Chapter 16: Stress and Testing

It was a week and a half later and the boys had managed to successfully convince the last two angels to join the center (though not without nearly being shish-kabobbed by one who had misinterpreted their invite in Oklahoma). Despite this success, even with their angelic assistance they were still failing to keep demons from breaking seals.

Dean's head thudded as he looked over the most recent reports. Because of the vast array of seals, limited resources to prevent them, and the inability to go public with the fact that the world is literally ending-and we have no idea to stop it-the efforts of the center have mostly been in vain. The current tally was at 42 seals according to the daily report. Nearly two-thirds of the way to the end of the world. "How the fuck are we going to stop these bastards?!" Dean sighed, exasperated and frustrated well beyond his normal capacities.

"If I knew I'd've told you…" Sam replied as he shuffled through the pages. "I wish we had some way to figure out what they're planning on next-but there's nearly 700 seals to worry about, and none of them have set locations. You have better odds of winning the lottery than picking what's going to happen where. The few we have managed to stop were because of angelic interference, but even that has its limits." Sam glanced at an exhausted Cas who was lying down on the mattress by the door. While the angel didn't need to sleep, per say, constant flying without divine assistance seriously drained his energy.

"I concur with your statement." Cas muttered, slowly pointing at Sam.

"Hey, I told you to try and get some rest." Dean chided caringly, "Even if you don't need sleep, try meditating or something, you need to recuperate."

The angel mumbled something before rolling over to face the wall away from the brothers.

I swear he's stubborn as a mule sometimes… "We've got to do something. I mean, look-we failed in New York, Colorado, Texas, and Ohio… It's like they're just throwing darts at a map." Dean groused.

"Wait… say that again." Sam tilted his head slightly, an idea percolating beneath his dark eyes.

"I said it's like they just threw darts at a map." Dean repeated, unsure of what his brother was contemplating.

Sam suddenly stood up and went over to his suitcase, rustling clothing and papers until he withdrew a large book bearing tall red letters across the worn surface, "Rand McNally Road Atlas-1954". He returned to the table and quickly flipped to the large map of the entire United States detailing current and proposed roadways. "What were those towns again?"

"Um…" Dean flipped to the front of the report, "Saucony, New York; Hess Dam, Colorado; Xerxes, Texas; and Klineville, Ohio." He read.

Sam quickly marked each town with a red dot-courtesy of his marking pencil-on the map, occasionally flipping to the individual states to see the town locations before moving back to the whole country. For a moment his brow was furrowed as he studied the dots, then suddenly he grabbed a sheet of paper and started writing down numbers.

"What're you writing?" Dean inquired, trying to glance over Sam's shoulder as he scrawled across the page. A moment later Sam held up the paper. "Okay, so it's the geographic coordinates of each town?"

"Don't you see it?" Sam grinned as he quickly drew a grid and started scribbling more numbers down into empty boxes.

"No? See what?" Dean shook his head.

"It's a pattern. The demons are using a sequence to figure out what town to target next!"

That got Cas up. A moment later the angel was stood beside the brothers, looking at the sheet Sam had written. "I see no pattern."

"That's because it's encoded. They're using a cipher. If you look at each town's coordinates they feed into this." Sam pointed at his large box. "They use the Fibonacci series to determine what town is next. It seems random enough, but it's planned. It has to be in order to make sure there are enough demons in the area to keep the population under control until the seal breaks."

"So, you can determine what town is next?" Cas asked, eyes darting between the paper and the map.

"Yeah, um, let me see…" Sam quickly filled in the numbers from the last town. "It's going to be in Maryland… looks like either Pearvale or Hickory Station. The coordinates are about halfway between the two of them."

"Holy shit. So, you're telling me we've got a chance?" Dean anxiously looked at his brother, then Cas, "No offense, Cas."

"You do not have to say that every time after using that expression, I understand it is a colloquialism." Cas rolled his eyes, attempting to mimic Dean, "Given how often you say 'Oh my God!' during intercourse I am well aware of how your blasphemies are not intentional."

Dean frowned and started turning red as Sam giggled slightly, "Not one word."

**SPN**

Two hours later, and multiple phone calls spreading the news to R and various other agents and angels later Sam had finally finished figuring out the last seal's location, "So, if this is truly what they are doing-and given your math it appears to be the case-what will the last seal's location be?" Cas asked, glancing at the pages of notes Sam had written.

"While I hope we never have to test my work that far, it looks like…" Sam flipped a few pages into the atlas before double checking his notebook, "Huh, that's weird."

"What?" Dean asked.

"There isn't a town there. According to the map it's empty." Sam gestured to the location on the state map.

"Is there a local map? Maybe the town isn't big enough to be listed on the state one for Maryland." Dean suggested.

"Yeah, it's close enough to Baltimore it should be in that one, but even towns with only a few hundred people are listed-even if the typesetting makes them miniscule." Sam said as he flipped to the appropriate page. "Yeah, see, no town."

"What's that 'X' mean?" Dean asked pointing at the X close to Sam's red pencil mark.

"I don't know. It's not a hospital or hotel…" Sam glanced at the key, "According to this an X represents a place of local interest. But there isn't a name listed."

"What's the closest town? We can call them and see if they know." Dean suggested.

"It appears to be Ilchester." Cas stated as he pointed at a small dot.

"I guess we can try and call the operator and put us through to the town hall?" Dean guessed.

"I could always go and see." Cas replied.

"No." Dean firmly stated. "You need the rest. You've been flying around enough as it is, and besides, you have a target on your back from heaven and hell…" He paused, muttering the rest, "I don't want you to get hurt."

Cas nodded, understanding that Dean was not attempting to control him, but felt concerned for his safety. It was a genuine concern, given how everything had gone, though he knew he could handle himself if needed. "I will remain here."

"Well, I think it's a bit late to call anybody, chances are they closed at five or six and it'll be at least eight there." Sam stated as he stretched. "I'm going to grab some food. I saw a diner a few blocks over that looked okay. What do you want?"

"Meatloaf if they've got it. If not go for my usual." Dean replied.

"Got it." Sam nodded as he grabbed his wallet and headed to the door. "I'll knock before I come in, just in case."

Dean huffed before replying, "Thanks."