Back in the room, Sam, now alive from Angel's deal, was standing in front of a mirror. He examined his back, wincing, with a look of pain. There was a scar from where the knife was stabbed into his spine but other than that the wound was no longer fatal. Quietly Dean and Angel came through the door and entered the room. They both stopped in shock when they saw Sam up, walking around and alive.
"Sammy?"
Tears flowed down Angel's face once again as she actually came to grips with the fact that the deal worked, "Thank god."
He looked over to them with a small smile, "Hey." Instantly the two of them pull Sam into a tight sibling group hug, "Ow." Sam grimaced, "Uh, guys…"
Releasing him, Dean scoffed lightly, "Sorry, man. It's just…" He motioned between him and Angel, "We're just happy to see you up and around, that's all."
Sam nodded, looking between them puzzled.
"Come on, sit down, little brother." Angel helped him over to a chair, "Before you stroke out or something."
"Okay." He obeyed, then looked at them curiously, "Uh… what happened to me?"
"Well…" Angel, earning a quiet glare from Dean, shifted, "What do you remember?"
"I- I saw you two and Bobby, and… I felt this pain. This sharp pain, like… white-hot, you know? Then you guys started running at me, and… that's about it."
"Yeah…" Dean nodded, explaining, "That- that kid stabbed you in the back. You lost a lot of blood, you know… It was pretty touch and go for awhile."
"But- but…" His brows furrowed from him to Angel, "You can't- you can't patch up a wound that bad."
"No." Angel interjected quickly, "Bobby could." She offered a hollow smile, "Who was that kid, anyway?"
"His name's Jake." Sam's eyes flashed up to them, "Did you get him?"
"No, uh, he disappeared into the woods."
"We got to find him, and I swear I'm gonna tear that son of a bitch apart."
Sam stood up with the two of them following suit.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean stopped, "Easy, Van Damme. You just woke up, alright?"
"We don't have time to-"
"Listen, Sammy, just- just give your body a little time okay?" Angel instructed grabbing onto his arm, "Let's get you something to eat. Huh? You gotta be starving?" Sam nodded a little, "Good, I know Dean is." Dean shrugged, and Angel led them out, "Come on."
Later on…
Dean and Sam sat at the table, eating. Angel studied Sam as he explained what happened while he was gone.
"And that's when you guys showed up."
"That's awful." Dean frowned, "Poor Andy."
"The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive."
Angel raised a brow, "He told you that?"
"Yep." Sam scoffed, "He appeared in a dream."
"He tell you anything else?"
"No." Sam shook his head, effectively putting his Winchester mask in place, "That was it. Nothing else. You know, what I don't get? If the demon only wanted one of us, then how did Jake and I both get away?"
"Uh, well, they left you for dead." Angel shifted, "So I'm sure they thought it was over. Highly doubt they expected you to live through."
Dean took a large bite of pizza, turning away, "So now that Yellow Eyes has Jake, what's he gonna do with him?"
"I don't know." Sam's jaw tensed as he looked at his plate, "But whatever it is, we got to stop him."
"No…" Angel argued, "Right now, you need to get your rest and heal up."
"She's right Sam. We got time."
"No, we don't."
"Sam, do you see any bad omens being thrown in our face at the moment? Boiling oceans, locusts, frogs falling from the sky?" Angel cocked her eyebrow, "No. So right now you need to work on getting your strength back."
Sam let a breath out, "Well did you call the roadhouse? They know anything?"
"Yeah…"
Dean and Angel shared a look that Sam didn't miss.
"What is it?"
"The roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead." Dean informed, sitting down, "Probably Ellen- a lot of other hunters, too."
Sam, with tears in his eyes, looked to his brother, "Demons?"
"Yeah, we think so. We think because Ash found something."
"What did he find?"
"We don't know yet." Angel looked down, "Bobby's working on that right now."
"Well, come on then. Bobby's only a few hours away."
Sam began to stand and the two other Winchesters instantly followed.
Dean grabbed Sam by the shoulders, "Whoa, stop, Sam, stop!" His jaw tightened and he looked from him to Angel and back, "You almost died in there. I mean, what would we have- can't you just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit?"
"I'm sorry." His gaze flashed between them, "No."
Angel shook her head, "Sam-"
"No, Angel." He interrupted, "I need to do this."
"Fine." She glared, picking up her jacket, "Then ride with Dean. I need to think."
Thinking was a strong word. She couldn't think. Her mind was foggy from everything happening, from the yellow eyed demon down to her own deal and what this meant for her brothers. Especially for Sam. She even made a call to Asa, but didn't know what to say though. Eventually just telling him it might be awhile before they speak again. She didn't want him involved in this. If he knew he'd just try to get her out of it, and that could spell disaster for both Sam and Dean. She wasn't willing to risk it.
At Bobby's…
Once they pulled up to Bobby's place and walked to the door Sam knocked hurriedly. Bobby opened it but as soon as he saw Sam, shock and astonishment filled his face.
"Hey, Bobby."
Dean looked at him with a knowing eye as his eyes flashed to Angel. She looked away from him almost immediately.
Sam smiled, "Hey, Bobby."
"Sam…" Bobby swallowed the lump in his throat, "It's- It's good to… see you up and around."
"Yeah…" Sam patted him on the shoulder as he walked past him into the house, "Thanks for patching me up."
Bobby frowned, "Don't mention it."
Dean followed him and then Angel both earning a hard glare from Bobby, one vibrating with unspoken emotion.
"Well, Sam's better and we're here… Apparently back in the fight, so…" Angel clapped her hands together stiffly as her eyes lifted, "What do you know?"
Sam looked at all three of them curiously. He noted the tension between them but didn't understand it.
"I found something, but I'm not sure what the hell it means."
"What is it?"
"Demonic omens… like a frickin' tidal wave. Cattle deaths. Lightning storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." Bobby pointed to Wyoming on a map, "All around here, except for one place... Southern Wyoming."
Dean looked to him curiously, "Wyoming?"
Angel surveyed the map, "What's in Wyoming?"
"Nothing. That one area's totally clean- spotless. It's almost as if…"
"What?"
"The demons are surrounding it."
Dean raised a brow, "But you don't know why?"
"No, and by this point my eyes are swimming." Bobby turned, "Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you could catch something I couldn't."
"Yeah, sure."
"You two come with me. I got some more books in the truck. Help me lug 'em in."
Angel and Dean looked at each other knowing why he wanted them outside and followed Bobby out. The three walked into the junkyard when Bobby stopped and turned to face them, stopping them from walking further.
"You stupide ass!" Finally he grabbed Dean by the coat, "What did you do?"
"It wasn't him Bobby!" Angel separated them when Dean stayed silent, "Calm down."
"What?"
He turned to her as shock filled his face, and then finally realization.
Angel turned to her little brother pointedly, "Dean."
He looked at her like he wasn't going anywhere but at her glare put his hands up and walked back inside.
Bobby glared, "You made a deal…" He scoffed, "For Sam, didn't you? How long did they give you?"
"Bobby."
"How long?!"
"One year."
"Damn it." Grief overtook him, "Damn it, Angel. You're supposed to be the smart one, and this? This is the stupidest thing you've ever pulled! The stupidest-"
"Look, right now we just need to find this yellow-eyed waste of space and kill him. I'll do it myself that way nobody else has to worry about dying." She shrugged motioning with her hands, "I've got nothing to lose now, right?"
Fire blazed in Bobby's eyes, "I should kill you, little girl!"
"What, and send me away early?" She offered her signature Winchester smirk, "You aren't that mean, old man."
Bobby rolled his eyes at her then glared again, "What is it with you Winchesters, huh? You, your dad. You're both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit!"
"That's my point. Dad brought us back, Bobby." Tears welled but she refused to let them fall, "He protected us, he saved us. Now he's gone. It's my job to make sure my brothers are okay. There's no way I was going to let Sam, either of them, die Bobby. That's not in me. He's my baby brother. I couldn't do it."
"How is your baby brother gonna feel when he knows you're gonna get dragged down to hell? Huh?" Bobby yelled making her flinch, "How'd it affect Dean when he found out about your dad, huh? It tore him up!"
"You can't tell him. Not right now." Angel shook her head before pleading to him with her eyes, "Bobby."
Tears began to fall from Bobby's eyes as grief finally overtook him. He grabbed Angel into a tight hug when suddenly there was a clunk from a distant part of the junkyard. The two of them looked at one another before they crawled to the side of a car, and grabbed the intruder. Once they had her by the shoulders, they recognized her as Ellen.
"Ellen?" Ellen nodded before she started to cry, "Ellen." Angel and Bobby took her into a relieved embrace, "Oh, God."
