Ch 19
"You ok?" Sam asked laughing at his older brother. Dean lay on his lumpy motel bed with a makeshift ice pack pressed to his temple. He had just had his ass royally handed to him, again, by Alastair the Grand Inquisitor of Hell. Apparently Alastair was somehow behind the lack of deaths in Greybull, Wyoming. Not that people shouldn't be dead they just weren't dying. A man who had been shot in the heart by a mugger was still walking around, a man with terminal liver cancer walked out of the hospital and took his wife out for their 20th anniversary, along with a handful of similar cases.
"I think I have a concussion," Dean said sitting up and groaning. "So, demons, huh?"
"Yeah, so much for miracles."
Dean squinted and rubbed the knot on his temple, "Tell me what happened with Alastair again? I mean after he kicked my ass."
"I told you, he tried to fling me or whatever," Sam said walking to the coffee pot, "And it didn't work. So he smoked out ASAP."
Dean nodded, "Wonder why he couldn't fling you? He did it pretty easy last time, sent you flying down a flight of stairs."
"No idea." Sam shrugged his shoulders.
"Look, Sam if you're gonna keep you're little secrets I can't stop you, but don't treat me like an idiot."
"Dean, I'm not…I'm not keeping secrets." Sam replied.
"Yeah, ok…did you at least go back and question the dead kid?"
"Didn't have to. Bobby called. he thinks I'm right about the reaper."
"What? That the local reapers gone?" Dean asked, pressing the ice pack back against his aching head.
"Not just gone, kidnapped," Sam paused and pulled a notebook out of his back pocket, "Listen to this 'And he bloodied death under the newborn sky, sweet to tase but bitter once devoured."
"And that means exactly what?"
"Well, its from a very arcane version of Revelations and basically it means you kill a reaper on the solstice moon, which is tomorrow night by the way, you got yourself a broken seal."
"How the hell do you kill a grim reaper?"
"No idea but I'm guessing the demons know how. I wanna know where the Angels are. We could use their help for once."
"Guess we're gonna have to handle this one on our own." Dean answered.
"Right, what are we gonna do Dean? Swing in and save the friendly neighborhood reaper?"
"You got a better idea? Because I'm all ears," he replied.
"Dean, reapers are invisible. They can only be seen by the dead or dying."
"Well, if ghosts are the only ones that can see reapers. Then I guess we gotta become ghosts." Dean said smirking and pulling his cellphone out of his back pocket.
A heavy knock rang out at their front door several hours later. Dean checked the peephole before opening the door, "Hey, look at that they're early." He unlocked the door and opened it, allowing River and Pamela Brown, psychic extraordinaire to enter their motel room. "You look good, I mean your face…"
"Levi took pity on me when I couldn't untie my boots. Sped up my healing a little bit," River replied stepping into the room. "You two are fucking crazy. You know that." she added throwing her duffle bag on the closest bed.
"What's that make you then?" Dean replied.
River turned to face him, "Stupid. That makes me stupid."
"Hey, Dean, can I talk to you for a moment?" Pam called from a corner of the room.
"What's up Pam?"
Pam turned to face him, her curly brown hair framing her face, dark sunglasses hiding the scarred holes where her eyes used to be. She pulled her arm back and punched him hard in the shoulder, "You're a stupid ass, thats whats up. How dare you? You jackass-"
"Pam, retract the claws. We have a job to do so lets do it," River yelled.
Pam took a deep breath through her nose, "Fine. Which one of you jackasses came up with astral projection?"
Dean took a half step back and raised his hand nervously, "That would be me, the stupid ass."
"Didn't really have to ask did you, Pamela?" River said quietly.
"Let's just all be clear about the plan, then," Pamela continued, "You want me to rip your souls out of your bodies so you can take a stroll through the spirit realm."
"Yeah, thats about it. That's where the reaper is so that's where we need to go," Dean answered.
"You realize this is insane. You two have no idea what you're doing," Pam continued.
"No we don't but you do," Sam replied.
"I'm tired of being pulled back into your demon-angel bullshit," the psychic yelled.
"Pam, it's the freaking apocalypse. No more punk shows, no more rum and coke, no more big sunglasses," River started, "It's kind of everybody's problem…please. If we can save the seal then we need to do this."
The psychic let out a deep breath and shook her head, "You're all insane. Fine. Let's do this. "
The three hunters quickly prepared the room, closing the curtains and lighting incense and candles under Pam's instructions. River checked her gun and nervously rubbed her hands together. "It's gonna be ok," Dean told her.
"You know you keep saying that like you actually believe it," she told him. "It's never ok…Can I have the knife? It'd make me feel a little better."
"You're not coming?" Sam asked her.
"And leave the blind woman to defend herself? No. I'll stay upright and corporeal, thank you very much." Sam nodded and handed her the demon killing knife, she took it and tucked it into her boot. "See you on the flip side."
"Alright, will you two idiots lay down already," Pam yelled at them. The Winchesters complied and lay down on their respective beds as Pamela started her incantation. River paced the room, checking out the window and peephole every few moments. "Okay, guys. Thats it," Pam sighed and sat back in her chair.
A moment later Dean sat up and looked at Pamela and River, "Well, nothing like shootin' blanks. Guess we oughta come up with a Plan B."
Pam and River ignored him, they seemed to be in the middle of their own discussion. "I woulda cut his balls off if he talked to me like that," Pam said over her shoulder to River.
River smirked, "It's not worth it. I knew what I was getting myself into… " River looked back out the window.
Sam sat up next to his brother and raised his eyebrows, "Guess it worked?"
"You still love him," Pam continued. "It's not a question, sweet pea. I see it, you can hide a lot of things from me but you can't hide that." Pam paused. "They're up." River turned to look at Dean's sleeping form. "You guys are somewhere over the rainbow right now. Remember, I need to bring you back. So, hurry up." The brothers left their bodies behind and ventured out into Greybull, Wyoming in their spirits forms.
"River, quit pacing you're making me nervous." Pam harped from where she still sat at the foot of the Winchesters beds.
"Yeah, well demons make me nervous Pam. Dean and Sam acting out 'Frightners' makes me nervous. And being nervous makes me nervous…they've been gone for hours."
Across town Sam and Dean had finally caught a break locating the spirit of Cole Griffith the spirit young boy that was the last person to die in Greybull. "Cole, what's the last thing you remember?" Dean asked.
"I remember it was cold and I couldn't breathe, couldn't yell to my mom for my inhaler. And then I was looking down at my body." Cole answered quietly. He stood in the doorway of the dining room and watched the Winchesters warily.
"And that's when you saw the man?" Sam asked.
Cole nodded, "Yeah, creepy old guy in a suit. Said I should go with him but I didn't want to." He glanced behind him and watched sadly as his mom opened another bottle of wine.
"How'd you get rid of him?" Dean asked.
"I didn't. The black smoke did. It was everywhere, I hid in my closet and it surrounded the old guy and then they were both gone." The lights in the house flickered causing Dean and Sam to look around. "They're back!" Cole whispered before disappearing. A bright shadow floated through the large window in the living room and then bolted upstairs.
"That's a reaper!" Dean yelled rushing towards the stairs, "Hey! Stop we need to talk to you!" A young woman with shoulder length mahogany colored hair, lite brown eyes and soft features walked slowly down the stairs a moment later. "Wait, I know you…"
"Think hard sparky, it'll come to you." She smiled sarcastically and crossed her arms over her tight leather jacket.
"Tessa. She was my reaper at the hospital after the car accident with Dad." Dean told his younger brother.
"Look, Tessa, you shouldn't be here." Sam told her.
"Actually Stretch, you two shouldn't be here. This towns been turned upside down and I'm here to try and fix that." The reaper told them.
"No you don't understand, it isn't safe for you here. The last Reaper got taken by demons and they might not stop at one."
"Look, I know all about your Angel-Demon dance off and I don't care. I'm here to do my job and help these spirits crossover."
"Tessa, listen to me. We need that kid. He can tell us where the demons took the other Reaper. We are here to save them and stop the demons from tearing this town apart," Dean pleaded.
Tessa rolled her eyes impatiently, "Fine. But once you fix this I'm reaping and I'm starting with that kid. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the brothers echoed. Sam volunteered to try and convince Cole to help them locate the missing Reaper and left Dean and Tessa in the living room. They watched silently for a few moments as Cole's mother cried silently into her empty glass of wine.
"Life's funny sometimes don't you think Dean," Tessa said watching as Mrs. Griffith grabbed her purse and left through the front door.
"What do you mean?"
"Me and you meeting up again. You're the one that got away Dean. That doesn't happen to often to me."
"You comin' on to me Tessa?" Dean asked raising his eyebrows sarcastically. "Can I tell you something? If you promise to keep it between you and me."
"Pinky promise Dean."
"A lot happened to me after our little experience. My dad giving his soul up to save me, me selling my soul to save Sam," Dean paused. "The pain of losing them, I just- I couldn't handle it. You wanna talk about life being funny; for a long time a big part of me regretted not going with you. I thought being done with all this would've been easier."
"What changed?" Tessa asked.
"I met someone. She was my missing piece. We had less than a year together and we lived a lifetime; at the end I just wanted more time," Dean took a deep breath. "Things are different now."
"Why? Because now you have Angels on your shoulder?"
"You know about that?"
"We all know about that Dean."
"Well then you know where I went when I died," he continued. "I did horrible things…and still someone upstairs decided to give me a second chance…I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore."
The conversation ended when Sam and Cole returned. "Cole can show us where they took the reapers." The lights flickered again and a swirling wave of black smoke forced its way into the home and surrounded Tessa. She screamed and then she and the smoke were gone.
"Cole, tell us where the smoke went! We are running out of time." Dean turned to the young boy.
"The-The Weatherly Family Mortuary," he said in a tremulous voice, "I'm going back to my closet." With that he disappeared again.
"I know where that place is, we drove past it on the way into town." Sam called to his older brother as he ran through the wall. "You know we really need to learn how to do that ghost teleporting thing."
With a few moments of trial and error the brothers were able to teleport to the mortuary. They blinked out on the front steps of Coles home and a second later reappeared on the front steps of the mortuary. "That's more like it," Dean said triumphantly. The brothers stared up at the two story brick building and saw that is was covered in strange, glowing script.
They hurried into the main parlor of the mortuary and found Tessa and the other Reaper laying unconscious within a binding sigil. "Now, how do we get them out?"
Before Sam could respond two demons ran out from behind the viewing curtains, their faces contorted in pain and their hands smoking from carrying a heavy metal chain. They crisscrossed the chain around the room and sneered at the Winchesters. Dean reached out and tried to grab the chain, searing pain shot up through his arm , "It's iron."
Wheezy laughing echoed from the far hall and another demon strode in. He was tall and pale and carried a shotgun carelessly at his side."Hello, boys. Glad you found the place," the demon said letting out another wheezy laugh as he walked up to the iron chain trapping Sam and Dean.
"Alastair." Dean spat.
Alastair nodded his head and sneered. He grasped the shotgun in both hands and looked at it adoringly. He aimed the gun at Dean and fired. Dean disappeared with a painful grunt in a cloud of smoke. "Rock salt. Not so fun anymore is it?" Dean reappeared a moment later frantically checking his midsection. Alastair pumped the shotgun again, "Well come on Sam. Try out your mojo on me now." Sam glared at the demon and clenched his fists. "Not so easy without your meat suit, is it?"
"Go to hell, Alastair." Dean grumbled.
"Oh, Dean, I wish I could. But they keep sending me back to this arctic shithole."
"Why? So you can kill Death?" Sam countered.
"No, fool. So I can kill death twice. It takes two to break a seal and I knew eventually another Reaper would show up and join the party." Without warning Alastair fired the shotgun into Sam causing him to disappear. "Dean, Dean, Dean. How I've missed you, my favorite toy, my prime student. Things have been so bland without your company."
Dean sneered disgustedly, "Look, you white eyed prick, you can shoot us all you want but you can't kill us." Sam reappeared next to his brother moaning in pain and grasping his chest.
"No? Oh thats right, you've got that cute, red headed cunt and that psychic bitch guarding your bodies don't you? I promised my boys a turn with each of them before we cut their hearts out. Bring 'em back here and make them watch." Alastair smiled over his shoulder at his two demon henchmen, they let their black eyes flash at the hunters and then they disappeared.
"You'd love my friend. He could take us to any show, anywhere. Best seats in the house. Free drinks all night, no hang over if we ask nicely," River sat at the foot of Deans bed, watching their sleeping forms. Pamela opened her mouth to reply when a board creaked in the hallway outside their room. River bolted up and moved towards the locked door, checking the peephole. "Pam you sense anything?" The psychic shook her head. Thunder erupted outside, loud enough to shake the windows of the motel. River moved back to the window, watching as the sky exploded in a violent storm. "I'm gonna guess that's not a good sign," she muttered.
"Someone's here," Pam whispered slowly circling the room. River bent down and pulled the demon knife out of her boot. The door to their room exploded inwards, showering them with broken wood as three demons rushed in.
"Pam! Wake them up!" River screamed charging at the demons. She shot the first demon in the knee, driving him to the floor and arcing the blade down to stab him in the neck. The demon grabbed weakly at the bleeding hole when River pulled the blade out before savagely plunging it into his carotid. The demon died with a gurgled scream and a flash of sickly orange light. A second demon ran at River and tackled her to the floor before she had time to counter. The demon punched her in the face causing her to see bright spots in her peripheral vision. River could hear Pam start yelling the incantation to wake up the brothers before she was interrupted, screaming, "No, you bastard." She tried to swing the knife up at the demon pinning her the ground but he grabbed her wrist and started forcing the blade back down towards her heart.
Back at the mortuary, Alastair had succeeded in murdering the first reaper and had moved on to Tessa. Dean and Sam were still trapped behind the iron chains but had turned their attention away from the demon and the reaper. Hanging above the reaper trap was an ornate chandelier, hanging from a flimsy metal chain. The brothers focused their spirit energy on the chain and it snapped, sending the chandelier crashing into the floor and breaking the sigil. In an instant Tessa was free from Alastair's grasp and was tearing down the iron chain that trapped Dean and Sam. In a blink the three disappeared. Tessa and Dean reappeared on the street outside their motel. "Where's your brother?" she asked
"I don't know. I'll find him."
River bucked her hips uselessly at the huge weight of the man on top of her. She screamed in frustration as the blade was forced closer to her chest. She heard Pam scream again and heard a loud crash from behind her but couldn't spare a glance to check her friend. She pushed hard with the hand that was grasping the blade and moved it a few precious inches away from her heart. With her free hand she shoved her thumb in the demons eye. He growled and pushed the blade down, it sunk into the soft flesh between Rivers neck and shoulder. She screamed in pain, let go of the hilt of the knife and shoved her other thumb into the demons remaining eye. He flailed at her hands and she used the change in his position to push him off of her. River stared at the blade sticking out of her shoulder for a second before yanking it free. She turned the knife on the now blind demon and plunged it into his heart. She swayed on her feet then collapsed next to the dead demons.
Sam shot awake on the bed, staring dazed at the scene rapidly unfolding before him. River lay on the ground unmoving two dead demons sprawled out in front of her. Pam was struggling with a third demon, before he could intervene the demon pulled a wickedly sharp knife out and stabbed the psychic in the stomach. "NO!" he screamed. Sam threw his hand out and sent the demon flying across the room, pinning him to a wall. Pam sunk to the floor grasping at the hole in her abdomen. Sam stood in front of the struggling demon and clenched his fist. Black smoke shot out of the eyes and mouth of the man, sinking to the ground as Sam destroyed it. He turned away from the remains of the demon. Pam's blind eyes were covered by her shiny sunglasses but her mouth open in surprise. River was groaning on the floor and pushing herself up to a sitting position.
"Pam! Come on," Sam said helping the woman to her feet and laying her gently on the bed. He walked back to River, she held her hand to a bleeding wound on her shoulder. Pam started laughing as they returned to her side.
"What the hell is so funny you crazy bitch?" River demanded. Pam lifted her torn shirt and showed them the gash in her abdomen, it was wider and deeper than Rivers yet wasn't bleeding a drop.
"I can't die in this town, remember?" Pam said.
"Pam you need a doctor. You both do," Sam said looking between the women.
"Relax grumpy and make us a drink," Pam said laughing again.
"Wait…why isn't Dean awake?" River pointed at the still sleeping form of Dean.
Dean was still wondering around the veil, running up and down streets and alleys yelling for his younger brother. He came to another empty street and stopped, growling in frustration.
"Where do you think your going Dean?" Alastair appeared behind him, " You can't run. Not from me. Inside that self-loathing, angsty little head of yours-" The demons rant was interrupted by a brilliant bolt of lighting that erupted around him and in a flash he was gone.
"What the hell?" Dean muttered.
"Guess again," a gravely voice answered. Dean turned around and came face to face with Castiel. "Hello, Dean."
"What just happened?"
"You and Sam saved a seal. We captured Alastair; Dean this was a victory." The angel replied.
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Dean countered.
"No? Who do you think recruited you?"
"Wait, that wasn't Bobby that called me?"
"No , it was me. We needed you and Sam to get into the mortuary. We couldn't get in. And we would've…preferred for you to be here much sooner but you were taken by those witches. In the end that was also fortuitous."
"What do you mean? You sent River after those witches?"
"Yes, we needed to get the gauntlet away from them before their master realized they had it."
"She could've died. Me and my brother could've died." Dean yelled angrily.
"You were never in real danger Dean. River on the other hand is reckless."
"She was desperate you asshole. You sent her to face a coven alone. You lied to her. You lied to us. You could've just asked us for help."
"Every time I ask you for help, you seem to do the exact opposite. I did what I had to do to get your cooperation."
Dean ran his hand along his jaw, frustrated by the matter of factness Castiel answered, "So, what now? People are just gonna start dying again?"
"Yes."
"These are good people, Cas. People with families, with lives you can't just rip them away."
"To everything there is a season, Dean."
"Don't give me any of that Confucius bullshit. You can make an exception. You made one for me."
"You are different." The angel disappeared in a flutter of wings and left Dean alone in the deserted road.
Sam knelt in front of River applying a pressure dressing to the stab wound in her shoulder, "Why the hell are you bleeding and Pam isn't?"
River licked her split lip and looked at the hole in Pam's shirt, "Because my wound isn't mortal and hers is. You ok, Sam?" He glanced up from patch job but remained silent.
Dean stalked back down the deserted street towards the motel but was once again stopped on his journey by the reappearance of the reaper, Tessa. "Hey, Dean. I could use your help." They transported themselves once again to Cole Griffiths house and were able to convince the young spirit to cross over. Dean and the reaper remained in the home and watched Cole's grieving mother flip through her son's baby book. "Can I give you some advice, Dean?" Tessa asked quietly after a moment. Dean nodded.
"I've been around Death for a long time and I've noticed something about you humans," she pointed towards the woman crying alone, "You're afraid, you all are of what comes next. But you also lie. Lie to yourself, lie to each other. 'He's in a better place.' 'At least they're together.' Lies. Stop lying to yourself Dean."
"What?" he asked surprised.
"The Angels, you really think they have something good planned for you? Trust your instincts Dean. There's no such things as miracles," with her final grim warning she disappeared.
"Pam, we planning on bringing Dean back to the land of the living anytime tonight?" River asked once Sam finished with her bandages. Pam flipped her off and then leaned over Dean, reciting the incantation to rejoin his spirit with his body. She groaned lowly and stumbled backwards. "Pam?" River rushed to her friends side. The wound in Pamelas stomach had started bleeding profusely and she pressed her hands in to try and staunch the bleeding. "No no no no. Sam, get more bandages!"
"We, we just have to tell Tessa to lay off the reaping. We'll get you to a hospital." Sam yelled bringing more first aid supplies. Dean woke up on the bed next to them gasping for breath.
"What the hell happened?" he asked. Watching as River tried desperately to slow the blood pouring from the psychic.
"Dean! Where's Tessa?" Sam asked.
"She's-"
"Hey, Pam. You're not gonna die in this fucking motel room…No. I'm gonna call Loki and he's- he's gonna take us to any god damn show you want. You just have to hang on." River told her.
Pam sat back and pushed River's bloody hands away from her stomach, "No. Stop." She took her sunglasses off and tossed them onto the bed, her white plastic caps staring blindly at the three hunters.
"Pam, I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this." Sam told her quietly.
"No. I don't. I'm so fucking angry at you three. I told you I didn't want anything to do with this." She took a long drink from her flask and tossed it onto the bed next to her sunglasses. River sat back, tears falling silently from her eyes and stared at the blood covering her arms. Dean pulled her gently to her feet and led her towards the bathroom. "Tell Bobby Singer to go to hell for ever introducing me to you three." Pam started coughing, flecks of blood splattering her lips. "Come here, grumpy." She pulled Sam to her and whispered in his ear, "I know what you did to that demon. If you think you're doing that with good intentions. Think again." She let out another bloody cough and fell back into the headboard.
"Pam! Pamela!" River yelled trying to push past Dean, who was washing the blood off her arms.
Dean pulled her into a tight hug, "Hey, shhh. She's gone. You know she's gone." He murmured into her hair. She struggled for a moment before letting out a deep sob and clutching at his shirt.
They drove silently through the night. Pam's body carefully wrapped in sheets and laying in the backseat. River sat between the Winchester brothers and stared out the front window . Sam slept quietly leaning his head against the car door. "I want to kill all of them. Alastair, Lilith, every fucking one of them," River said suddenly. Dean was startled by her voice in the silent car and looked down at her. He reached his hand towards hers in the darkness and she took it briefly, giving him a tight squeeze before letting go.