching up my arms and legs, but I continued to follow Bobby's yelling.
Once I reached him, I slammed into him with a full-force hug and kept crying. He was taken aback for a moment and then hugged me back.
"I'm sorry." I sobbed.
"It's okay," Bobby soothed and rubbed my back.
"I wish my dad was here." I cried harder.
"Come here," Bobby said and scooped me up into his arms.
After Bobby finished cleaning and patching up my scratches, he sat with me until I fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up to a knock on the front door, but when I went out to the living room to see who it was, I was completely shocked.
"Hey, Bobby," Sam said as I approached the door.
Bobby looked stunned. "Sam. It's good to... see you up and around."
I had so many emotions, I was happy to see Sam, but I was worried that Dean had done something stupid. I gave Dean a "what did you do" face, he returned it with an almost shameful look.
"Yeah... thanks for patching me up." Sam patted Bobby on the shoulder and walked past him. He smiled down at me and then walked towards Bobby's desk.
"Don't mention it," Bobby said while staring Dean down.
Dean followed after Sam. "Well, Sam's better. And we're back in it now, so... what do you know?"
Sam gave Dean a strange look, knowing something weird was definitely going on.
Bobby sighed. "Well, I found something. But I'm not sure what the hell it means."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"Demonic omens... like a friggin' tidal wave. Cattle deaths. Lightning storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." Bobby placed a map on the desk. "All around here, except for one place... Southern Wyoming."
"Wyoming?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. That one area's totally clean... spotless. It's almost as if..." Bobby was hit with a sudden realization.
"What?" Sam asked.
"The demons are surrounding it," Bobby said.
"But you don't know why?" Dean asked.
Bobby shook his head. "No, and by this point, my eyes are swimming. Sam, Maddi, would you take a look at it? Maybe you two could catch something I couldn't."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, sure."
"Come on, Dean." Bobby patted Dean on the shoulder. "I got some more books in the truck. Help me lug 'em in."
"Yeah." Dean nodded and then followed Bobby outside.
Sam sat down at the desk and started looking at the map. I walked over and couldn't help but stare at him. I was amazed to see him alive and well.
"You okay?" Sam asked, not looking up from the map.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine," I said quickly.
Sam looked up at me. "You sure? I can feel you staring at me."
I laughed awkwardly. "Staring at you? No, I was looking at the map." I bent down to actually start analyzing it with him. "Jeez Sam, can you say self-absorbed?"
Sam chuckled. "Yeah, okay..." He started looking at the map again.
A few minutes later, Bobby and Dean walked in, but they weren't alone.
"Nate? Ellen?" I asked, completely shocked.
Bobby had Ellen and Nate sit down at his table. He poured them each a shot of holy water and pushed the glasses forward.
Ellen sighed. "Bobby, is this really necessary?"
Bobby shrugged. "Just a belt of holy water. Shouldn't hurt."
Ellen and Nate looked at each other and then took the shot.
Ellen shoved her glass at Bobby. "Whiskey now if you don't mind."
Nate shoved his glass forward too. "Yeah, me too."
Ellen glanced over at Nate. "Nice try, kid."
Bobby smiled and walked over to grab a bottle of whiskey.
"Ellen, what happened? How'd you two get out?" Dean asked.
Ellen sighed sadly. "We weren't supposed to. We were supposed to be in there with everybody else." She scoffed. "But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck." She picked up the whiskey Bobby poured her and drank it. "Anyway, that's when Ash called. Panic in his voice." She sighed. "He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time we got back, the flames were sky-high. And everybody was dead. We couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes." She looked over at Nate and brushed her hand through his hair, looking worried.
Sam sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, Ellen."
Ellen nodded with tears in her eyes. "A lot of good people died in there."
"Ellen, you mentioned a safe," Bobby said.
She nodded. "A hidden safe we keep in the basement."
"Demons get what was in it?" Bobby asked.
Ellen shook her head. "No." She pulled a map out of her jacket pocket, unfolded it, and set it on the table. There were several lines and X's drawn on it.
"Wyoming. What does that mean?" Dean pointed to the map.
"I don't believe it." Bobby walked into the room, where we were all researching and set a large book down on his desk.
"What? You got something?" Sam asked.
"A lot more than that. Each of these X's..." Bobby pointed to the map. "Is an abandoned frontier church; all mid-19th century. And all of them built by Samuel Colt."
"Samuel Colt... the demon-killing, gun-making, Samuel Colt?" Dean asked.
Bobby nodded. "Yup. And there's more. He built private railway lines..." He pointed to the lines on the map. "Connecting church to church. It just happens to lay out like this." He picked up a marker and connected the churches on the map, creating a star shape.
I gasped. "Is that a—"
"It's a devil's trap." Sam said in astonishment, "A 100-square mile devil's trap."
Dean raised his eyebrows, impressed. "That's brilliant. Iron lines demons can't cross."
Ellen shook her head. "I've never heard of anything that massive."
Bobby shrugged. "No one has."
"And after all these years, none of the lines are broken? I mean, it still works?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded. "Definitely."
"How do you know?" Dean asked.
"All those omens Bobby found." Sam shrugged. "I mean the demons, they must be circling, and they can't get in."
Bobby nodded. "Yeah, well... they're trying."
"Why? What's inside?" Ellen asked.
Dean sighed. "That's what I've been looking for. And, uh, there's nothing except an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle."
"Well, what's so important about a cemetery or... what's Colt trying to protect?" Sam asked.
"Well, unless..." Dean thought for a moment.
"Unless what?" Bobby asked.
"What if Colt wasn't trying to keep the demons out? What if he was trying to keep something in?" Dean asked.
"Now that's a comforting thought," Ellen said sarcastically.
"Yeah, you think?" Dean asked.
"Could they do it, Bobby?" Sam asked, "Could they get inside?"
"This thing's so powerful, you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it. No way a full-blood demon gets across," Bobby said.
"No," Sam said, "But I know who could."
As we made our way to the center of the devil's trap, Sam explained to us that after he was taken, he was put in that old town with other people his age, all with demon powers as well.
The demon was pitting them against each other to see who the survivor was. A man named Jake was the last survivor besides Sam, so he believed he was being used to get into the cemetery.
The plan was to hide in the cemetery and wait for Jake's arrival.
Once we got there, Nate and I were told to wait in the car.
"Can I tell you something?" I asked. "But you can't tell anyone else."
Nate gave me a strange look. "What?"
"You have to promise," I said, very seriously.
"Maddison, what?" Nate asked.
I just stared at him.
"Okay, jeez. I promise. What is it?" he asked.
I sighed. "Sam died a few days ago."
Nate furrowed his brow. "What?"
I nodded. "You know that Jake guy he was talking about? I'm pretty sure that's who killed him."
Nate shook his head. "That's impossible."
"I know, but it's true," I said.
"He looked alive and well to me," Nate said.
"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I literally watched him die. I had his blood on my hands... I heard him stop breathing... I watched the life fade away from him," I said.
Nate just stared at me. "But how is he...?"
"I think Dean did something," I said, "My dad made a deal with a demon to save Dean, but he died because of it."
"So, you think Dean made some deal to bring Sam back to life?" Nate asked.
I shrugged. "Yeah, and now I'm scared about what's going to happen to Dean."
"Well, you said your dad died right after he made the deal. So, maybe he's gonna be fine," Nate said.
I shook my head. "A while back, we came across a crossroads demon. They gave people anything they wanted in exchange for their soul ten years later." I shrugged. "The demon could've given him an expiration date."
Suddenly, four gunshots went off in the distance. We both jumped. We knew that they were going to stop Jake, but they hadn't been gone that long, and there were already shots being fired. Something was wrong.
"Let's go," I said, reaching for the door.
Nate grabbed my arm. "No, we should stay in the car."
"Do you always do what you're told?" I asked.
Nate furrowed his brow at me. "Maddison—"
Three more gunshots went off.
I pulled my arm away from him. "Nate, let's go!"
Nate groaned and rolled his eyes, but then reluctantly chased after me, through the woods.
Once we reached the cemetery, the giant crypt in the center of it was shaking. Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Ellen all took off running. Dean took cover behind a large headstone with the colt in his hand. Nate and I ran up to him.
"What's going on?! Where'd you get that?!" I yelled as the rattling got louder.
"What the hell are you two doing here?!" Dean yelled and pulled us down to duck with him.
"Nate?!" Ellen yelled.
"We heard gunshots," I said.
"Maddison, that's not something you run toward!" Dean shouted.
The crypt doors burst open, and a large black mass of demon smoke erupted out. The smoke separated in all different directions.
I peered around the headstone to see that the inside of the crypt was glowing orange, as more demon smoke escaped from it.
"What the hell just happened?!" Dean shouted to Ellen and Bobby, who were hiding behind another headstone.
"That's a devil's gate! A damn door to hell!" Ellen shouted. "Come on! We gotta shut that gate!"
Sam, Bobby, Nate, and Ellen ran toward the crypt and started shoving the doors closed.
Dean checked the colt. "If the demon gave this to Jake... then maybe—"
Thunder crashed, and we turned around to see Azazel standing behind us. Dean pointed the colt at the demon, but Azazel flung the colt out of Dean's hand.
"Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns." Azazel smiled, eerily and flung Dean back, causing him to hit his head hard on a tombstone.
"Dean!" I gasped and started running over to him but was then pulled back to Azazel.
He put his hand around my throat and picked me up as he walked slowly over to Dean. I grabbed onto his hands, trying to lift myself enough to not choke.
"Maddison!" Sam yelled as he let go of the gate and ran over to us.
Azazel put his other hand up and sent Sam flying back against a tree. "I'll get to you in a minute, champ. But I'm proud of you... knew you had it in you." He walked us closer to Dean and sent him against another tombstone, making Dean sit up straight. He placed me next to Dean. "Sit a spell." He smiled at us and then looked at Dean. "So, Dean... I gotta thank you. You see, demons can't resurrect people unless a deal is made. I know, red tape... it'll make you nuts. But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation." He laughed.
I looked over at Dean, knowing that what I feared was true.
"Oh, Maddison. Don't look at your brother like that. You and I both know that he isn't the only one keeping secrets," Azazel taunted.
I looked at him angrily.
He put his hand on my shin and patted it. "Now beautiful, where were you at our little reunion anyway? I saw what happened to your pathetic mother, but to take out my guy too?" He smiled. "Now that takes some moxie. I knew it from the moment you were born, I had to have you."
I could feel Dean's eyes piercing through me.
The demon smiled and turn back to Dean. "Now, I wasn't counting on you bringing back Sam, but I'm glad. I liked him better than Jake, anyhow. Tell me... have you ever heard the expression, 'If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is?'" He smiled evilly.
"You call that deal good?" Dean asked.
"Well, it's a better shake than your dad ever got. And you never wondered why? I'm surprised at you. I mean..." Azazel moved forward, so he was face to face with Dean. "You saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn't it?" He chuckled. "How certain are you that what you brought back, is one hundred percent, pure, Sam?" He laughed. "You of all people should know, that's what's dead, should stay dead. Anyway... thanks a bunch. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now, anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family." He cocked the colt and aimed it at Dean.
"No!" I shouted.
"Oh, come on, Maddi. You don't need him anymore, you've got me. And in about ten years or so, I'll have my perfect little weapon." Azazel smiled.
Suddenly, a spirit appeared behind him, and as it took shape, I could see that it was Dad. He reached forward and grabbed Azazel, pulling the black cloud of smoke that was Azazel out of the innocent man's body.
Dad wrestled with the smoke and then was pushed to the ground. The smoke reentered the man's body and stood up, as soon as Dean grabbed the colt and shot him in the heart.
Azazel looked down at his chest as his body pulsed with a bright light that lit up his skeleton, and then he fell to the ground, dead.
Dean and I stood up, facing our dad. He walked forward and put his hand on Dean's shoulder, tears in all of our eyes. He looked down at me and brushed his soft cold hand across my cheek. Sam walked forward, and he and Dad nodded at each other. He stepped back, looking all of us over, and with a tearful smile, he disappeared into a bright white light.
We were silent for a while, reliving the happiness and sadness of seeing our father again. We all stared down at Azazel's still smoking body.
"Well, check that off the to-do list." Dean chuckled a little.
"You did it," Sam said.
Dean shrugged. "I didn't do it alone."
"Do you think Dad really— Do you think he really climbed outta hell?" Sam asked.
"The door was open. If anyone's stubborn enough to do it... it would be him." Dean smirked.
I laughed a little in agreement.
Sam smiled softly and nodded. "Where do you think he is now?"
Dean shook his head. "I don't know."
"I kind of can't believe it. I mean... our whole lives, everything... has been prepping for this, and now I—" Sam chuckled. "I kind of don't know what to say."
"I do." Dean looked down at the body. "That was for our mom... you son of a bitch."
We made our way back to the Impala, and Dean threw his bag in.
"Ya know, when Jake saw me... it was like he saw a ghost," Sam said.
Dean shut the door and walked back over to Sam and me.
"I mean, hell, you heard him, Dean. He said he killed me," Sam said.
Dean shrugged. "Glad he was wrong."
Sam shook his head. "I don't think he was, Dean."
Dean and I were silent.
Sam looked at both of us. "What happened? After I was stabbed?"
"I already told you," Dean said.
Sam shook his head. "Not everything."
Dean sighed. "Sam, we just killed the demon. Can we celebrate for a minute?"
"Did I die?" Sam asked.
"Oh, come on," Dean said, frustrated.
"Did you sell your soul for me, like Dad did for you?" Sam asked.
"Oh, come on! No!" Dean yelled.
"Tell me the truth," Sam said.
Dean sniffed, ignoring the question.
"Dean, tell me the truth," Sam said.
Dean chuckled. "Sam—"
"Dean, just tell us," I interrupted with tears in my eyes.
He looked down at me.
Sam's voice broke. "How long do you get?"
"One year," Dean said, "I got one year."
Sam shook his head, tears in his eyes. "You shouldn't've done that. How could you do that?"
"Don't get mad at me. Don't you do that. I had to. I had to look out for you. That's my job," Dean said.
"And what do you think my job is?" Sam asked.
"What?" Dean asked, taken aback.
"You've saved our lives over and over." Sam gestured to himself and me. "I mean, you sacrifice everything for us. Don't you think we'd do the same for you? You're our big brother. There's nothing we wouldn't do for you. And I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna get you out of this."
I shrugged. "Guess we've gotta save your ass for a change."
Dean nodded. "Yeah."
Ellen, Bobby, and Nate approached us.
"Well... yellow-eyed-demon might be dead. But a lot more got through that gate," Ellen said.
"How many you think?" Dean asked.
"Hundred." Sam shrugged. "Maybe two hundred. It's an army. He's unleashed an army."
"Hope to hell you kids are ready. 'Cause the war has just begun," Bobby said.
"Well, then..." Dean smiled. "We got work to do."