"So, he just disappeared", Bobby asked?
"He walked in, then he was gone," Dean nodded, "Then I called you guys".
"How is this possible" Robin shook her head at Bobby, "We've seen nothing".
"What do you mean" Dean asked?
"Well, the weird shit with Sam" Robin explained, "We figure it all relates back to Yellow Eyes right"?
"Right".
"There has been no demonic activity at all" Robin replied.
"What" Dean asked, "How is that possible"?
"I dunno" Robin shrugged, "But we watch this shit, and it's been radio silence".
"The calm before the storm" Bobby muttered.
"Well how the hell are we supposed to find Sam" Dean shouted?
"Don't know" Bobby shouted back.
Robin and Bobby had gotten a frantic call from Dean the night before. The Winchester boys had stopped for a bite to eat. Sam had gone in to grab their food, there were lights flickering, which is usually an indicator of something not good going down. Then nothing. Literally nothing, no Sam, no anyone. Considering the year that Sam had been having, with his sudden psychic abilities and who could forget their run-ins with the yellow eyed demon, this was not a good sign.
Dean's phone rang, "Ash, what've ya got" he asked walking away to take the call?
Bobby gave a worried look to Robin, "I can't believe I'm saying this" he looked at her, "But we may need your mojo for this one".
"This time" she asked? "Dad, I can't do it for people, it's objects, and I am the only one who could go anyway. So, what, I would get there and call for backup? You think Sam wouldn't have done that already"?
"Well if we come face to face with the demons" he hissed, "If you need to- "
"Witch power versus a demon" she asked? "You're joking right"?
Dean returned to the Singers, "I guess we're going to the roadhouse".
The drive was a short one, at the end they found the charred remains of what was once the roadhouse.
"Ellen" Robin shouted, "Ash"?
"Do you see them" Dean asked?
"No", Bobby shook his head.
Robin started to freak out, moving debris. She was terrified of what she would find. Family don't end in Blood. This was something her father had told her many times, referring to the Harvelles, the Winchesters, that spindly little dentist he'd come to care for. So, if that was the case, she was potentially about to find the dead bodies of her family. As they sifted through the wreckage they found the bodies of several hunters, until finally they found Ash. He was gone.
Robin winced. She was trying to hold it back, the tears. She didn't cry, she was a god damn hunter. Bobby saw her fighting and held her tight. This was typically her signal she was allowed to stop being tough, in that moment she was a little girl in her dad's arms. She turned into his shoulder and silently cried.
As they were heading back to the car Dean winged in pain.
"Dean" Bobby shouted.
"Headache" Dean replied.
"You get them like that often"?
"Must be the stress" Dean replied as he winced again.
"Dean" Bobby cried, "Are you ok"?
"I saw Sam" He replied.
"You're getting visions" Robin asked?
"What" Dean asked? "No, I'm no psychic".
"Did you see anything else" Bobby asked?
"A bell" Dean replied?
"What kind of bell"?
"Like a big bell" he replied finally standing upright again, "With something engraved on it".
"Like an oak tree" Bobby asked?
"Exactly" Dean nodded.
"Cold Oak" Robin asked?
"We have a heading" Bobby nodded.
Cold Oak was somewhere Robin and Bobby had visited a lot over the years. It was in South Dakota, and was a beacon for supernatural traces, though they had never actually encountered anything there. The legend was the town was so haunted, all its inhabitants fled. Growing up it was basically Robin's playground.
It was dark by the time they reached the exterior of the town. It was blocked off so the car couldn't get through.
"Robin" Bobby Whispered, "You see anything"?
Robin knew what he wanted. She looked around, "He's here" she replied looking for auras in the darkness of the night. There was more than one when she looked, they were far out, but they were there. "He's not alone. I don't know if that's good or bad" she told him.
The three set out with guns, calling out to Sammy. "There are only two left" Robin hissed to her father after they had been on the hunt for a bit, "We need to move. By the time they found him, they arrived just in time to watch a man in a military outfit plunge a knife into his spine.
Sam collapsed to the ground as, Dean caught him and held him. Bobby and Robin chased after the soldier, Robin unloading a couple rounds, but missing.
"Go" Bobby shouted, "Heal him, now"!
Robin ran back, but by the time she got there, Sam's head was limp and to the side, he was gone.
They found an abandoned shack nearby. Dean laid Sam's body on a mattress in what appeared to have once been a bedroom. Dean sat in guilt over his brother's corpse. Meanwhile, Robin sat at the kitchen table fighting with her own guilt. Why had she gone after that guy? Was she so damaged that instead of checking on someone she cared for, she ran after the man who killed him in pure vengeance? Maybe, if she had stopped for Sam, she could have gotten there fast enough, she could have saved him. She could heal, not resurrect. She let the Winchesters down.
Bobby came in with a bucket of chicken, "I got you something" Bobby called to Dean, "You have some too" he looked at Robin.
She simply got up and walked to another room.
"No, thanks" Dean replied, "I'm fine".
"You should eat something" Bobby urged.
"I said I'm fine" Dean said before taking a gulp of whiskey straight from the bottle.
" Dean... I hate to bring this up, I really do" Bobby shrugged, "But don't you think maybe it's time... we bury Sam"?
"No".
"We could (Sighs) maybe..."
"What"? Dean asked, "Torch his corpse? Not yet".
"I want you to come with me".
"I'm not going anywhere".
"Dean, please".
"Would you cut me some slack"?
"I just don't think you should be alone, that's all. I gotta admit, I could use your help".
"I'm not" Dean replied, "Your daughter has been a pile of fun".
"Fuck off Dean" she whispered.
"No" Dean replied, "If I have to have company, you're doing exactly what I would want right now".
"Something big is going down" Bobby butted in, "end-of-the world big".
"Well, then let it end" Dean shouted!
"You don't mean that".
Dean stood up and grabbed Bobby by the collar" You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, you'd turn around, and get the hell out of here".
Robin got to her feet "Get off my father Dean" she warned.
Bobby shook his head at him.
Dean shoved Bobby "Go" he shouted. Dean paused for a moment, realizing this was Bobby, and he meant well. His tone softened "I'm sorry. Please, just go".
"You know where I'll be" Bobby told Dean as he made his way to Robin. "You stayin" he asked her?
"I can" she murmured, back in a lump on the floor.
"It might be best" Bobby replied.
Robin silently nodded.
"It's not your fault" Bobby told her.
"If I had tried" she whispered, "Instead of running after the guy. I mean what is wrong with me, I leave an injured friend, to chase his killer"?
"Not a damn thing" Bobby told her, "Dean had him, and that's all you knew. Do no beat yourself up little girl".
"Dad, I am so fucked up, vengeance motivates me more than someone being hurt." She paused, "I know you see your little girl when you look at me, but right now, you're looking at a god damn monster" She just looked away.
Eventually Robin fell asleep on the cold damp floor of the shack. She was woken up suddenly when she heard a car door slam and the rev of the Impala. She looked out the window to watch the tail lights erratically swaying as Dean drove out of sight. She went in the room and looked at Sam. His body still lay lifeless there.
Robin grabbed her phone and called her father.
"He bolted" Robin explained.
"What do you mean"?
"I mean he was talking to Sam, then took off".
"Where is he headed"?
"You think he was forthcoming with that information"?
"He's not ok Robin".111
"I know what I need to do" she said calmly.
"Robin, no"
"Dad, it's not up for debate this time" She said putting the phone down, "Portare, Porto, Impala".
Robin appeared at a Cross road behind the impala, Dean standing there alone. A cross road was like a summoning point for Demons to make a deal, if you knew what to use to summon them. Dean knew, very well.
"What did you do Dean" she asked?
He spun around surprised to see her, "You followed me" he snarled?
"Be pissed all you want Dean" she snapped, "People actually give a fuck about you".
"I should leave you here" he snapped back as he went back to the car.
"But you won't" she said getting in the passenger seat. "What did you-"
"Singer" he warned, "I appreciate your giving a fuck, But you finish the sentence, I will knock your teeth out".
When they got back to the shack, Sam was up, examining the scar on his back, where hours ago a knife had severed his spine. The two brothers ate the food Bobby had left them. Sam explained that he didn't remember anything past the pain he felt from the stab. Dean played it off as though nothing happened. Dean wanted him to rest, but Sam was eager to get back on the case and insisted they head back to the Singers house.
When they got there, Robin stormed in the house in silence. She was furious. The exact details as to what happened were not clear, but she got the jist. When her father greeted them, he was , needless to say, surprised to see Sam, alive.
The group congregated in the library. Robin remained silently stewing as Bobby showed them what he had found.
"Demonic omens..." Bobby explained "like a frickin' tidal wave. Cattle deaths. Lightning storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere" he hauled out a map and pointed, "All around here, except for one place... Southern Wyoming. It's like the demons are surrounding it".
"But you don't know why" Dean asked?
"No" Bobby replied, "and by this point my eyes are swimming. Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you could catch something I couldn't".
"Yeah, sure".
"Come on, Dean" Bobby instructed, "I got some more books in the truck. Help me lug 'em in".
"If it's a lot" Dean struggled, "Robin should lend us a hand too" he nodded.
Robin stomped out to the truck.
"You planning to explain now" Robin snarled?
"What did you do" Bobby asked?
"Well I found him at a cross road" Robin told him, "And he sure was defensive when I arrived".
"You stupid ass" Bobby shouted, "You made a deal... For Sam, didn't you? How long did they give you"?
"Bobby" Dean said calmly.
"How long"?!
"One year".
"You asshole" Robin whispered, "You are so god damn selfish" she started to walk away.
"Robin" Dean called over, "I had to".
"What is it with you Winchesters, huh" Bobby asked, "You, your dad. You're both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit".
"That's my point" Dean explained, "Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? I-I-It's like my life could mean something".
"Mean something" Robin shouted, "What is fucking wrong with you?! How many people have you saved? How much do you mean to the people around you? All these years, I thought you were some sort of nympho, but no. You just need to feel some sort of value in yourself, and as brief as that is, that's how you feel it. Look around you Dean, there are people who fucking care about you, you dumb shit". With that Robin stormed back into the house.
Dean fought back the tears and looked back to Bobby, "I couldn't let him die, Bobby. I couldn't. He's my brother".
"How is your brother gonna feel when he knows your going to hell? How'd you feel when you knew your dad went for you" Bobby asked?
"You can't tell him" Dean begged, "You take a shot at me, whatever you got to do, but please don't tell him".
Bobby started to cry when they heard a sound. They crawled to the side of a car in the junkyard, there was some one sneaking in. Once they grabbed her, they realized, it was Ellen. She'd made it out of the fire.
When they came in the house, Robin's anger turned to relief when she spotted Ellen. She ran to her and hugged her, breaking down again.
The group went to the kitchen table, where Bobby slid a shot glass with water in it across to Ellen.
"Bobby" She asked, "is this really necessary"?
"Just a belt of Holy Water" Bobby shrugged, "Shouldn't hurt".
Ellen took the shot and put the glass back on the table, with no reaction. "Whiskey now, if you don't mind".
Ellen quickly explained the only reason she got out of the Roadhouse alive was dumb luck. They had run out of pretzels, and when she got back the place was engulfed in flames. She mentioned that Ash had called her and told her to go to the safe. She took a map out of her pocket with lines marked on it, everything revolving around Wyoming.
They all went back to the library, scouring books when finally, Bobby came across something.
"Each of these X's" he explained pointing to the map "Is an abandoned frontier church— all mid-19th century. And all of them built by Samuel Colt".
"Samuel Colt" Dean asked, "the demon-killing, gun making Samuel Colt"?
If the average person googled Samuel Colt, they would learn he was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company. What they wouldn't find is that he was also a demon hunter. Not only that, he had made THE colt, the only weapon on earth that could kill literally anything. Sam and Dean had it about a year ago, and the plan was to use it on the Yellow Eyed demon. Instead, it was used to sweeten the pot when John Winchester had offered up his life to save a then dying Dean's.
"And there's more. He built private railway lines" Bobby pointed out, "connecting church to church. It just happens to lay out like this.
"That's a Devil's trap" Robin smiled, visibly impressed.
"That's brilliant" Dean gasped, also visibly impressed," Iron lines demons can't cross"
"And after all these years none of the lines are broken"? Dean asked, "I mean, it still works"?
"Definitely" Sam smiled." All those omens Bobby found. I mean the demons; they must be circling and they can't get in".
"Yeah, well... they're trying" Bobby spoke up.
"Why" Ellen asked? "What's inside"?
"There's nothing except an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle." Dean shrugged. "Unless Colt wasn't trying to keep the demons out. What if he was trying to keep something in"?
"They sure as hell want it, if they're circling like this" Robin nodded.
"Could they get through it though" Sam asked?
"No demon could cross over that iron line" Bobby shook his head.
"But I know who could" Sam gulped.
When Sam had disappeared, the yellow eyed demon had taken all the "Special children" that had been given demonic powers and put them in Cold Oak. There he had set up a kill or be killed competition. As far as he knew, Sam was dead. But the man in the military getup, he was still breathing.
Before they left, Bobby took Robin aside, "I'm benching you for this one little girl".
"The hell you are".
"I'm serious".
"Dad, no"
"Robin" He hissed.
"Did it ever occur to you" she asked, "I have the ability to bench you? I never would, but I assure you. I'm not sitting this one out".
Bobby clenched his jaw. "Fine" he finally spat out, "But humor me, put a charm on yourself"?
"I can compromise" she agreed, "Scutum, Imperium, Menere" she whispered as she placed a hand on both hers and her father's heart.
Bobby looked at her stunned for a second, "Did you weaken yourself to charm me" he asked?
"I'll be fine by the time we get there" she replied.
The group traveled to the cemetery and sat waiting in the dark for the military man, Jake, to arrive. When he finally did, the group emerged from the shadows, guns pointed at him.
"Howdy, Jake" Sam greeted
"Wait" Jake gasped, "you were dead. I killed you".
"Yeah? Well next time, finish the job".
"I did! I cut clean through your spinal cord, man".
"Okay, just take it real easy there, son" Bobby said calmly
"And if I don't" Jake asked?
"Can I shoot him now" Robin asked?
Jake laughed, "Hey Ladies, do me a favor. Put those guns to your heads".
While nothing happened to Robin, Ellen shakily pointed her gun to her temple.
He looked at Robin and tilted his head to the side, "And why exactly isn't it working on you"?
"Performance issues" Robin shrugged.
Unimpressed by her response, he waved a hand, throwing her through the air and slamming her off a headstone.
"ROBIN" Bobby shouted.
"I'm alive" she called back.
"See that Ava girl was right" Jake explained, "Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn".
"Shoot him" Ellen instructed.
"You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off" Jake replied. "Everybody, put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart" he said to Ellen.
He turned around and pulled the Colt out of his pocket. While he is inserting it into the crypt, Dean and Bobby grabbed Ellen and took her gun before she could shoot herself. Once she was clear Sam shot Jake four times
"Please... don't" Jake gasped now laying on the ground, "Please".
Sam replied with three more shots to his face.
The group made their way to the crypt, where the engravings the colt had been placed in were spinning.
"That's not-"Robin gasped.
"It's a god damn gate to hell" Bobby nodded.
Dean pulled the Colt from the Crypt.
"Take cover" Bobby shouted, "now"!
They all took cover behind tombstones as the crypt burst opened expelling a black mass. Demons pouring out of the mouth of hell, destroying the devil's trap.
"Come on" Ellen shouted to Bobby and Robin; we have to close the gate.
The trio walked up. Robin muttered, "Viribus" increasing her physical strength.
Meanwhile, with the devil's trap destroyed, an old friend of the Winchesters arrived, the yellow eyed demon. He pinned Sam to a tree, and Dean to a tombstone, and leaned in. "So, Dean... I gotta thank you", he started, "You see, demons can't resurrect people, unless a deal is made. I know, red tape— it'll make you nuts. But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation" he laughed. "Now, I wasn't counting on that, but I'm glad. I liked him better than Jake, anyhow. Tell me— have you ever heard the expression, "If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is?"
"You call that deal good" Dean snarled?
"Well, it's a better shake than your dad ever got. And you never wondered why? I'm surprised at you. I mean, you saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold, wasn't it? How certain are you that what you brought back, is 100%, pure, Sam"? He paused from his monologuing for a moment "You of all people should know, that's what's dead, should stay dead. Anyway... thanks a bunch. I knew I kept you alive for some reason. Until now, anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family".
The yellow eyed demon got to his feet holding the colt. He cocked it and pointed it at Dean. Suddenly a spirit that had come from hell came up behind the demon and grabbed him. It quickly materialized into John Winchester. The demon left the possessed body as it dropped to the ground, colt still in hand. The black smoke that was the demon attacked John, throwing him to the ground, before returning to its host. When he got to his feet, he realized he was no longer in possession of the colt. It was pointed at him, by Dean. Without hesitation, Dean pulled the trigger. The demon fell to the ground dead, ending the quest that the Winchesters had set out on over twenty years ago.
Bobby, Ellen and Robin finally closed the gates to hell and turn around, seeing John smiling at both his boys. He put a proud hand on Dean's shoulder. John took a few steps back and nodded at the three standing by the crypt before a bright light came, and he disappeared.
Before they left, the boys had a few minutes alone, where Dean came clean to Sam about his deal. To say Sam was upset was an understatement.
When they gathered together, Bobby made it clear, that while their demon was gone, hundreds had just escaped hell. "We've got a war on our hands; I hope you boys are ready".
"I guess we'd all better stick together then" Sam shrugged.
Robin still furious from earlier got in her father's truck, "Well for at least a year" she said slamming the door, "Right Dean"?