"You're an idjit, Dean!"
"Missed you too, Bobby," Dean smirked as he shoved a fork full of apple pie into his mouth. "Mmm. Where in the hell did you get homemade apple pie? Freakin' amazing."
"Turns out when you lose the use of your legs, the towns folk start to feel sorry for you." Bobby said in a churlish tone. "Now do you think you could focus for two damn minutes without eating me out of the house and doing God knows what with that girl underneath my roof?"
Dean swallowed hard at Bobby's tone, slowly placing the pie back onto the kitchen table before sauntering into the front room. Usually, he would roll his eyes at the older man's cantankerous attitude. After all, this was Bobby's normal mood. However, Dean continued to feel guilt for the man's current state of paralysis. Bobby saved his life, so the least he could do was attempt to listen to the old man's orders.
"Sorry," Dean muttered, leisurely taking a seat next to Sam.
Bobby looked down at the pile of books and papers in front of him, continuing to do the job of a hunter the old fashion way. He hated computers; said they were difficult to navigate. Apparently, he preferred flipping through endless pages before finding the answers desperately sought. But he was rarely wrong. Maybe these old books held more accuracy than the internet ever could?
"So what did you find?" Sam asked seriously, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"I don't think you're going to like what I have to say."
"We didn't travel for days expecting an easy solution, Bobby. Is it possible to stop them?" Dean couldn't hide his irritation.
"We're dealing with angels and demons' boys. This is way above any of our pay grade."
"So you're saying it's hopeless?" Sam asked.
"Not hopeless…it seems that we may have something in our possession that they don't." Bobby said, continuing to flip through the book on his old wooden desk before halting the pages.
"Okay, great! What do we have that can get rid of these sons-of-bitches once and for all."
Bobby ran a hand through his beard, hesitating before speaking.
"While there will be a battle between Michael and Lucifer to bring upon the apocalypse, it appears that the Bible has left out a very important detail. Michael's destiny is to defeat Lucifer in a fight…this we know. However, to send the devil back to hell, bringing on the apocalypse, they require an entryway. A portal that can be opened by a key of sorts." Bobby gritted his teeth, halting his words.
"Are you saying that we have this key?" Dean asked harshly, but with a trace of hope in his voice. "That's amazing. So we either trash the damn thing or rip open hell ourselves and send Lucifer back before Michael gets the chance. Problem solved."
"I'm not so sure it's an object, Dean."
"Meaning?" Sam asked with trepidation.
"You said that when Lucifer was released…it was Skylar's blood, mixed with Lilith's. Right?"
"So? They needed a virgin to open the gate, and that's what they got," Dean growled out. Sweat began to break out on his forehead as he clenched his fist tight. The sound of Skylar's name being brought into this conversation instantly sat him on edge.
"They did need the blood of someone pure…but not just any virgin. It had to come from something far more powerful than this world had to offer. God created a key that would be used to bring on the day of judgement. It hadn't been used since Lucifer was cast out of heaven the first time and hell was created just for him. It's been lying in dormant ever since, waiting until the end was near. You and Sam were born…the vessels. Not long after, the key was manifested and put under your protection. Who better to protect it than you, Dean, when it was created to help Michael?"
The blood drained from Dean's face as he took in Bobby's words. There had to be some sort of mistake. His sweet Skylar was not some object that these fuckers could use for their own petty fight. "No," Dean said, standing up to begin pacing back and forth.
"It's not a 100 percent fact," Bobby said, wheeling towards the brothers. "But if she is what I think she is, it's only a matter of time before Lucifer comes to find her. He's going to figure it out eventually. And when he does…"
"When he does, what?!" Dean glared at Bobby, the furry that he was beginning to learn to suppress was quickly rising to the surface.
"He's going to try to destroy her."
"There is no way in fucking hell that demonic piece of shit is laying one hand on my…"
"Dean!" Sam stood, placing one hand on his Dean's chest. "Calm down. We can figure this out. We always do." The reassurance in his little brother's words did little to subdue the fear and rage within Dean.
Sam turned to Bobby. "And what about the angels?"
Bobby shrugged. "Chances are they already know who she is. They just haven't told you because they know Dean will continue to protect her at all costs and they need her to reopen hell when it's time. In this case, I think they intend to keep the both of you in the dark."
Dean grabbed at the ends of his hair, closing his eyes in concentration. There had to be something. If Skylar was in fact the only thing that could open hell and throw Lucifer inside, there had to be a way to keep her safe and far away from the most risky and perilous situation ever created.
He had promised to protect her, and he would never go back on his word.
Dean went to the end of the desk, picking up the book that Bobby had gazed at only moments ago. He read through the 'legend,' each word making sense as to why the key would be pointed towards Skylar. It all made sense.
However, the word pure continued to jump out at him with each passage he read.
Pure
Authentic
Untainted
"When she opened hell the first time," Dean said while staring at the words. "She was a virgin."
"Yeah? So?" Bobby asked impatiently.
"So…she can't open the portal to throw Lucifer inside because I fu…"
"I THINK…what Dean is trying to say," Sam interrupted, not liking Dean's impending choice of words. "Is that Skylar isn't as innocent as she was the day Lucifer was freed."
Bobby's gaze turned from confusion to fury in an instant before settling on Dean with a glare that would set him ablaze faster than the fire and brimstone of the netherworld ever could.
"I was only kidding when I talked about you doing God knows what with her. What in the hell were thinking, boy?"
"She's my wife, Bobby," Dean said coolly, with a steely glare of his own.
"I could give two shits about that," Bobby said, wheeling himself away from the brothers and towards the alcohol cabinet, lifting a decanter and drinking strait from the bottle. "You've really screwed yourself with this one, Dean. What I don't understand is how the angels didn't put a stop to it when it happened."
"Castiel branded our ribs," Sam said. The angels can't know where we are unless they're tipped off."
"Fantastic." Bobby took another drink before taking a deep breath to calm his rage.
"I'm not following how this is a bad thing. If she can't do what she was designed for, then she is of no use to them." Dean added, trying to convince himself as much as he was the others.
"You idjits are more stupid than I thought. She is still the only key to hell that they have! The only thing that will trap Lucifer once and for all, bringing on the apocalypse. It's not going to be that easy and you know it!"
"Bobby's right."
The three men turned towards the monotone voice that they had come to know very well.
"Cass!"
"Dean," he acknowledged back.
"How did you find us?"
"I texted Sam and he told me."
"Of course he did."
"But Bobby is correct. If she is the only key, it won't be that easy to discard."
"You knew about this!" Dean yelled, taking angry steps towards his friend, a sudden feeling of betrayal taking over.
"I knew that there was a key…but no, I didn't know it could be Skylar. Not until recently when I overheard some of the angel's discussing a girl in your possession. And then I understood why the universe had branded the two of you; the destiny you both shared."
"But she isn't a virgin anymore! They can't just drain her of her blood and miraculously open some entryway into hell like they did before."
"It doesn't matter. Just look at her, Dean. She's still pure of heart. She's not tainted with demon blood the way Sam has been…she isn't a ruthless killing machine the way you. She's never been a hunter at heart or close to holding darkness within her. Yes, she isn't as pure as the angels would like her to be, but she is still capable of opening hell."
Dean glared at each one of them as they waited with bated breath for him to speak. The rage he had been holding inside for weeks was on the verge of erupting, and at that moment, he didn't care.
"So is that how it happens? They drain her blood again?"
Castiel hesitate, his expression changing slightly, which rarely happens. "You stopped her from falling into the pit, Dean. She was meant to plunge into hell so that she could open it from the inside. A pure sacrifice is what the keys main purpose is. She will be drug into hell before the day of judgement to do her job. The job she was created for."
"Created for! She wasn't created to be some sacrifice for an age-old feud because these assholes want to throw a temper tantrum."
"It isn't up to you, Dean."
"The hell it is," Dean said under his breath as he began making his way upstairs.
"Dean!"
Dean turned around at Castiel's voice, a murderous look in his green eyes. "If they want her because she's so pure of heart, it's time to turn my girl into something I've never wanted her to be."
"And what's that, Dean?" Sam asked quietly, already knowing the answer.
"Cold-blooded and without mercy…someone like me."