It was late morning in Lebanon, Kansas. The sun was shining and all was well outside the bunker. Inside the bunker all was well, too. Sam was sitting in the library, remnants of his breakfast next to a large pile of books. He was deeply absorbed in whatever it was he was reading.
Dean staggered into the library, rubbing sleep from his face. "Morning," he said to Sam.
Sam looked up. "Hey, morning yourself. It's about time you woke up."
Dean yawned. "Man, I can't believe you didn't sleep in after yesterday."
Sam smiled and gave a small laugh. "Actually, um, it was two days ago."
Dean stared at his brother. "Wait - two days ago?"
"Um…yeah. You slept an entire day."
Dean looked around the room. "No wonder I feel so great." He slumped in a chair and sniffed his shirt. "I've smelled better though."
"Yeah, that's for sure. Maybe go shower before you eat?"
"All right mom, give me a minute." Dean was processing his surroundings, still not fully awake. His eyes rested on the stack of books on the table. "What are you reading now, nerd?"
Sam gestured at the pile. "Just trying to figure something out. Checking the lore, comparing notes."
"Wait, you're doing research? Why?"
"I know, I know…it's just," Sam hesitated, "something didn't feel right about it."
"Let me get this straight - you're doing extra work, on a case we finished, because something didn't feel right?" Dean was very awake now, and scoffed in annoyance. "Come on man, we ganked that son of a bitch after a long and ridiculous chase. Take a break already."
"I knew you wouldn't understand." Sam shook his head slowly. Dean was immediately defensive. "Oh nononononono, I understand. This is what you do after something finally goes right for us. You start thinking, and wondering, and doubting, and questioning. And you inevitably open up some crazy-old book on something that's only slightly connected, and" - here Dean mimed an explosion with his hands - "poof, we're chasing down something else and in way deeper than before." Dean walked to Sam and sat down in the chair next to him. He chose his next words carefully; they were only just getting back to good terms and he didn't want to push his brother away. "Just take a break, is all I'm saying. We finished a fight, a bad one. Why push yourself to find another? Go easy, okay?"
Sam looked at Dean. "Okay." He knew Dean was just trying to protect him, as usual. He took a deep breath. "I'll put the books away."
"Good," Dean said. He stretched and then stood up. "I could eat a freaking horse. Hope we have some bacon." He headed towards the door.
"We might," Sam replied as he closed the book he had been reading. "Otherwise we can go to town later and get some supplies."
"Yes, good. Go get some supplies." Dean said. As he got to the doorway, he turned around. "And some pie."
Sam gave a small huff. "Yes mom," he said to himself.
Later that day, after the supply run, Dean and Sam were in the Dean Cave watching (at Dean's request) Goonies. Dean had a giant bag of popcorn in his lap; Sam was eating crackers. There were two mugs of beer on the small table between the La-Z-Boys.
Dean was enjoying himself; Sam - not so much.
"Aw, come on Sammy," Dean teased. "Try to have a little bit of fun. You didn't even eat any of the pie you brought back."
"Yeah. Because you stuffed your face with it." Sam retorted.
"Hey, I like me some pie." Dean replied as he drank his beer. "Haven't we earned a little break? Come on, just watch the movie with me." He pushed 'Play' and settled back comfortably in his chair.
Then the sirens went off, red lights flashing.
Something had gotten in.
Food, beer and movie forgotten, Sam and Dean raced out of the Cave. They each stopped in their room to grab a weapon - a knife, a gun, anything - before heading to the war room. They both arrived at the same time, and realized who had set everything off. It was Castiel.
"Hello," he said, seemingly oblivious to the chaos around him.
"Damnit Sam, I thought you had shut these off!" Dean yelled over the noise. He went over to the control panel and hit the override button, silencing the bunker once more. "You said you adjusted the warding."
"I did!" Sam protested. "It shouldn't go off when Cas enters like…that way." He stared at his angel friend. "Cas, why didn't you come in through the door like usual?"
"Because I didn't have time to walk all this way." Cas replied in his dry manner.
"Didn't have time to walk," Dean mumbled under his breath. "And I suppose a phone call wouldn't have been enough either?" he said louder, to make sure everyone heard him.
"No, Dean, it wouldn't have been enough." Castiel went over to the World Map table, placing his hands on the edge. He looked worried. "There is an emergency, and I had to come as quickly as possible."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"It's Armageddon." Castiel replied. Stunned silence met his words.
"Uh-uh. Nope, nope, not happening." Dean didn't believe him. "We already saved the world countless times, Armageddon has come and gone - repeatedly. There's no way."
"Yeah, Cas, this doesn't make sense." Sam agreed with his brother. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Sam, I am sure." Castiel sounded exasperated, or would have if he had been able to speak with any kind of inflection or emotion. "What we thought was Armageddon all those years ago, it wasn't. It was a set-up." He turned around to face the boys. "This is the real one, this time. It's coming." Sam stood shocked.
"So all that work, all that suffering, was for nothing?!" Dean was angry.
"Nothing you do is for nothing, Dean." Castiel assured him. "No battle you have ever fought has been pointless, or worthless. You know that."
Dean's anger was fading. Sam walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Cas is right. The good news is, we already did this once before, so it will be easy this time."
Dean gave a short laugh. "When has anything we've ever done been easy?" He sighed. "I guess you got your wish then. And movie night will have to wait, huh?" he smiled ruefully at his brother. "So, Cas," he turned to face the angel, "we have to do this again?"
"Yes," Castiel answered. "But you'll have help this time." He walked over to the boys. "You won't be doing this alone, and you won't be doing this here."
"Where are we going to do this, then?" Sam asked.
As he placed a hand on each boy's shoulder, Castiel answered with one word.
"Israel."
Sam, Dean and Castiel found themselves in the middle of an empty highway. It was dark, and the full moon was shining brightly down on them.
"Jesus Cas, you can't do that without telling us!" Dean snapped at him.
"I'm sorry, Dean." Castiel apologized. "I know you will have trouble defecating for some time now, but time is of the essence."
Sam laughed. "Oh grow up." Dean growled as he looked around him. There wasn't much to see, but it gave him something to do. "Where are we?"
"Israel. It's where Armageddon will take place."
"What, here? In the middle of the road?" Dean asked sarcastically.
"No Dean, not here." Castiel was confused. "Angel radio led me to this spot, but it's…not the right spot." Dean threw up his arms in frustration.
"Not the right spot?" Sam asked. "I thought angel radio was precise."
"It normally is," Castiel replied. "So I'm not sure why we are here. We also seem to be some distance away from where we need to be, but I can't be sure of the direction." He looked around at the blackness. The highway was huge, four lanes in either direction, and there were trees on either side. "I'll see if someone can guide us."
"Don't take too long." Dean grumbled. He walked aimlessly, as did Sam in the opposite direction. They felt helpless. They'd been in strange places before, but always in the USA - never in a foreign country. At least they weren't totally unarmed; Dean still held the angel blade he grabbed from his room, and Sam had a gun. Sam opened the chamber - it was fully loaded, but he didn't know the type of bullets inside. He would have to check later.
Suddenly, they heard a faint rumbling in the distance. As it got louder, they realized it was a car engine - and a fast one at that. Sam glanced at Castiel; he was still staring at the night sky, trying to reach someone back at angel headquarters.
Sam looked at Dean. "What do we do?"
Dean answered, "Let's stay right where we are. Maybe the driver is friendly."
Sam huffed. "Yeah…friendly."
The car was getting louder, but they still didn't see any lights. Suddenly the car crested over the rise in the road, lighting them up. The driver slammed on the breaks, stopping several feet before the boys.
The driver put the car in park, stepped out, and slammed the door shut. It was a woman, young-ish. She wore jeans, gym shoes, a light grey top, and a dark red jacket. She was short, and she was angry.
"Mah atem osim kan?" she shouted in Hebrew. "Yod'im she'yesh z'man otzer? Mah, atem mefagrim?!"
Dean inched over to Sam. "Do you understand what she's saying?" he whispered loudly.
The woman relaxed. "Oh god, you're Americans." she said. "What the hell are you doing here? You could have been killed!"
"But we weren't." Sam said with a smirk. "Also, we have no idea where we are."
"Or what we're doing." Dean added. Might as well play the part of the dumb foreigner while he could.
"That is very clear." the woman responded. "I don't expect either of you to know anything about anything in this country. But do you mind telling me who you are and what exactly you are doing here?" She drew a gun from behind her back. "Believe me, your lives depend on it."
Sam and Dean immediately pulled their weapons out, going into defensive mode. The car's headlights glinted off the angel blade, and the woman gasped in recognized shock. "Where did you get one of those?"
"You know what this is?" Sam and Dean asked together.
"Of course I do, everyone does." the woman replied. "But there aren't many of them left."
A mutual understanding passed between the three people on the dark highway. Sam lowered his gun, and put his hand over his chest. "I'm Sam, and this is my brother Dean." Dean relaxed his stance slightly.
The woman stayed as she was, clearly thinking about what she had just heard. She put her gun away and said "I think you guys need to come with me."
"Gladly." Sam said as he put his gun away. Anything to get off the road. "Hey Cas, we're going." he said over his shoulder.
The woman grew suspicious again. "Who's Cas?" she asked. Dean could practically hear her eyes narrowing at them. He stepped closer to her, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "Don't worry. Cas is a friend of ours, and he's normal. Well…not exactly normal…"
"It's all right Dean," Castiel said, cutting him off. "She is the one we're expecting." He stepped fully into the headlights and looked at the woman. The woman looked back at him. They held each other's gaze for five full seconds without speaking.
"You get in the backseat," she finally said. She turned around and opened the driver's side door. "Let's go."
Dean was on the passenger side, Sam and Castiel in the backseat. It was a beautiful car, a vintage white Chevy Camaro in excellent condition. It made Dean miss Baby.
They drove for a few minutes. They entered a tunnel on the side of a mountain; after a while the woman pulled over to the shoulder, and cut the lights. She left the engine running, and locked the doors and windows.
She reached for her phone in the dashboard holder. Picking it up, she gave a sigh. "Nobody talk until I say so." she said.
Sam and Dean murmured their agreement. Castiel, naturally, said nothing.
The woman dialed a number, and waited for the call to connect. Once it did, she put the phone up to her ear. A muffled voice was heard almost immediately, as if the person on the other end expected the worst. She answered in Hebrew and then, glancing at Dean, continued speaking in English.
"Everything is fine, I'm fine, don't worry. But I need you to do me a favor." She took a deep breath.
"I need you to override the panel."
The voice at the other end immediately started yelling. The woman started yelling back.
"Yes I know I'm not supposed to do this, but - "
Silence as she listened.
"Yes yes, you're very smart, but shut up for a minute…no, just listen to me." She took a deep breath. "I have cabbages in the car with me."
Silence again, longer this time. The boys looked around, but they didn't see any food.
"One for certain. Three if I'm not."
Dean turned to face Sam, confusion on both their faces. Are we the cabbages?! Dean mouthed to Sam. Sam shrugged.
"They're both humanoid; I just can't get a solid reading on them. There's something - " here she spoke briefly in Hebrew before switching back to English - "but I know they're on our side."
The voice on the other end spoke for a long time, and it was obvious she was growing impatient. Then silence. She glanced sideways at Dean before she replied.
"Because they're the Winchesters."
A hidden panel opened, and she put the phone back in its holder. She switched to speaker, so the boys now heard the other end of the conversation. "I also disabled the checks, but we'll have to reset everything tonight."
The woman sighed as she started the car again. "I know."
"Are you up for that?"
"Not really, but we don't have much choice."
There was a pause at the other end. "And...um...we'll have to do some other checks tonight as well."
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know who to wake up for that. I'll see you soon."
"I'll get you some dinner. Drive safe."
The woman drove through the panel as the conversation ended. Once they were through, she stopped the car, put it in park, and got out. She took her gun out again, and aimed it at the gap where the panel used to be. She stood in silence, scanning the hole in the side of the mountain, waiting until the panel reversed direction and closed.
The woman released her breath and got back in the car. She turned the lights on and continued driving.
"By the way," she said in an offhand manner, "my name is Eden."
