April 26th, 2010 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
A few days later, Dean drove them back to Bobby's house. The old hunter had called them, having found a possible lead to Pestilence's location.
Amy followed Sam and Dean inside. They found Bobby in his study, surrounded by books and newspapers.
"Bobby, hey," Dean greeted, "you said you might know where Pestilence is?"
Bobby nodded. He pointed to an open newspaper on his desk. "There's a nursing facility close to here that's been getting a lot of sick patients recently. More than usual, anyway."
Sam frowned. "How do we know he hasn't just left again?"
"'Cause the number of sick people in that place ain't been going down," Bobby said. "They've been getting worse."
"Pestilence has to be there then," Amy said. "If we hurry, we should be able to catch him." She turned to Bobby. "How far away is this place?"
Bobby shrugged. "Few hours? It's the Serenity Valley Home in Davenport, Iowa."
Dean nodded. "Good. Nice work, Bobby."
Sam, Dean, and Amy walked into the kitchen to talk.
"Now we just need Death's ring," Sam said.
"And a way to get Lucifer back into the cage," Amy added. She sat down on the edge of the table.
"I uh, I might have a way to do that," Sam said quietly.
Dean turned to his brother and folded his arms. "Well, let's hear this plan of yours."
"I'm gonna say yes and jump into the cage myself."
Silence filled the kitchen. Dean and Amy exchanged glances before turning back to Sam.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean finally asked.
"Dean-"
Dean cut Sam off. "No, don't "Dean" me. I mean, you - you have had some stupid ideas in the past, But this-" he turned to Bobby in the study. "-d-did you know about this?"
Bobby looked up from the paper he was reading. "What?"
"About Sam's genius plan to cram the devil down his throat." Dean's voice was growing angrier with each word.
Bobby nodded.
"Well, thanks for the heads up!" Dean shouted. He turned to Amy. "Should I just assume you knew as well?"
Amy turned her gaze away, avoiding Dean's eyes. "Yeah," she admitted quietly.
"Of course you did," she heard Dean mutter.
"Hey, this ain't about her or me," Bobby snapped.
Dean turned back to Sam. "You can't do this."
Sam shrugged. "That's the consensus."
Dean nodded. "All right. Awesome. Then, end of discussion." His phone rang, and he pulled it out. Jabbing a finger at his brother, he added, "this isn't over," before turning away and answering the call. "Hello?"
The person on the other end caught Dean's attention. He turned back to Sam and Amy in shock. "Cas?"
Amy stood up. "Cas?" she repeated.
"Is he okay?" Sam asked.
Dean put a finger up and turned back away. "We all thought you were dead. Where the hell are you, man?"
"Dean?" Amy whispered. "Speaker?"
Dean turned back to her and held up another finger. "One sec," he whispered back. He turned back to the phone and began pacing around. "Are you okay?"
Cas said something on the other line.
Dean stopped pacing. "You want to elaborate?" He listened to Cas again. "S-so, a hospital?"
Cas spoke for a while on the other line. Sam and Amy watched as Dean listened, waiting for the call to end.
Dean shook his head in disbelief. "Uh, well, I got to tell you, man, you're just in time. We figured out a way to pop Satan's box." There was a quick pause while Cas spoke. "It's a long story, but, look, we're going after Pestilence now. So if you want to zap over here…" he trailed off as Cas said something. "What do you mean?"
Amy pulled at the sleeves of her hoodie and rocked her foot back and forth on the ground. She didn't know what was going on with Cas. Other than the fact that he was in the hospital. She was growing anxious, waiting for the call to end.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked. "You're out of angel mojo?" There was another pause as Cas spoke. "Human," he said softly. He let out a sigh and sat down in a chair. "Wow. Sorry."
"What do you mean, human?" Amy asked. If she hadn't been worried before, she definitely was now.
"All right," Dean continued. "Well, look, no worries. Uh, Bobby's here. He'll wire you the cash."
"I will?" Bobby asked.
Cas said something else on the other line.
"Cas... I-it's okay," Dean assured the angel. As he listened to Cas speak again, his expression turned into a blank one. "Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, listen, Bobby found Pestilence at a nursing home in Davenport, Iowa. So, when he sends you the money, just go there, alright?"
There was another pause. "Okay, we'll see you there." Dean ended the call and stood up.
"Uh, so, why's Cas in a hospital?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," Dean said. "Something about him ending up on a boat after Van Nuys."
"And he's what?" Amy asked. "Human now?"
Dean shrugged. "I guess so." He turned to Bobby. "I need you to send him some money so he can meet up with us."
Bobby let out a heavy sigh. "Sure," he said a little aggressively.
Dean nodded. "Good." He turned back to Sam and Amy. "We should get going."
Sam nodded. "Okay, yeah. Let's go."
The hunters headed out to the Impala, with Bobby following behind in his wheelchair. They climbed in, and Dean started up the engine.
"Be careful," Bobby told them.
Dean nodded in agreement and drove off.
Davenport, Iowa
They reached the Serenity Valley Convalescent Home later that night. Dean parked across the street from the large sign and pulled out a pair of binoculars.
Dean put the binoculars to his eyes. "So this is Dr. Evil's lair, huh?"
A few people were getting pushed around in wheelchairs outside.
Amy could see an old woman walking around with an IV drip attached to her in an upstairs window. "Apparently," she said, "I don't really know what I was expecting, though."
"It's kind of more depressing than evil," Sam added.
"It's like a four-color brochure for dying young," Dean said. "Of course, to Pestilence, it's probably Dollywood in there."
Sam scoffed. "Great. A whole building full of people. We don't know who's human, who's a demon, and who's Pestilence."
Dean lowered the binoculars and shook his head.
"So what do we do?" Sam asked.
Something on the building caught Dean's eye. "Hang on." He put the binoculars back to his eyes and pointed at the side of the building. "There. Security camera."
"You think we can use that to find Pestilence?" Amy asked.
Dean shrugged. "It's worth a shot. Come on."
The hunters got out of the Impala and headed across the street. Dean led them into the building, and they made their way through the hallways, being careful to avoid any of the nurses or patients in case they were demons.
Finally, they reached the security room. There was a camera off to the side, looking directly at the room.
Dean paced around a bit before opening the door and poking his head in. "Hey," he greeted the security guard inside. "Hi. Uh, I'm looking for my nana. Uh, her name is Eunice Kennedy."
"Go around front and see the nurse," Amy heard the security guard say.
Dean stepped into the room. "You mind just helping me out, sir?" His voice faded away as the door closed behind him.
After a moment, there was a knock on the other side of the door. Sam opened it up, and Amy followed him inside the room to find the security guard knocked out on the ground.
"Eunice Kennedy?" Sam asked.
Dean dragged the unconscious guard into the corner. "That's the beauty about improv, Sammy. You never know what's gonna come out of your mouth."
The hunters pulled up chairs and sat down in front of the cameras. They could see patients and nurses walking around, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
"So, what are-" Sam looked over to see Dean drifting off to sleep and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey. What are we even looking for?"
"Well, he's Pestilence, so he probably looks sick," Dean said.
"Well, that narrows it down to everyone in the building," Amy muttered.
Dean groaned in frustration. He stood up and began to pace around the room while Sam and Amy kept watching the cameras.
Amy spun around in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. Twenty minutes had gone by, and nothing had happened yet.
"Hey," Sam finally said, getting the attention of the others.
Amy stopped spinning and rolled the chair back to the desk to look at the monitor Sam was pointing at. A distorted, horizontal line was going across the screen, covering one of the doctors' faces.
"That's gotta be him," she realized.
"Oh, now we're talking," Dean said excitedly.
Sam stood up. "Looks like he's close. Come on."
The three hunters hurried out of the security office. Sam led them through the hallways until they came across one that had several bodies of doctors and nurses on the ground.
Amy had to stop and lean against the wall for support. She was starting to feel very sick, and it had suddenly gotten more challenging to stand. She slowly continued following Sam and Dean down the hallway.
As they walked, everything became blurry and distorted. Next to her, Sam and Dean leaned against the walls as well.
Sam began to cough up blood. "Ugh… must be getting close."
"You think?" Dean asked.
"Sam?" Amy asked weakly. She started to cough as well, and a tiny bit of blood landed on her palm.
Dean began to sink to the floor as he started coughing as well.
"Dean?" Sam asked. He tried to help his brother up but stumbled, dropping Dean to the floor. "Get up," he mumbled.
The door in front of them opened up, and a nurse stepped out. Unlike the hunters, she looked perfectly healthy. "The doctor will see you now," she told them.
The nurse stepped to the side, and an older man sitting on the bed inside stood up. "Sam, Dean, Amy," he greeted.
Sam stood up on shaky legs and held out the demon knife. The next second, he fell over, landing face-first inside the room.
"Come right in," Pestilence finished.
Amy didn't move. She laid down across from the room, feeling too weak to even hold up her own head. Beside her, Dean seemed to have fallen unconscious.
The demon nurse walked past Sam and dragged Dean's unconscious body inside the room. Once Dean was in the room, the demon walked back out, dragging Amy in as well.
Dean woke back up, instantly letting out a violent cough.
"Hmm. You three don't look well," Pestilence noted. "It might be the, uh, Scarlet fever. Or, uh, meningitis." He stood up and walked closer to the hunters. "Oh! Or syphilis."
Amy tried to sit herself up but quickly gave up that idea when her head began spinning.
Pestilence clicked his tongue. "That's no fun." He walked over to Sam and forced the hunter's head up. "However you feel right now? It's gonna get so very, very much worse," he promised. "Questions?"
Sam groaned as the horseman let his head fall back to the ground.
"Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think?" Pestilence asked as he put sanitizer on his hands. "For being filthy. Chaotic. Uh, but, really, t-that just describes people who get sick. The disease itself...very...pure...single-minded. Bacteria have one purpose - divide and conquer."
Dean began to reach for the demon knife, but Pestilence noticed and stepped on the hunter's hand. Amy could hear the bones crunching under the skin.
"That's why, in the end...It always wins," Pestilence continued. "So, you've got to wonder why God pours all his love into something so messy...and weak. It's ridiculous." He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a pair of eyeglasses, putting them on. "All I can do is show him he's wrong, one epidemic at a time. Now...on a scale of one to ten, how's your pain?"
The door swung open, and Castiel stepped into the room, looking completely healthy.
Dean groaned as he propped himself up to look at the angel. "Cas."
"Oh, thank God," Amy muttered.
Pestilence took off his glasses. "How'd you get here?" he asked.
"I took a bus." He pointed to the hunters as he stepped into the room. "Don't worry, I-" Cas paused as he began to cough up blood, eventually falling to the floor.
Pestilence leaned down, a smile crossing his face. "Well, look at that. An occupied vessel, but powerless. Oh, that's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?"
In response, Cas grabbed the demon knife and slammed Pestilence's hand down on the table. He swung the blade down, cutting off two of the horseman's fingers. "Maybe just a speck," he said.
Pestilence yelled in pain as he clutched his bloody hand. The demon nurse attacked Castiel, knocking him back onto the floor. He stabbed the knife through her chest and pushed the body off himself before standing back up.
Amy instantly stopped feeling sick. The dizziness, coughing, everything wrong with her went away, and she stood back up as Sam and Dean did the same.
Dean hurried over and picked up the severed finger with the ring still on it.
"It doesn't matter," Pestilence said quietly. "It's too late." The curtains blew as the horseman disappeared from the room.
Amy turned to Cas. "You got here quickly," she said.
Cas nodded. "Yes, it uh, it turns out the hospital I was at was nearby."
Dean put a hand on the angel's shoulder. "Well, you got here just in the nick of time."
"Yeah." Sam chuckled. "You really saved us there."
Amy nodded in agreement.
"We should get back to Bobby's," Dean said. "Figure out a way to get Death's ring before it's too late."
"Speaking of too late," Amy said as she followed the Winchesters and Cas out of the security room. "What did Pestilence mean when he said that?"
"Nothing good."
They made their way out of the building and got into the Impala. Cas got in the back with Amy, and Dean drove off, back towards Bobby's house.
April 27th, 2010 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
They reached Bobby's house the following day. Dean led them inside the house, where they found the old hunter in his study.
"Well?" Bobby asked as everyone entered the study. "Did you get it?"
Dean held up the ring and dropped it on the desk in front of Bobby. It spun around before falling flat on the surface.
"Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?"
No one said anything. Dean put his head on the desk and picked up the ring, tossing it onto the paper map in front of him.
"What?" Bobby asked
"Last thing Pestilence said," Sam explained, "it's too late."
"He get specific?"
"No."
"He just disappeared right after," Amy added.
"We're just a little freaked out that he might have left a bomb somewhere," Dean said. "So please tell us you have actual good news."
Bobby paused for a moment before answering. "Chicago's about to be wiped off the map," he revealed. "Storm of the millennium. Sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters. Three million people are gonna die."
"Huh," Dean said quietly.
Cas was sitting on a table behind Dean, propping his head up with his fist. "I don't understand your definition of good news."
"Well…" Bobby began as Dean rolled his eyes at the angel, "Death, the horseman, he's gonna be there. And if we can stop him before he kick-starts this storm, get his ring back-"
"Yeah, you make it sound so easy," Dean said with fake enthusiasm.
"Piece of cake, right?" Amy asked. "Just steal Death's ring?"
"Hell, I'm just trying to put a spin on it," Bobby argued.
"Well…" Sam paused before continuing, "Bobby, h-how'd you put all this together, anyway?" he asked.
"I had, you know...help," Bobby admitted uneasily.
A glass clinked on the kitchen table behind them. Amy turned to see Crowley standing in the next room, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"Don't be so modest," the demon said. "I barely helped at all." He picked up the drink and walked into the study. "Hello, boys, girl. Pleasure, et cetera."
Sniffing the drink, Crowley looked at it in disgust and placed it on the shelf next to him. He turned to Bobby. "Go ahead. Tell them. There's no shame in it."
"Bobby?" Sam asked harshly. "Tell us what?"
Amy looked back and forth between Crowley and Bobby. "Oh, Bobby, please tell us you didn't…" she said, realizing what the old hunter had done.
"World's gonna end," Bobby said hesitantly. "Seems stupid to get all precious over one little...soul."
"You sold your soul?" Dean asked.
Amy heard Cas sigh and looked over to see him hanging his head.
"Oh, more like pawned it," Crowley corrected. "I fully intend to give it back."
"Well, then give it back!" Dean snapped.
"I will."
"Now!"
"Did you kiss him?" Sam asked suddenly.
"Sam!" Dean snapped.
"That's what you're wondering?" Amy asked in disbelief.
Sam shrugged. "Just wondering."
Sam, Dean, and Amy all turned to Bobby, waiting for his answer. There was a long pause as Bobby looked back and forth between the three of them.
"No!" Bobby finally replied.
Behind them, Crowley cleared his throat. They turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, holding out his phone. On the screen was a picture of the demon and Bobby kissing.
Bobby closed his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "Why'd you take a picture?"
Crowley turned his phone to look at the picture himself. "Why do you have to use tongue?"
"Oh, Bobby!" Amy said, frowning at the old hunter.
"All right. You know what?" Dean stood up and approached Crowley. "I'm sick of this. Give him his soul back now," he demanded.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
"Can't or won't?" Dean asked loudly.
"I won't, all right?" Crowley yelled back. "It's insurance."
"What are you talking about?"
"You kill demons." Crowley nodded towards Sam. "Gigantor over there has a temper issue about it. But you won't kill me... as long as I have that soul in the deposit box."
"You son of a bitch," Bobby said.
Crowley smirked. "I'll return it," he agreed. "After all this is over, and I can walk safely away. Do we all understand each other?"
Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Amy exchanged glances, silently asking each other if this was the right decision.
Finally, Dean turned to Crowley. "Yeah, alright. You got a deal."
"Good. I'll be in touch." Crowley vanished from the house.
Amy sighed in frustration.
"Why the hell did you do that, Bobby?" Dean asked.
Bobby shrugged. "Death was hard to track down."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Ames, why don't you come help me get the car ready."
"Yeah." Amy stood up and followed Dean outside.
Dean and Amy made their way to the Impala, and Dean opened the trunk. They began checking the shotguns, making sure each one was loaded with salt rounds.
As they worked, Sam came outside. He let out a heavy sigh as he paced back and forth next to the car, finally leaning against the back door.
Dean straightened up and walked over to his brother. "Let me guess. We're about to have a talk."
Sam chuckled. "Look, Dean, um, for the record, I agree with you. About me. You think I'm too weak to take on Lucifer." He nodded his head. "Well, so do I. Believe me, I know exactly how screwed up I am. You, Amy, Bobby, Cas... I'm the least of any of you."
Amy kept checking the guns while Sam and Dean talked. It felt awkward standing there, listening in on their brotherly moment.
Dean turned away. "Oh, Sam…" He leaned against the car and folded his arms.
"No, it's true. It is. But... I'm also all we got. If there was another way…" Sam trailed off, shrugging his shoulders, "but I don't think there is. There's just me. So I don't know what else to do. Except just try t-to do what's got to be done."
"And…scene," Crowley said, suddenly appearing on the other side of the car. "There's something you need to see." He walked around and handed a newspaper to Sam.
Sam took the paper and began to read it aloud. "Niveus pharmaceuticals is rushing delivery of its new swine-flu vaccine to stem the tide of the unprecedented outbreak. Uh, shipments leave Wednesday."
"Niveus pharmaceuticals. Get it?" Crowley asked.
No one replied. Amy walked around the trunk, joining the others. Crowley looked over at her, but she shook her head.
Crowley sighed. "You three are lucky you have your looks." He turned to Sam. "Your demon lover, Brady? V.P. of distribution, Niveus."
Realization crossed the hunter's faces.
"Ah, yes, that the sound of the abacus clacking?" Crowley asked. "We all caught up?"
"So, pestilence was spreading swine flu," Sam said.
"Yeah, but not just for giggles," Dean continued. "That was step one."
"And then comes the vaccine," Amy added.
"Right," Dean confirmed. "And you think-"
Crowley cut Dean off. "I know. I'll stake my reputation. That vaccine is chock-full of grade-a, farm-fresh Croatoan virus."
"Simultaneous, countrywide distribution." Sam nodded. "It's quite a plan."
"They don't get to be horsemen for nothing," Crowley muttered. "So, you three better stock up on...well, everything. This time next Thursday, we'll all be living in zombieland."
"Awesome," Amy muttered.
"So then we'll make a detour," Sam suggested. "Take out the demons at the pharmaceutical before we find Death."
"That's a hell of a plan, Sam," Crowley said. "But I'm afraid it won't work. Death will be long gone by the time you get there if you do that."
"So then what are we supposed to do?" Amy asked.
Crowley shrugged. "You've got five people here. Figure it out."
Dean hung his head for a moment. "Alright," he finally said, "here's what we'll do. Crowley and I will go to Death. You and Amy take Cas and hunt down those demons."
"You wanna go to Death alone?" Sam argued.
"Dean, that's suicide," Amy added.
"Well, what other choice do we have?" Dean snapped. "If we all go confront Death, the Croatoan virus goes out. If we go stop the virus, Death gets away! We do it this way, at least we'll have a shot at stopping both."
"Yeah, but alone?" Amy asked. "I mean, why not have Sam and Cas go stop the virus, and I can go with you to confront Death?"
Dean shook his head. "It's too risky."
"Dean-"
"At this rate, we'll be in an apocalypse world by the time you three have finished arguing about this," Crowley spoke, cutting Sam off.
"You wanna shut up?" Dean snapped. He turned back to Sam and Amy. "I'm going alone."
"Actually," Crowley cut in again, "I'll be going with you." He pointed at Dean.
"What?" Sam asked.
"I said, I'll be going with your brother here," Crowley repeated. "I know what Death looks like. You don't."
"Fine," Dean agreed reluctantly.
"I still think you should at least take Amy with you," Sam said.
"Sam, I said no!" Dean snapped.
Sam was quiet for a moment before finally nodding. "Okay. Just...be careful."
"Yeah, you too."
Later that night, Dean had moved the Impala next to Bobby's van. Everyone, including Cas, was getting ready to go on their separate missions.
Bobby was filling his duffle bag with boxes of ammo while Castiel placed various weapons in the van. The angel leaned next to the open door and let out a heavy sigh.
"What's your problem?" Bobby asked.
"This is what they mean by the eleventh hour, right?" Cas asked.
Bobby picked up another box of ammo. "Pretty much."
"Well, it's the eleventh hour, and I am useless. All I have is this." Cas held up a shotgun that Bobby had given him earlier in the day. "What am I even supposed to do with it?"
"Point it and shoot," Bobby said gruffly.
Cas shook his head. "What I used to be-" he began.
Bobby cut the angel off. "Are you really gonna bitch to me? Quit pining for the varsity years-" Bobby pushed his wheelchair closer and tossed his duffle bag into Cas's arms "-and load the damn truck."
Dean finished packing up the Impala and closed the trunk. "All right, well," he said to Sam and Amy, "good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse."
Sam scoffed. "Yeah. Good luck killing Death."
"Yeah."
Sam chuckled slightly. "Remember when we used to just...hunt wendigos?" Sam asked. "How simple things were?"
Dean shook his head. "Not really."
"I didn't even know you guys yet," Amy said. "You were still just characters on a TV show to me."
Sam gave her a small smile. He turned to Dean and pulled out Ruby's knife. "Well, um, you might need this."
"Keep it." Crowley suddenly appeared next to the hunters, holding a small scythe. "Dean's covered."
Dean took the scythe in his hands.
"Death's own," Crowley explained. "Kills, golly, demons and angels and reapers and, rumor has it, the very thing itself."
"How did you get that?" Cas asked.
"Hello, king of the crossroads," Crowley said in a little sing-song voice. "So, shall we?" He turned away, pausing when he saw Bobby sitting in his wheelchair nearby. "Bobby, you just gonna sit there?"
"No, I'm gonna riverdance," Bobby said sarcastically.
"I suppose if you want to impress the ladies," Crowley muttered. He turned back to Bobby. "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Really wasted that crossroads deal. Fact, you get more if you phrase it properly. So, I took the liberty of adding a teeny little sub-a clause on your behalf."
Everyone looked at Crowley in shock.
The demon shrugged. "What can I say? I'm an altruist. Just gonna sit there?"
Bobby hesitated for a moment before looking down at his legs. After a moment, his right foot moved slightly. He looked up in shock, then slowly put his feet on the ground and stood up.
No one said anything as they watched Bobby stand on his own two feet after almost a year.
Bobby was the first to speak. "Son of a bitch," he whispered.
"Yes, I know. Completely worth your soul." Crowley smirked. "I'm a hell of a guy."
Bobby stared at the demon for a moment. "Thanks," he finally said.
"This is getting maudlin." Crowley began to walk away. "Can we go?"
Sam nodded and turned to Dean. "See you around."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Just try not to die again, yeah?" Amy asked, giving the hunter a small smile. It was supposed to be a joke, but inside she was worried Dean would fail, and this would be the last time she'd ever see him.
Dean returned the smile. "I'll do my best."
Amy watched with Sam, Cas, and Bobby as Dean and Crowley got into the Impala and drove off.
Sam continued staring down the road as the Impala disappeared from view. "We should get going," he finally said.
Amy climbed into the van with the others. Bobby started the engine, and they drove away from the house.
"Sam," Cas spoke.
"Hm?" Sam looked up from the newspaper he was currently rereading. "Yeah?"
"Dean said you had a plan to stop Lucifer," Cas recalled. "What is it?"
Sam put the paper down and sighed. "I'm gonna say yes," he explained.
"To Lucifer?"
Sam nodded. "And then, I'll fight. Until I regain control, and then I'll jump back in the cage."
Cas was silent for a while. "Yes to Lucifer. Then jump in the hole," he repeated. "It's an interesting plan."
Bobby scoffed. "That's a word for it."
Amy chuckled in agreement.
"So? Go ahead and tell me it's the worst plan you ever heard," Sam urged.
"Of course," Cas agreed. "I am happy to say that if that's what you want to hear. But it's not what I think."
Sam turned to Cas. "Really?"
"It's not?" Amy asked.
"You and Dean have a habit of exceeding my expectations," Cas said. "He resisted Michael. Maybe you could resist Lucifer, but there are things that you would need to know."
"Like?" Sam asked.
"Michael has found another vessel," Cas explained.
"What?"
"Wait is-" Amy cut herself off, restarting her question, "-it's Adam, right?"
Cas nodded. "You must have considered it," he told Sam.
"We were trying not to," Sam admitted.
"Sam..." Cas began slowly, "if you say yes to Lucifer and then fail. This fight will happen. And the collateral. It'll be immense. There's also the demon blood."
Amy quickly looked over at the angel. "What?"
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.
"To take in Lucifer, it would be more than you've ever drunk," Cas said
Sam frowned. "But...why?"
"It strengthens the vessel," Cas explained. "Keeps it from exploding."
"But the guy he's in now-" Sam began.
"He's drinking gallons," Cas finished.
"Wonderful," Amy said sarcastically.
"And how is that not the worst plan you ever heard?" Bobby snapped.
"Well, the alternate option is Lucifer and Michael engage in an apocalyptic battle destroying the planet and the entirety of the human race."
"You know," Amy finally said after a long silence, "comparing those two options, I think I like the first one better."
Sam and Bobby nodded in agreement.
April 28th, 2010 - Ray, North Dakota
They reached the warehouse the following day. Bobby parked in a parking lot on the other side of a wired fence and pulled out a pair of binoculars, putting them to his eyes.
Yellow semi-trucks were backing into a garage space while workers waved them in.
"Yup, they're loading up hotshots of Croatoan in the truck," Bobby informed them. He lowered the binoculars. "Okay. The first truck don't leave for an hour. We get in, we plant the c-4 every twenty-five feet, then we pull the fire alarm."
Cas pointed out the window. "That truck is leaving."
The hunters quickly looked to see one of the trucks pulling out of the garage and drive away.
"Balls!" Bobby swore. "Okay, new plan."
"Stop that truck?" Sam asked.
Bobby nodded. "Stop that truck."
Everyone quickly grabbed their guns and got out of the car. Bobby quickly led them over to the gate the truck was driving towards. They ducked out of sight as it approached, hiding in the nearby bushes.
The truck stopped at the gate, and the worker leaned out the window to swipe his card. Cas took his shotgun and approached the worker from the back of the truck. He grabbed the man's arm and hit him with the butt of the gun a couple of times, knocking him out.
The worker fell unconscious, landing face-first on the horn, which started blaring. After a moment, the horn stopped, and Cas hit the keypad, breaking it and stopping the gate from opening.
"Nice work, Cas," Amy said as the angel rejoined them.
"We gotta get moving, now," Bobby said.
Not noticing that Cas wasn't following, the hunters ran towards the rolling doors as they began to close, reaching the last one just as it hit the ground.
"Help!" a faint voice called out.
"Side door!" Bobby said quickly.
They ran to the side of the warehouse. More frantic cries for help could be heard from inside as Sam tried the doorknob.
"Amy," Sam said quickly.
Amy quickly stepped up. She held out her hand, and a moment later, the door swung open.
About a dozen or so workers ran out of the building.
"Go. Come on," Sam quickly urged them on. "Go."
Sam, Amy, and Bobby hurried inside the building. The door closed behind them, and they dropped their bags and walked further into the large room.
On the other side of a stack of boxes, they could hear a man groaning in pain and what sounded like large chewing noises. They crept around until they came across a small group of construction workers attacking a man.
One of the workers noticed the hunters standing at the end of the row. One by one, they stood up, revealing bloodshot red eyes.
Amy cocked her gun and aimed at the workers. The infected people snarled and began running down the row towards them. Bullets went flying as the hunters fired round after round at the infected workers. Finally, the last one went down.
"Help me!" a woman's frantic voice could be heard in the distance. "Please! Help!"
"There's still people here." Sam began walking towards the voice.
"Sam, no!" Bobby hissed.
Sam pulled out the knife and handed it to Bobby. "Wait here."
Bobby took the knife. "Damn."
Sam walked away, following the cries for help until he disappeared from view.
Amy gripped her gun tighter as Bobby clutched the demon knife. A demon approached the old hunter, and he quickly turned around, stabbing it in the stomach.
"Where the hell is Cas?" Amy wondered aloud.
"Who cares?" Bobby asked. "Just be ready."
A few moments later, running footsteps could be heard from where Sam had disappeared. Amy and Bobby aimed their guns and got ready to shoot the Croatoans, only to lower them when Sam and two humans came running around the corner.
Bobby quickly pointed the people towards the side door. "Go! Go! Go! Go!"
Sam aimed his gun again, sweeping the room as he hurried back in the direction he had come from. He fired a shot at a Croatoan as it ran at him, then disappeared behind a stack of boxes.
Bobby turned to Amy, and his expression quickly turned fearful. "Kid," he said, quickly tossing her the demon knife.
Amy caught the knife and spun around, stabbing a demon that was directly behind her. Another demon ran towards Bobby, and she quickly handed the knife over so he could stab it.
As the demon died, Sam ran back around the corner with two more employees. The workers ran out of the building, and Sam approached Bobby and Amy.
"All clear," Sam said, breathing heavily.
Bobby nodded, then turned his head towards something to Sam's side. "Sam!"
Sam was suddenly knocked down as a Croatoan attacked him.
Bobby aimed his gun and pulled the trigger, but all that came was a clicking noise. He quickly lowered the gun to fix the problem as Sam struggled against the Croatoan.
Amy quickly took aim. Before she could fire off a round, though, a loud gunshot could be heard, and the Croatoan's head exploded.
Sam pushed the Croatoan off of him as Castiel approached.
Cas examined his shotgun. "Actually, these things can be useful," he said.
"Can we commit our act of domestic terrorism already?" Bobby asked. "Let's go." He walked away as Sam continued catching his breath on the ground.
Amy helped Sam to his feet and turned to the angel. "Thanks, Cas," she said.
Cas nodded in response.
Sam picked his gun back up. "Come on." He led Amy and Cas out of the building. They hurried over to the van, where Bobby was waiting with the engine running.
"Would you idjits hurry up!" Bobby called out.
Amy climbed into the backseat with Cas as Sam got into the front. Bobby pushed on the gas pedal, speeding them out of the parking lot and back towards Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
It was late by the time they arrived back at Bobby's house. Amy grabbed her bag and slid out of the car. She followed Sam, Bobby, and Cas inside and immediately headed upstairs. The others could fill her in on whatever they talked about in the morning, but she wanted nothing more than to get some sleep right now.
Amy opened the door to her room and dropped the bag by the door. She changed into her sweatpants and t-shirt that she usually slept in and pulled her hair into a ponytail before collapsing onto the bed.
A few hours later, she woke up to the sound of something creaking down the hall. Slowly climbing out of bed, she opened the bedroom door to see Bobby walking up the stairs, only to turn around and start walking down as soon as he reached the top.
"Bobby?" Amy asked quietly before the hunter could walk back down.
Bobby turned to her and grunted.
"What are you doing?"
"The hell does it look like I'm doing?" Bobby asked gruffly.
"Like you're walking up and down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night?"
Bobby looked at her as if what he was doing was completely normal. "Yeah." He turned and continued walking down the stairs.
Amy watched Bobby disappear with a questioning look. "Okay," she finally said. She closed the door back up and went back to bed.
April 29th, 2010
The following day, Amy woke up and walked downstairs to find Sam in the study, flipping through a paper, but Dean, Cas, and Bobby were nowhere to be seen.
"Where is everyone?" Amy asked, getting Sam's attention.
Sam looked up from the paper. "Uh, Cas left sometime last night, and Dean and Bobby are outside in the salvage yard."
"Wait, so, did Dean get the ring?" Amy asked.
Sam nodded. "Yeah. I think he's trying to figure out how to work them right now."
"Cool," Amy said. "I think I'm gonna head out there for a bit."
"Okay."
Sam went back to his reading, and Amy headed out the backdoor. She found Dean and Bobby near the back of the salvage yard and walked towards them.
"So Death thinks Sam ought to say yes, huh?" Bobby was asking.
Dean was sitting at a small table. The four horsemen's rings were laid out in front of him. "I don't know. Yeah."
"Hey," Amy said as she approached.
Dean nodded in response. "Morning," he told her before turning back to Bobby. "Of course he'd say that, though. I mean, he works for Lucifer."
"Against his will, I thought he said," Bobby reminded him.
"He could have been telling the truth," Amy added. "And if I remember this right, he is."
Dean spun Death's ring around on the table. "Well, I'd say, take his sob story with a fat grain of salt. I mean, he is Death."
"Exactly," Bobby said. "He's Death. Think of the kind of bird's-eye view."
Dean looked up at Bobby with a confused expression on his face. "Seriously?"
Bobby held his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying-"
Dean cut him off. "Well, don't," he snapped. "I mean, what happened to you being against this?"
"Look, I'm not saying Sam ain't an ass-full of character defects. But…" Bobby trailed off.
"But what?" Dean asked.
"Back at Niveus? I watched that kid pull one civilian out after another," Bobby recalled. "Must have saved ten people. Never stopped. Never slowed down. We're hard on him, Dean. We've always been. But in the meantime... he's been running into burning buildings since he was, what, twelve?"
Dean chuckled. "Pretty much."
Amy leaned against a post next to Dean as he and Bobby talked.
"Look, Sam's got a...darkness in him," Bobby continued. "I'm not saying he don't. But he's got a hell of a lot of good in him, too."
Dean nodded. "I know."
"Then you know Sam will beat the devil...or die trying," Bobby said. "That's the best we could ask for. So I got to ask, Dean. What exactly are you afraid of? Losing? Or losing your brother?"
At that, Dean stared up at Bobby. He didn't say a word, but Amy didn't need to read minds to know what he was thinking. She didn't want to lose Sam either. He'd become like an older brother to her in the nearly three years since she'd met him.
The three of them had become a family over the years. The family Amy never had growing up. Losing that had become one of her greatest fears over the years.
"I don't wanna lose Sam either," Amy admitted quietly.
Dean looked over at her sadly.
"Then let's hope for the best," Bobby said. "And fight like hell until we can't anymore."