CHAPTER 25

Dean, Sam, and Bobby sat around the kitchen table arguing about what to do. Everyone had different ideas and none of them could agree on a course of action. It had started to get heated when Sam finally stood up and confronted his brother who had started pacing around the room, bellowing about stabbing a certain red-eyed demon in the throat.

"We have to wait and see what Castiel finds, Dean!", Sam blurted out in exasperation. "What else can we do, Dean, huh? Tell me!" Dean stopped and opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again when he had no real plan for getting Jo back. He turned his back on the two other men and a loud, animalistic snarl ripped out of his mouth, making Sam and Bobby jump. Sam had to swallow hard at the pain and grief in the agonizing sound. He knew how his brother felt. He felt it too. Sam was just a bit better at hiding it.

"I d-don't know how much more of this I can take, Sammy", Dean whispered almost too quietly to hear. "I just... I love her so..." His voice broke and he had to put his hand over his mouth to keep in a sob.

"Dean, I know you love her", Sam said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Dean turned around and Sam was startled to see the tears pouring down his big brother's face. It took a lot to make Dean cry. "I... I love her too. But, we have to be patient. Cas said he would find her, ok?"

Castiel had come as soon as Dean called and was gone again almost as quickly, vowing that he wouldn't rest until he found Jo. He seemed determined to protect her and her unborn baby. The guys weren't sure what Cas had seen in the child when he touched Jo, but whatever it was, he must have thought it was worth defending. Dean had no doubt that the angel would never stop looking, but he wasn't so sure that it would be enough.

"Look...", Bobby started as the silence in the room became overwhelming. "The angel is our best chance of finding her. He can go places we can't and a lot quicker too. We just gotta sit tight and keep our cool. We can't go losing our heads."

"Yeah... yeah, you're right, Bobby", Dean sighed, running his hands through is hair and slumping into the closest kitchen chair. "I just hate feeling so helpless!" He slammed is fists down on the table as he growled out his frustration, making beer bottles topple over.

"HEY! Watch it, boy, or you'll be buyin' me a new table!", Bobby barked, shooting Dean an angry glare.

"I'm sorry, Bobby", Dean grumbled. "It's just... I saw how that demon bastard looked at her! He wants more than just the kid!" Bobby had to look away when Dean's devastated eyes landed on him. The old hunter was well aware of what the demon wanted. He wasn't oblivious to the lust in Crowley's eyes when he looked at Jo.

"Dean, you can't think like that!", Sam interjected. "We have to have hope. I... have to have hope!"

"You don't understand! I can't sit by and let her be violated again! I WON'T!"

"Bobby, can I talk to my brother alone, please?", Sam said with a heavy sigh. Bobby looked from Sam, to Dean, and back again before he nodded and left the room. Sam sat in the chair across from his brother and grabbed his hand. "Do you think that just because you got to be with her and it was consensual and I didn't, that... that you hurt more than I do?" Sam had to blink to push back the tears that were threatening to break loose.

"N-NO! Sammy! Of course not!" Dean felt really shitty that his words had put that thought in his little brother's head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like I was making light of your feelings for Jo. I know, more than anyone, how much you love her." Sam looked away as the tears finally broke loose and rolled down his face. Dean squeezed his little brother's hand reassuringly. "And... and I'm sorry that you didn't get the chance to... ya know... be with her before..."

"Don't even go there, Dean!", Sam growled, cutting Dean off. He jerked his hand away from his brother's and shot him a dirty look. "We're gonna get her back!"

"I know you believe that, Sammy. I wanna believe it too! But..." Dean's phone started vibrating in his pocket, interrupting Dean before he could finish. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID, before flipping it open and holding it up to his ear. "Talk to me, Cas! We could really use some good news right now, man!" Because Castiel couldn't get inside the house, Dean had given him a burner phone, so they could stay in contact.

"Well, I have good news and bad news, Dean", Castiel's gravelly voice answered through the line. "Which would you like to hear first?" Dean sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood up from the chair.

"I don't care, Cas! Just spill it!", Dean snapped, losing his patience with the angel.

"Alright. The good news is, I found Jo", Cas said flatly.

"WHAT?!", Dean shouted breathlessly. "Why didn't you come right out and say that?!" Dean started to pace around the room before stopping in front of the kitchen table, meeting Sam's wide, terrified eyes.

"Well, that's where the bad news comes in, Dean", Castiel replied, sounding almost afraid to answer the question. Did angels get scared? Dean didn't know. Castiel was the first and only angel he had ever met.

"What... what do you mean?" Dean felt his gut do a nauseating flip and he just knew he was going to regret asking the question.

"She's in Hell, Dean." Sam's breath caught in his throat as he watched his brother's eyes go wide and unfocused before he slowly sank into his chair again.

"Dean?", Sam croaked, his throat closing in fear. "Wha... what is it?" For a moment Dean seemed to be frozen before his eyes shifted to lock with Sam's. His mouth opened and closed rapidly like he was a stranded fish, trying to breathe out of water. Finally, Dean swallowed hard and heaved a heavy sigh.

"We're all going to Hell, Sammy."

Dean didn't look like he was joking.