A/N: Song for the chapter is Bad Company's Bad Company. Chapter includes episode content from No Rest for the Wicked.
Chapter 27: Bad Company
Company always on the run
Destiny is a rising sun
Oh, I was born 6 gun in my hand
Behind a gun I'll make my final stand
That's why they call me
Bad company
And I can't deny
Bad company
Till the day I die, oh
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Rebel souls, deserters we are called
Chose a gun and threw away the sun
Now these towns they all know our name
6 gun sound is our claim to fame
I can hear them say
Bad company
And I won't deny
Bad, bad company
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Hey, hey, hey
Bad company
I can't deny
Bad company
Till the day I die
And I say it's bad company
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Bad company
Till the day I die
Tell me that you are not a thief
Oh, but I am
Bad company
It's the way I play
Dirty for dirty
Oh, somebody double crossed me
Double cross double cross
Yeah we're bad company
Killed in cold blood
Ty, Sam, and Dean joined Bobby in the library, gazing down at the pile of maps he had stretched out across one of the tables.
"So, we had the name. I just needed to find the right ritual." Bobby explained, "She's tricky, but I've got a few up my sleeve, too."
"So, you know what town she's in?" Sam asked, gazing curiously at the map.
"New Harmony, Indiana." Bobby said, but he had a sly grin on his face, "But I can do you one better than that. I can tell you what street she's on."
Bobby pulled a second map out from under the first and tapped the spot he had marked. Dean clapped him on the shoulder, "Nice work, Bobby."
Ty, however, was frowning, "This looks like a residential area. What's she doing there?"
"Who cares?" Dean replied, "We've got the Colt and the magic knife. We've got the hex bags so she won't know we're coming. Let's go kill the bitch before she has a chance to break any more Seals."
"Who cares?" Ty repeated incredulously, "She's the most powerful demon we've ever even heard of and she seems to want nothing more than to kill you and drag your soul to Hell! We've got one knife and one gun that may or may not be enough to take her out, both of which haven't helped us when facing powerful demons in the past. And, for all we know, this is one great big stinking trap. What part of that sounds irrelevant to you?"
"Well, ain't you just bringing down the room." Bobby muttered.
"It's a gift." Ty snapped sarcastically. She shook her head and softened her tone a little, "Look, I just think we need to be smart about this. If this is our shot, we need to make sure we do it right."
"Umm…" Sam mumbled.
Three sets of eyes shifted towards Sam. He glanced at each of them, then down at his shoes.
"You got something to add, spit it out." Bobby snapped impatiently.
"We…uh…don't have the knife anymore." Sam admitted quietly.
Dean's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in angry suspicion, "Excuse me?"
Sam sighed, then forced himself to meet Dean's gaze, "Ruby stole it back when I told her I wasn't going to work with her anymore."
Dean's mouth quirked like he wasn't sure whether he wanted to snap at him, clench his teeth, or laugh incredulously. Part of him was glad to hear that his brother had told that demon bitch off, but he couldn't understand why Sam had once again decided to meet her in secret if he was really on the up and up. The same mistrust and suspicion that had been churning in Dean's stomach once again twisted inside him. The only reason he could fathom for why Sam would do that was if there was still something he was hiding, something related to Ruby that he didn't want Dean to know. Dean hated it, hated whatever that secret was that Sam was keeping between them, hated feeling like he couldn't trust his own brother completely, but he didn't know what more he could say or do at this point to reach him.
"Whatever." he finally said, unable to keep all of the bitterness from his voice. He cleared his throat to try and disguise it before he continued, "We've still got the Colt and the element of surprise."
But Ty was shaking her head firmly, "It's not enough."
"Well, then, what are we supposed to do?" Dean demanded.
Ty frowned, "The only thing I can think of is that we need to find a way to get more information without tipping her off. At the very least, we need to figure out what she's doing there and…no offense, Bobby, but confirm she's even really there before we go in with our one magic gun blazing."
Ty noticed that Sam looked thoughtful, but he wasn't speaking and she figured he had an idea that they weren't going to like. Still, she had nothing and she knew Dean wasn't going to let this opportunity pass them by. They needed a plan, no matter how bad it was.
"Sam?" she pressed.
"Well," Sam said slowly, "if that's the case, I have an answer. A sure-fire way to confirm it's Lilith and…a way to get us back a bona fide demon-killing ginsu."
"Damn it, Sam, no." Dean snapped immediately, turning his back on them and pacing a few steps away.
"We're so past arguing." Sam persisted stubbornly, "Dean, I'm summoning Ruby. We have to."
Dean spun back around to face his brother, "The hell you are! We have enough problems as it is."
"Exactly." Sam agreed, moving over to stand toe-to-toe with him, "And we've got no time and no choice either if we want to stop Lilith now."
"I hate to say it, Dean, but I think Sam's right." Ty added quietly, "I mean, our only other demonic source of info is Melchiresa and there's no way she's going to talk unless we make a deal."
Dean's eyes flicked from Sam to Ty and back again like they were ganging up on him, backing him into a corner. Well, he'd be damned if he went down without a fight, "Come on! This is the Miss Universe of Lying Skanks we're talking about, okay? Even if she does give us info, we can't trust a word she says."
"Okay, fine. She's a liar." Sam conceded, "She's still got the knife."
"Dean." Bobby attempted to interject.
"No, no." Dean shook his head, "For all we know, she works for Lilith."
"Then give us another option, Dean." Sam challenged, "Ty's right, we can't just charge in there this time. So, tell me what else we can do."
"Dean!" Bobby snapped, louder. When the younger man finally looked over at him, he continued firmly, "Sam's right."
"No!" Dean yelled furiously, "Damn it!"
The three other hunters all looked at Dean, surprised at his vehement and emotional outburst. After a few awkward moments of silence, Dean sighed.
"Just no." he said, calmer, "We have got to stop making the same damn mistakes. We're not dealing with demons anymore. If you guys want to help me stop Lilith, find something else. Otherwise, I'm going."
With that, Dean stalked out of the library. Ty looked at Sam and Bobby, then after Dean.
"I'll try to keep him from doing something stupid." she said before hurrying after him.
Sam watched her go, hoping somehow she'd be able to follow through on her words, or, at the very least, stall Dean long enough for him to figure something out. Sam's attention was drawn back to Bobby as the other man grumbled curses.
"What are you going to do, Bobby?" he asked.
Bobby started pulling more books off the shelves, "I guess find something else."
Sam nodded absently, his mind already racing. As extensive as Bobby's knowledge and resources were, Sam was already convinced that there was nothing else for them to try. Dean would just have to find a way to accept that. Besides, he wasn't going back on his promise. He wasn't going to work with her again. No, this time he was going to summon Ruby, but he was just going to use her, get what they needed to do this Dean's way, and hopefully his brother would be able to understand that.
Ty caught up with Dean in the back of Bobby's house. It was still dark out, too early for even pre-dawn light to touch the sky.
"Hey." she said as she approached him. She kept her tone light even though she was dead serious about every word she was about to say, "You know there's no way in hell you're going without me, right?"
Dean turned towards her and a small smile flickered across his face, "Yeah, kinda figured."
Ty nodded, an answering smile briefly touching her lips as well, "Good. 'Cause, you know, if we're going to stop making the same mistakes, you should probably stop thinking you can leave me out of things 'for my own good.'"
Dean sighed and glanced away as a look of frustration replaced that fleeting smile, but it also faded quickly. When he looked back at her, his face was neutral but he held out an arm. She stepped closer and he slid it around her, pulling her into his side, "Yeah, I'm starting to think maybe it's better I keep you with me so I can keep an eye on you. You're pretty good at getting into trouble all on your own."
Ty couldn't help but grin up at him, "I'm just skilled like that."
They fell silent for a few moments, staring absently out into the night while Ty leaned against his side. Dean tried not to let himself think too much about the likelihood that one or both of them would be dead in the next 24 hours, instead reminding himself that Castiel had promised to watch over her and Sam so even if he didn't make it out, at least they'd be taken care of. It was a melancholy thought and he didn't particularly care for the bitter taste it left in his mouth. And to think, his night had been going so well just a few hours ago. Man, Bobby sure had shit timing.
"So," he finally ventured into the silence because if this was going to be his last day alive, he sure as hell wasn't going out with blue balls, "think maybe we can finish what we started earlier? You know, before Bobby pulled a major cock-block."
Ty looked up at him in surprise, then rolled her eyes, mostly at herself for not expecting something along those lines. Dean raised his eyebrows back at her and she couldn't help but smile. Grabbing a handful of his shirt, she pulled him down to press a kiss against his lips.
"You're an idiot." she said as she pulled away, but she was still smiling.
Dean grinned back at her, "Nah. That's the best idea I've had all night."
He stole another kiss, coaxing her lips apart so he could deepen it while he turned to face her fully and inch her back towards the door. She didn't really resist, instead responding with equal longing, both hands now buried in the material of his shirt, even though she knew this wasn't the wisest use of their time right now. Still, she felt she had to try one last, albeit half-hearted, protest.
"Shouldn't we…get some sleep…or…strategize…or something…before we…try to kill…Lilith?" she asked between kisses.
"Hmmm." Dean hummed thoughtfully against her lips, "Maybe later."
Ty's hesitation evaporated in the wake of his intoxicating touch and before long they found themselves moving back inside and up the stairs to her usual room.
Down in Bobby's basement, Sam had finally managed to covertly gather the ingredients for the summoning ritual. It had taken an annoyingly long time to get what he needed without Bobby noticing. The older hunter was a dangerous combination of shrewd and paranoid, so it wasn't easy to do something in his house without him knowing, but Sam had a lifetime of experience being sneaky. He was confident that Bobby didn't know what he was up to and, luckily, Ty and Dean had been absent while he was getting things prepared.
Crouching so he could cast the ingredients together in the bowl, he recited the increasingly familiar Latin incantation. When he straightened and turned around, he found Ruby leaning against the doorway, smirking at him like she wasn't at all surprised that he had summoned her again so soon.
"I want the knife back." he said firmly.
"I want a milkshake. What's your point?" Ruby replied flippantly.
"I told you I'm going to take out Lilith. We know where she is now and I don't care what you think, I'm ready. So give me the knife."
Ruby was silent for a moment as she looked at him. Slowly, she moved towards him, walking around him as if to observe him from all sides.
"I suppose you're right about one thing." she finally said, "You are ready. And now's the time, too. Lilith's guard's down."
"Is that so?" Sam asked, watching her out of the corner of his eye as she circled him.
Ruby nodded, "She's on shore-leave. A little R&R."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Trust me, you don't wanna know." Ruby said dismissively, "You didn't lose those hex bags I gave you, right?"
"We've got 'em." Sam confirmed although he knew she must already know that.
"Good. Then she won't sense that you're coming."
Sam turned around so he could face Ruby directly again, "So, you'll give me the knife?"
"No." Ruby said flatly.
Sam frowned, "But you just said…"
"One little pigsticker is not going to make a difference with Lilith. It's a waste of a true-blue window, like getting Hitler with that exploding briefcase. Forget it. You want to waste Lilith, you know what it's going to take."
"Damn it, Ruby, I told you…" Sam began angrily.
"You don't like being different. You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes. Like you're some kind of sideshow freak." Ruby interrupted him, "Well, suck it up, buttercup, because this is the way we win."
Sam glared at the floor, jaw clenched. He hated her, but even more than that, he hated himself because he didn't know what the right thing to do was anymore. The angel's warning, that using his powers made him no better than a demon himself, echoed in his mind, but he also felt like Ruby's words held the ring of truth. The knife, the Colt…they wouldn't be enough against Lilith. Sam finally forced himself to look up at her again.
"Look," Ruby said placatingly, "call me a bitch, hate me all you want, but I have never lied to you, Sam. Not ever. And I'm telling you, you can save your brother and everyone else. You can end this. I've showed you how."
"So that's you, huh? Our slutty little Yoda."
Sam's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Dean standing behind Ruby, face pinched with anger. Ruby did not appear concerned as she slowly turned around.
"Dean." she greeted him shortly, her voice now cold and clipped, "Charming as ever."
Dean strode further into the room, sending her a somewhat strained version of his usual confident smirk, "I knew you'd show up. Because I knew Sam wouldn't listen."
Sam looked at him for a moment before quickly looking away. So much for Dean finding a way to understand.
Dean, however, ignored Sam for the time being, keeping his focus on Ruby, "But you and him are done, you understand me? Over my dead body is he teaming up with a demon."
Ruby scoffed in reply, "Oh. Well, you're right about that."
Dean pretended like she hadn't spoken, "What you're gonna do is give me that knife and then you can just go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never bother me or my brother again. Are we clear?"
"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him and we'd be stupid not to use it." Ruby answered.
"Dean, look, just hold on for one…" Sam tried to interject because Ruby was right. This thing was inside of him already. If they could make use of it, turn it against the demons instead, shouldn't they do it?
Dean turned to him angrily, "Sam! Don't. Come on, man, what are you blind? Can't you see that this is a trick?"
"That's not true." Ruby protested.
"She wants you to give into this whole demonic psychic whatever, okay? I mean, hell, she probably wants you to become her little Antichrist SuperStar." Dean continued.
"I want Lilith dead. That's all." Ruby snapped.
"Why?" Dean demanded.
"I've told you why!" Ruby exclaimed in exasperation.
"Oh, right, yeah." Dean said sarcastically, "Because you were human once and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach."
"You know, I am so sick of proving myself to you. You wanna save yourself, this is how, you dumb, spineless dick." Ruby growled.
Dean didn't reply, but just stared back at her. Finally, he turned his back on her, but instead of leaving he spun back around, swinging his fist into her face. Ruby staggered slightly at the unexpected blow and Sam even took a few steps back in surprise. When Ruby looked back up at Dean, she paused just a moment to wipe at the blood trickling from her lip before launching her own attack back at him, striking him with first one fist and then the other.
"Ruby, hey!" Sam protested, trying to stop the fight, but Ruby struck him in the back, causing him to double over, then kneed him in the face. Sam reeled backwards into a beam and slid to the floor.
Ruby turned back towards Dean, but he was ready with another blow to the face. Dean attempted to follow-up with another punch, but Ruby ducked out of the way and brought her knee up sharply into his gut. A brutal kick to the face sent Dean to the floor, as well. Before he could get back up, Ruby stalked over and kicked him again, another sharp blow to the stomach that had him rolling over the floor. But, Dean being Dean and not knowing when to quit, he still tried to get back up. So, Ruby moved after him, grabbing him and dragging him back onto his feet so she could headbutt him hard enough to make him fall backwards again the second she released her hold. But for some reason, the idiot grinned as he looked up at her, blood staining his teeth, and slowly climbed back to his feet.
"The hell are you grinning at?" Ruby demanded furiously.
"Missing something?" Dean asked with a smirk as he held up her knife.
Ruby's face twisted into a furious snarl.
"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." she hissed as she lunged forward, but before she could reach him she stopped cold like she'd hit an invisible wall. She looked from Dean and the insufferable look on his face to the ceiling over her head to find a Devil's Trap painted on the wooden beams.
"Like I said," Dean said as he lowered the knife, "I knew you'd come."
Turning away from her, he started back towards the staircase out of the basement.
"Wait!" Ruby called after him, "You're just gonna leave me here?"
Dean paused, but he was looking at Sam, waiting for him to regain his feet, "Let's go, Sam."
When Sam joined him, he started up the steps and Sam followed. Neither spared a glance back at Ruby.
Fuming, Ruby screamed after them "Oh, oh you…so you're just too stupid to live, is that it? Then fine! You deserve Hell! I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones! I wish I could be there to hear you scream!"
Dean finally glanced back at her, "And I wish you'd shut your pie hole, but we don't always get what we want."
With that he left the basement, shutting the door after Sam. Ruby was still screaming, but he wasn't about to listen to one more word from the bitch. They had everything they needed from her now.
Sam, however, glanced back at the closed door and sighed, "We're just gonna let Ruby rot down there?"
"That's the idea." Dean nodded.
"But Dean, what if…uh...what if Ruby's right? What if I can take out Lilith?" Sam asked uncertainly
Dean shot him a look that was equal parts angry and doubting.
"Quit looking at me like that."
"What, are you gonna give her the Carrie-stare and Lilith goes poof?" Dean asked harshly as he dropped into a chair at the kitchen table.
He dropped the knife on the tabletop and pulled out his favorite pistol, disassembling it and inspecting each part. It was a nervous habit, but he couldn't help it. He'd seen Sam using his powers against Samhain and it had seemed to take almost everything he had. There was no way he had the juice to ice Lilith and there was no way Dean was about to let him try. This was the same freaky shit that Azazel had wanted from him, the crap their dad had thought might turn Sam into something he'd have to kill. It was not an option.
"We've got one shot at this, Dean. Just one. So if there's a sure-fire way, then maybe we should just talk about it." Sam stubbornly insisted. He took the seat next to Dean, watching as he reassembled his gun. He knew that was one of Dean's nervous tics, inspecting his guns, so he continued in a slightly gentler tone, "What do you think is gonna happen? This is me. I can handle it."
Dean stopped messing with the gun, but his eyes were on the floor. He didn't say anything, just shook his head, so Sam continued.
"And if it'll stop Lilith, save you…"
"Why even risk it?" Dean interrupted, looking up abruptly and catching Sam's gaze.
Sam glanced away for a moment, but it was clear that Dean needed to hear him say it, so he looked back and said slowly and sincerely, "Because you're my brother. Because you'd do the same thing for me."
Dean shook his head again and closed his eyes for a moment. He remembered what he'd been willing to do when he'd held Sam's lifeless body, but…it had to stop. Opening his eyes again, he took a deep breath before he finally spoke, emotions still making his words feel heavy and his throat feel tight, "All I'm saying… Sammy, all I'm saying is that you're my weak spot."
Sam looked over at him in surprise and Dean offered him a small smile.
"You are." he confirmed, "And I'm yours."
Now Sam was the one shaking his head, "You don't mean that. We're…we're family."
"I know. And those evil sons of bitches know it, too. I mean, what we'll do for each other…you know, how far we'll go? They're using it against us."
"So what? We just stop looking out for each other?" Sam asked in disbelief.
"No, we stop being martyrs, man. We…we stop spreading it for these demons." Dean answered. He picked up Ruby's knife again and held it up, "We take this knife and the Colt and we go after Lilith our way. The way Dad taught us to. And if we go down, then, uh...then we go down swinging."
Sam stared at him silently.
"What do you think?" Dean prodded.
Sam looked down at the floor, a thoughtful look on his face, then looked up at Dean again, "I think you totally should have been jamming Eye of the Tiger right there."
Dean put both hands back on the table and pushed himself back to his feet, grumbling "Oh, bite me. I totally rehearsed that speech, too."
Sam smiled at that. He could just imagine his brother practicing that pep talk in the bathroom mirror. He'd have to share this with Ty. She'd never let Dean hear the end of it.
"So, Indiana, huh?" he said.
"Yeah, where Lilith's on shore-leave." Dean said, lips twisting a little in a frown over that last word.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Tell me something." Dean said, making Sam look up at him, "What the hell's a demon do for fun?"
Ty had vaguely hoped that after their activities, she and Dean might be able to get a little sleep. Not only would it be good for them to get a little rest before what was likely going to be the biggest battle of their lives, but it would also give Sam and Bobby more time to try and come up with a better plan that Dean might actually agree to. Unfortunately, while they both certainly enjoyed each other's company, neither of them could fully relax enough to sleep. They both dressed and Dean declared he was going to find Sam so Ty decided she would track down Bobby. She found him still pouring over books in his cluttered library.
"Any luck?" she asked.
Bobby just shot her a glare, so she raised her hands in surrender and backed away. Figuring she might as well help, she grabbed a few books off the shelves that she didn't recognize but that had promising titles, retreating to a distant corner to make herself comfortable while she looked for an answer.
The first couple books she looked through were decidedly unhelpful and she tossed them aside in annoyance. Her eyes wandered from the remaining books in her pile to the stacks around the room, wondering pessimistically if there was even a point to looking. Bobby seemed to have read everything and remembered almost everything he read. Surely, if there was something here, he'd already have found it.
Her gaze snagged on a book sticking slightly out of a bottom shelf nearby. It looked old and there didn't appear to be any title etched on the spine. Curious, she shifted onto her knees so she could reach out and pull it free. Turning it over in her hands as she settled back onto the ground, she took in the blank dark leather cover. Thinking maybe there would be a title page inside that would tell her what she was looking at, she flipped the book open. There was no title page either. Frowning, Ty continued to flip slowly through the pages, taking in the scrawled Latin written in an old-fashioned hand. She stopped abruptly about halfway through the text, eyes widening, when she realized what she was looking at.
Ty hurried back over to Bobby, holding the book she'd found open in her hands. Despite the lack of sleep, she was nearly bouncing with excitement over what she'd discovered and was anxious to show him.
"Bobby, I think I found something." she said quickly as she approached, "This spell is supposed to let the caster see the true face of supernatural beings from sundown to sunup. It should let me see who the demons are."
Bobby took one glance at the book in Ty's hands and his usual frown became a scowl, "No."
"No?" Ty asked, deflating as she frowned in confusion, "But…"
"No." Bobby repeated firmly, "It's too dangerous. I should've burned that damn book."
"What are you talking about?" Ty asked, pulling the book closer to her chest as if to protect it, "This could be the edge we need to spot a trap before we walk into it."
Bobby shook his head, "Not with something out of that book. Half the spells in it are worthless. The other half are jinxed. I only kept the damn thing in case someone was dumb enough to use one and had it blow up on them."
"What do you mean jinxed?" Ty asked curiously, unwilling to abandon the possibility this spell offered without a damn good reason. Dean was prepared to go after Lilith with just the Colt and his snarky attitude. She needed this.
"I mean you're just as likely to wind up blind as with any kind of extra sight." Bobby said. He snatched the book out of her hands and tossed it onto his desk, "Forget it. It's too risky."
"Bobby…" Ty protested again.
"I said forget it." Bobby snapped, harsher than Ty had ever heard him speak to her. She flinched slightly. Bobby was always grumpy, but he had never actually sounded genuinely pissed at her before.
"Okay." she said softly, retreating again, "Nevermind."
Bobby sighed as he watched her go, pulling his hat off his head and closing his hands around the brim. He regretted losing his temper with the girl, but she could be as bad as the damn Winchesters sometimes about doing half-thought-out, stupid, reckless crap. He'd almost thought he'd lost her back when Alex had rushed her home with the Gjenganger's mark. He'd be damned if he let something happen to her because of some cursed book he should've gotten rid of years ago. At the very least, he ought to lock the damn thing up.
Bobby looked over at his desk, thinking maybe he'd throw the stupid thing into a hex box right now, but he didn't see it anywhere. Ty must have taken it with her to put back where she found it. Well, he'd just have to track it down again later. He had another boneheaded fool to worry about at the moment.
That afternoon, after a hasty meal and a thorough check of their supplies, Ty followed the brothers out the door towards the Impala. She glanced uncertainly behind her at the house, knowing in her gut that slipping away without saying anything to Bobby was the wrong move, but Dean had insisted and Sam had actually agreed so she was outnumbered. She reluctantly climbed into the backseat for the drive to Indiana, but when Dean tried to start up the car, it wouldn't start. Dean frowned in confusion. It had been running perfectly. There was no reason for it not to start. He glanced at Sam who looked just as confused.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Dean and Sam both looked startled by Bobby's sudden appearance next to the driver-side door. He was holding the distributor cap from the car in his hand.
"Told you he'd be mad." Ty chimed from the back seat, unable to suppress her grin that Bobby had undermined the boys' plan.
Dean shot her a glare over his shoulder before he opened the door and got out. Sam followed suit, knowing from the look on the other men's faces that there were about to be some seriously heated words at the very least.
"We got the knife." Dean said simply.
"And you intend to use it without me." Bobby surmised, "Do I look like a ditchable prom-date to you?"
"No, Bobby. Of course not." Sam said before Dean could make some smart remark.
But then Dean had to open his mouth and say, "This isn't your fight, Bobby."
Bobby stepped up to Dean, clearly furious, "The hell it isn't!"
Dean looked taken aback by this, like he was surprised by Bobby's words and that just pissed him off more. He knew the boy could be a bit dense, but he should know better. After all these years, these boys were practically his boys. Their fight was his fight.
"Family don't end with blood, boy." Bobby growled at him, "Besides, you need me."
"Bobby." Dean protested because despite what Bobby thought, Dean did consider Bobby family and that was exactly why he didn't want him getting involved with this any more than he already was.
"Stow it." Bobby snapped, slapping the distributor cap into Dean's hand. He moved away from the boys towards his own car, "I'll follow you. And don't be stopping to pee every ten minutes, either."
Dean shook his head a little at that and moved over to open up the hood of the Impala to put the part back in its rightful place. Sam just sighed and got back in the car. He knew saying as much to Dean would be a mistake, but he was a little relieved that Bobby was coming with them. He had a feeling they would need all the help they could get because he still felt, deep in his gut, that Ruby might be right, that if he didn't use his powers, they were in trouble.
Later, as the sun dipped below the horizon while they traveled down the road towards Indiana, Sam decided he needed to broach the silence, just in case his worries turned out to be as prophetic as his visions. Now was as good a time as any since Ty had dozed off in the backseat so there was some relative privacy for him to talk with his brother.
"Hey, Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"You know if this doesn't uh...this doesn't go the way we want, I want you to know…" he began awkwardly.
"No." Dean interrupted. Adding emphatically, "No, no, no, no."
"No what?" Sam asked.
Dean looked over at him, "No, you're not gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech, okay? If this turns out to be my last day on earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward."
Sam looked down and out the window and Dean turned back to the road. His eyes drifted up to the rearview mirror, taking in Ty's sleeping form in the backseat. His lips quirked a little as an idea occurred to him.
"You know what I do want?" he asked, reaching down to turn on the radio.
Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive burst from the speakers. Sam looked at him in surprise, "Bon Jovi?"
"Bon Jovi rocks." Dean informed him, then added thoughtfully, "On occasion."
He glanced back over at Sam as if to make sure he had acknowledged his point. When Sam said nothing, but instead just looked away, Dean began to sing along.
"And I walk these streets/ A loaded six-string on my back/ I play for keeps," Dean sang, turning to Sam and nudging him, "Come on. 'Cause I might not make it back/ I've been everywhere…"
Sam sang hesitantly, "Oh yeah."
Dean grinned and continued, "...and I'm standing tall!"
Sam laughed and sang along with him through the rest of the verse. Ty stirred in the backseat, unable to sleep through the boys' enthusiastic, but not terribly on-key singing. She frowned in confusion for a moment, but her face settled into bemusement as they boys sang the chorus. She wondered if maybe her CCR sing-along with them before had inspired this round of car karaoke, but her musing was cut short when she noticed that while Sam was still belting out the lyrics, the smile on Dean's face had faded and he had gone silent. Sam didn't seem to have noticed the melancholy look that had come over his brother's face as he gazed out at the road. Ty didn't want to worry Sam or upset Dean by interrupting their moment and pointing out that Dean was clearly upset about something. So, she said nothing and hoped that by the end of the night, everything would work itself out.
After the song ended, Dean turned the music down and they all settled into silence. They continued driving into the night for another hour or so, when suddenly the sound of a siren and the flashing of red and blue lights drew their attention. Dean glanced in the rearview, while Ty turned around to look out the back window.
"Are we seriously getting pulled over?" she asked incredulously. Of all the times for this to happen…and Dean wasn't even really speeding this time. What the hell?
"I've got a busted tail-light." Dean said, "Been meaning to fix it. It's fine. Don't worry."
Dean pulled the car over and the cop pulled up behind him. Dean rolled down his window as Sam pulled the registration out of the glove box and handed it over. The police officer walked up to Dean's window with a flashlight in hand.
"Problem officer?" Dean asked.
"License and registration, please." The officer responded firmly. Dean pulled his license from his wallet and handed the papers out the window. The officer took them, examining them as he continued to speak, "Do you realize you have a tail-light out, Mr. Hagar?"
Dean was about to reply when he caught Ty gesturing frantically at him in the rearview. He looked back at her over his shoulder to find she was mouthing something at him, her eyes cutting from him very deliberately towards the officer. Dean's brow furrowed in confusion, but before he could say anything, the officer shone his flashlight in at him, pulling his attention back to him.
"Yes…yes, sir. Uh…you know I've been meaning to…take care of that." Dean answered, slowly turning his head so he could look back at Ty again. Her face was pinched with frustration, but she was still mouthing that same thing at him. Dean's eyes widened when he realized what it was.
"As a matter of fact…" Dean continued before he suddenly flung his door open, hitting the officer in the stomach with it and knocking him backwards. Dean launched himself out of the car after him.
"Dean!" Sam cried in surprise, hurrying to climb out of the car and join his brother.
"Sam!" Ty called after him, "It's a demon!"
Ty jumped out on Dean's side while he punched the possessed police officer multiple times in the face. Ty had her gun pulled, but kept it pointed at the ground since she didn't have a clear shot. Luckily, she didn't need to worry. Dean pulled Ruby's knife from his belt and thrust it up into the officer's jaw. The wound crackled with supernatural light as it pierced not only the host's body, but the demon inside as well. As Dean withdrew the knife and released the officer, who fell dead to the ground, another car pulled up behind them. Ty whirled around, starting to lift her gun, but lowered it again when she recognized Bobby's car. Bobby quickly ran over to them, looking from the dead officer at Dean's feet, to a startled Sam standing next to him, and finally to Ty with her gun drawn.
"What the hell happened?" he demanded.
"Dean just killed a demon." Sam said. He turned towards Ty, "How'd you know?"
Dean, still breathing heavily, looked up from the body to Ty, his eyes also demanding an explanation. Bobby's eyes narrowed in suspicion and he crossed his arms angrily. Ty sighed and holstered her gun.
"I cast a spell." she said.
"After I explicitly told you not to." Bobby snapped.
"But it worked." Ty protested. She turned to look down at the body of the policeman, "I could see its face. Its real face under that one."
"Okay. Hold on." Dean said, waving his hands to get everyone's attention, "First, let's get this mess cleaned up before someone else drives by. But you, start talking about this spell."
While the boys moved the body into the squad car and Bobby steered it further off the road into the woods, Ty explained about the spell she had found. Once Bobby shut off the car, they started covering it with branches to hide it from sight.
"So, you can see demons." Sam said thoughtfully, "That might actually come in pretty handy."
"Provided it doesn't backfire somehow and blow up in her face." Bobby grumbled through clenched teeth, "That's why I've never used the damn spell or told anyone about it. Spells from that book always go wrong."
"Look, Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let them sound the alarm if we want to take her by surprise. She knows we're here, we're dead before we're started." Ty protested, "Besides, it's already done and you know, I'm not gonna say so far so good, but...yeah. One demon down."
Bobby just glared at her silently and Ty had a feeling that if they lived through this, she wouldn't be hearing the end of his feelings on the matter anytime soon. Well, she supposed she could count that as a silver lining to getting killed tonight.
"Well, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it." Dean said sarcastically, "Can we go, please?"
