Chapter 60
Bobby's version of 'good morning, glad you're alive, good job stopping Pestilence' was a gruff snort when the Hunters and fallen Angel trudged back into his home the next morning. "Hope you weren't expecting a congratulations party." He grumbled.
"Is there coffee?" River called over her shoulder as she made her way through his cluttered sitting room into the kitchen. Sam sat heavily on the sagging couch, Cas leaned against a wall and Dean sat in the high backed chair at Bobby's desk.
"There was. I drank it." Bobby answered as River scrounged through his cabinets searching for the last of the coffee grounds. "Nice to have a win for once." He muttered pulling his wheelchair besides Dean. The younger man nodded morosely as he spun Pestilences ring like a lopsided top across the chipped surface of the desk.
"Yeah I guess." Dean answered. "Just... Pestilence said something before he disappeared."
"Are you pausing for dramatic effect? What the hell'd he say?" Bobby demanded.
"We're already too late." River said as she returned from the kitchen and handed out cups of hot coffee. Dean pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her hair. She blushed as he groaned contentedly, his arms circling her waist. "We're kind of worried he planted a bomb somewhere." She said shifting in Dean's lap so she could reach her coffee.
"So if you could please tell us you've got some good news-" Dean murmured removing his face from the back of River's neck and taking a drink of his coffee.
"Well, if by good news you mean Chicago's about to wiped off the map in the Storm of the millennium." Bobby answered. The others sighed, bowing their heads in exhaustion and resignation waiting for Bobby to continue. "The storm is going to set off a chain of events that triggers a series of natural disasters. Three million people are going to die within a handful of hours."
Cas crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't understand your definition of good news."
River smiled and shook her head at the bewildered Angel. Bobby gave Castiel an annoyed glance, "Well Death, as in the Horseman, is going to be there. And if we stop him before he kick starts the storm and get his ring…"
"Yeah you make it sound so easy." Sam replied scrubbing his hands down his face.
River shook her head and scrutinized the older man in front of her. "Bobby, how exactly do you know all this? That bald head of yours suddenly acting like a crystal ball?" He shifted in his wheelchair and pulled down on his ever present baseball cap.
"Well, you know I had…help." He answered. A cupboard door slammed shut causing them to startle and turn towards the supposed-to-be-empty kitchen. Crowley stood at the kitchen counter pouring himself a healthy three fingers of whiskey from one of Bobby's personal bottles.
The Demon swirled the amber liquor around the grimy glass, sniffed and grimaced setting the glass untouched down on a stack of musty books. "Don't be so humble. I hardly helped at all." He said smiling haughtily. "Hello boys, crumpet."
River rolled her eyes. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She muttered looking back at Bobby for an explanation. Bobby shifted again in his wheelchair as Dean, Sam and Castiel each turned their questioning eyes on him.
"Go ahead tell them." Crowley encouraged. "There's no shame in it."
Sam stood up from the couch moving closer to Bobby. "Tell us what?"
"World's gonna end. I ain't doin' any good from this chair. You three…four have been runin' yourselves to the bone."
"Bobby, What did you do?" River asked quietly.
His bottom lip twitched, he avoided his families worried stare and met Crowley's. "Seemed silly to get all precious over one little soul-"
"You sold your soul!" Dean yelled lifting River off his lap and planting her on the floor.
"Pawned it. I fully intend to return it." Crowley clarified.
River stomped towards the Demon. "Give it back." She demanded.
"I will when the time is right."
Dean slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "I'm not playing this game again. Give him his soul back now!"
"I can't."
"I think you mean to say you won't." River yelled taking another step towards him.
Crowley stood his ground, brushing a piece of lint of the lapel of his suit jacket. "You're right. I won't."
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"You kill demons. I'm a bloody Demon! It's insurance alright? I don't trust any of you. I give you Deaths location and his soul back," Crowley yelled pointing at Bobby, "and one of you, my moneys on Gigantor, kills me. No thank you. I keep his soul in my deposit box and you get it back when and only when this job is done; Lucifer is back in the cage and I get to walk away. Do we understand each other?"
Dean stomped out of the house a few moments after Crowley made his grand exit. Bobby slumped in his chair, grinding his teeth quietly and nursing a bottle of whiskey. River shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and stared down at him. "I…I just…what the fuck Bobby? How the hell could you make a deal with that deep fried piece of haggis?" She asked before following Dean out of the house. She found him removing everything in the Impala's trunk and stacking them on a work table. "What'cha doin'?"
"Looking for some Devil's shoelace and goopher dust. We need to seal up Bobby's house." He answered not looking up at her. He leaned as far into the trunk as he could without physically climbing into it. "Son of a bitch where is it!" He yelled angrily.
River nudged him out of the way with her hip and lifted a stack of books they had tucked in one of the deep corners of the trunk. She procured two small glass bottles and held them up. "He has the standard ten years. And we need to get to Chicago… I've never had legit Chicago deep dish pizza. We should get some, you know if Death doesn't kill us."
Dean took the offered bottles and set them on the table for safe keeping before turning back to her. "Deep dish sounds amazing." He murmured against her lips. He lifted her up to sit on the edge of the open trunk. "Cheese, sausage-" He said wrapping her legs around his hips.
She laughed burying her face into his neck, "I think I got all the cheese I can handle right here."
"Oh come I though that was pretty good-"
"It was a little too much 'I have the kielbasa you ordered' and not enough 'I wanna fuck you into next week'." River replied slipping her hands behind his neck and bringing his face to hers for a kiss. They broke the soon enough no use getting hot and bothered when they didn't have the time or privacy to finish what they both wanted to start.
Dean cleared his throat and stepped out of the enticing embrace of her thighs. "Speaking of kielbasa that feathery douche should have just told us what we were supposed to do…" He said defaulting to his usual gripe as of late.
She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know why Gabe did what he did. He was…different. He gave us a lead at least. A goal-"
"What goal is that? Sam letting Lucifer ride his skin?" He scrubbed his hands down his face. "How is his stupid plan any different from mine?"
"Your plan would have ended in Michael and Lucifer taking out half the planet. If we can figure out a way for Sam's plan to work. No one has to die."
"No one except my brother." Dean said turning away from her and coming face to face with said brother. Sam gave him a tight smile. "What is this? Family meeting time again. Did you two plan this?"
River shrugged. "Not exactly…"
"Dean, just hear me out." Sam told his brother. Dean begrudgingly tucked his hands in his jacket and nodded at his brother to continue. "To start I agree with you-"
"Agree with what?" Dean asked.
"That I'm not strong enough to beat Lucifer. I know how screwed up I am. But I am also the only play we've got. If there was another way we would've found it by now. But theres not. It's just me and we've got try to this." Sam finished.
"Are they always this dramatic?" Crowley quipped appearing next to River. Sam and Dean's shoulders turned tense. The hunters faces instantly shifted to annoyed bitch mode at the demons oily presence.
She glared at Crowley before replying. "Sometime there's man tears. What do you want Demon?"
Crowley sighed procuring a rolled newspaper from his jacket. "You need to see something." He handed the paper to River. Her blue eyes scanning through the headlines.
"CDC clears Malphas vaccine. Niveus industries readying shipments," River read out loud cocking an eyebrow at the Demon. "It's the flu shot, right? Whats the big deal?"
Dean took the paper and quickly read the article for himself. "Niveus…isn't that the company Brady worked for?" He asked. Crowley nodded.
"I don't get it. People have been stalking pharmacies and hospitals waiting for this to be released." Sam said.
Crowley looked between the three bewildered faces. "Niveus pharmaceuticals. Which Brady was V.P of distribution…" River's eyebrows shot up in understanding, one shaking hand went to cover her mouth. "Oh look at that the proverbial lightbulb…" He muttered. Dean and Sam still stood puzzled rereading the article for some hidden clues.
"No, no, no. Vaccination rates are supposed to be 80-90% this flu season. People are terrified of Dragon Fever…" River said disbelieving. "Crowley tell me those fucks didn't put it in the flu shots!"
The Demon nodded once, "I'll stake my reputation on it Crumpet."
River brushed her hands through her hair muttering "Shit, shit, shit."
"I've had five hours of sleep in the last two days if one of you could fill us in," Dean said as River paced nervously.
"We're already too late." River repeated Pestilences final warning. "Step one was the flu. Kill thousands, cause an international panic. Step two is the vaccine. A vaccine thats face no oversight, completely researched and created by a private pharmaceutical company. The Croatoan virus is in that shot. Thats how it will spread so quickly, everyone who gets the flu shot is already infected."
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered rubbing his hand along his jaw. "When are they releasing it?" He asked his brother who still held the newspaper.
"Wednesday." Sam said. "Tomorrow. The same day Death is visiting Chicago." He tossed the newspaper aside and pushed his hair off his forehead.
"Great. I really wanted some fucking pizza," River muttered stomping back inside Bobby's house.
Crowley smirked. "I suggest you stock up on everything. I'll return at dusk."
Dusk came quickly for the group. They spent the hours in preparation, loading weapons, blessing vials of holy water, and making salt rounds. Bobby retreated to a locked cabinet in his garage and gingerly removed a locked metallic ammo box. Castiel paced the in front of the black van he, Sam, and River would be driving to the Niveus distribution plant. River loaded duffle bags of weapons and supplies into the back of the van. They had to stop Death and try and save Chicago. They also had to stop the Malphas vaccine from being released. It was a double sided suicide mission and they all knew it. "What's your problem Cas?" River finally asked after Castiel let out another deep sigh.
"This is what you humans call the 11th hour." He stated.
River nodded, "Yeah I guess it is." She watched Bobby carefully set his ammo box down and y remove bricks of explosives. He tucked them, along with spools of cables and home made detonation devices, into a canvas bag on his lap.
"Well, it's the 11th hour and I am completely useless. I have none of my powers." He said disgustedly.
Bobby scoffed, "Boo hoo princess."
"I commanded armies of the Heavenly Host. I marched across battlefields in Heaven and Hell and now…"
"Are you really gonna complain to me?" Bobby said rolling his wheelchair towards the Angel. "You remember I didn't start out in this damn chair, right?" Castiel remained silent. "Why don't you help her load the van and quit bitching?" He tossed the explosive laden bag at the Angel and wheeled away.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Cas asked River as he sat the bag in the van and
picked up the shotgun she had given him.
"Cas, sweetie, we went over this. That's your boomstick. You point it at things you want to die and pull the trigger," River said patting his arm. The screen door slammed and the heavy foot steps of the Winchesters marked their trail down the wheelchair ramp.
"Good luck stopping the Zombie apocalypse," Dean said giving Sam a hug.
Sam nodded, "Good luck killing Death."
Dean smiled and stepped around his brother. River wrung her hands nervously. "Don't die." She said giving him a half smile.
"Don't let Cas get bit by a zombie." He replied. She stood on her toes to reach his lips, fingers running through his hair searing the way he tasted and felt into her memory.
"Time to go," Crowley announced.
The air grew heavy. They shared a brief look knowing it might be the last time they saw each other on this side of the Pearly Gates. Sam held out the Demon Knife towards his brother. "Keep it Gigantor. Dean's covered." Crowley told him. A curved wicked looking blade appeared in the Demons hands. The blade was covered in stains River was sure weren't just rust.
"Is that a scythe?" Sam asked.
Crowley nodded proudly. "Death's very own. Kills Demons, Angels, Reapers and rumor has it, the great dark thing himself."
"How did you get that?" Castiel demanded. The Scythe was supposed to be lost to the ages. It had disappeared after the Fall when the Horseman themselves retreated to the deepest caves of Hell their powers gone after being used to bind Lucifer in his cage.
Crowley's face turned smug, "Hello! King of the Crossroads. Shall we? I'd like get back before tea time."
River rolled her eyes and bent down to give Bobby one finally goodbye hug. "See you soon Papa Bear."
The older man held on to her for a few precious extra seconds before releasing her. "See ya soon girl."
"What do you mean 'see you soon'? You just going to stay in that chair while we save the world?" Crowley asked over his shoulder as he strode towards the waiting Impala.
"No I got a tryout for the women's ribbon dancing team ya idjit." Bobby grumbled slouching further down into his chair.
The Demon clicked his tongue impatiently. "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. You said you read our contract line by line. Had it all memorized. Did you miss appendix J, section D7, clause 4A?"
River, the Winchesters and Cas looked between Crowley and Bobby. Bobby shifted uncomfortably under their stare. "I may have skipped some of the appendices…"
"You really shouldn't have taken Dean's example and wasted your bloody deal. Now Dick Cheney, there is a man that nows how to draw up a contract…You're still sitting there Bobby. We really do have to get on the road." Crowley snapped his fingers and Bobby suddenly had warm tingling sensations running up and down his legs. He lifted one heavy tingling foot from the wheelchair footrest the other foot followed a second later. He took a deep unbelieving breath before pushing himself out of his chair. River's scream of happiness reached octaves loud enough to shatter glass as she flung herself at the older hunter. Bobby caught her midair, swung her around in a tight circle before setting her back on the ground and kicking his feet up in quick little jig.
"God damn that feels good!" Bobby yelled.
"I know I'm a bloody saint." Crowley muttered disappearing and reappearing in the passenger seat of the Impala. He leaned over and honked the horn when Dean didn't immediately join him.
"Have fun committing domestic terrorism." Dean murmured in River's ear before kissing her quickly on the cheek.
"Domestic terrorism's always been on my bucket list. I just thought it would be more like 'Free Willy' and less like the end of 'Fight Club'." River replied. "Get your ass to Chicago and bring me back some deep dish."
Bobby insisted he drive his group. The feel of the pedals under his feet and the vibrations of the road traveling up his legs was exhilarating. River and Castiel shared the bucket seats in the second row, crammed between bags of weapons and explosives. Sam discussed his idea to somehow trap Lucifer inside his mind long enough to fling them both back into the Pit. Castiel's forehead furrowed as he considered Sam's proposition. "Say 'Yes' to Lucifer?" He said after a few moments of rumination. "Its an interesting plan."
"Interesting? Yeah thats one word for it." Bobby muttered.
Sam turned in his seat. "You can be honest Cas. It's a shitty plan. The worst plan I've ever come up with."
Castiel nodded. "Of course. I can say that if it's what you wish to hear." River tried to stifle her outburst of laughter with a cough. Castiel's near complete lack of social awareness never grew old. The former Angel cocked an annoyed eyebrow at her before continuing. "But… I do not believe that. You and your brother have a habit of exceeding my expectations."
"You keep the bar pretty low Cas." River said smirking.
He sighed, "I mean to say that Dean resisted Michael. Maybe you could resist Lucifer."
"What about Raphael's vessel and the drooling potato he left behind? Or that poor sack Gabriel found. Or Jimmy? Why would Sam be different?" River asked.
Castiel rolled his shoulders and looked at her. "Because Sam doesn't truly want to be possessed. If he can remember that, if he can keep himself tethered he may be able to resist Lucifer enough to remain in control." She nodded quietly considering what he said. "You need to know something though. Michael has found another vessel."
"What?" Sam asked.
"It's your brother Adam. Surely you must have considered it." Castiel said quietly.
"We kind hoped the Angels let him go back to Heaven to be with his mom." River answered.
Cas shook his head sadly, "Michael has a vessel, not his true vessel but one that he is wagering can beat Lucifer. Sam if you say 'Yes' to Lucifer and fail then this fight will happen and the world will pay the price. The collateral damage will be immense."
"I know."
"And then there's the Demon blood-" Cas continued.
"Demon blood?" Sam asked.
"To hold Lucifer you would have drink more than you ever have. The vessel must be strengthened or you'll explode."
"But that walking corpse Lucifer is riding right now-" River said remembering the decaying grey faced man that appeared at the Elysian Hotel.
"He's drinking gallons to keep himself intact. His minions no doubt gleefully sacrificing themselves to his service."
Sam turned around, looking at the brightening sky. He had hoped his addiction to Demon blood was a scab he'd never have to open back up. River leaned forward and placed her hand on his shoulder giving it a firm squeeze. He rested his large hands on hers and they drove the rest of the way in a heavy silence.
The Niveus distribution plant was buzzing with activity. Two dozen bright yellow box trucks were parked at loading bays. Workers in reflective vests and hard hats were steering pushcarts up ramps and driving forklifts around the football field sized lot. "I don't think they've started loading the vaccines into the trucks yet," River murmured handing her binoculars to Sam.
"We take out the gate, block the trucks from leaving, plant the C4 around the perimeter, get the workers out before we blow the joint." Sam repeated before they took their designated positions. Bobby and River carrying the bags of explosives and a pair of bolt cutters, Sam and Cas heading to the gate. They got through the chain link narrowly avoiding an errant forklift driver and broke off into opposite directions. Her and Bobby would have a five minute window to plant their explosives.
A truck horn blared in the distance signaling Cas's successfully disengaging the one electronic gate. Within seconds of the noise the workers that had so far been unaware of the pending insurgence stopped all activity. As one they turned and ran back into the building. A staccato of metal loading doors being slammed and locked shut echoed across the now empty lot. "That can't be good." River muttered to herself as she planted her last brick of C4 and carefully applied the wireless detonation trigger. She grabbed her own 'boomstick' from the bottom of her now empty duffel bag and jogged around the building until she found the others readying themselves to break into the one employee entrance. The architect had done an excellent job of creating a fortified building. With the loading doors sealed there was only one penetrable door. The only problem was they were about to bust in blind with no idea how what waited on the other side. Bobby kneeled in front of the steel reinforced door and stuck a quarter sized piece of explosive putty on the door knob. The three humans ran several paces away to avoid the blast zone. Castiel however stood glaring at the door wondering what that tiny wad of greyish material was supposed to do. "Damn it Cas." River grumbled running back towards him and grabbing one tan sleeve of his trench coat. "Cover your ears Cassie." She instructed. The door was blown off its hinges a half minute later, leaving a smoking jagged hole which several terrified workers ran out of.
Their little act of domestic terrorism went off without a hitch. Despite the dozen demons inside they caught trying to release an aerosolized canister of 'vaccine'. Once the demons were dealt with Sam wouldn't let them blow the building to Hades until they made sure every human was safely evacuated. When Bobby finally did push the detonator the C4 left nothing behind but a fiery crater. Sam did the getaway driving after Bobby nearly collapsed from a Charlie horse on their way back to the van; his leg muscles weakened from months of disuse. River sat in the front of the van skipping through radio stations. They listened through three identical broadcasts about the 'industrial accident' at Niveus Pharmaceuticals distribution plant. The interim director of distribution finally gave an official statement confirming what they had hoped: the entire cache of 'flu vaccines' had been destroyed. "You know if it ever gets out what was really in those shots the Anti-Vaxx looney toons are going to be validated." River mumbled when the station finally switched to the latest baseball scores. She dialed the radio through each station twice more. Sam knew she was waiting to hear if a massive freak storm had swallowed Chicago. She finally gave up and switched the radio off.
"No news is good news." Sam said looking across at her.
River nodded holding her cellphone to her ear again. Her call to Dean went straight to voicemail and she hung up without leaving a message. "It is physically and emotionally exhausting loving your brother. He is the best and worst thing thats ever happened to me." She said after a few minutes of silence. "Meeting someone like him was never in my plans. Getting pregnant, everything that's happened between us, all of it. It's a lot to deal with Sam."
"I know," he answered.
"Fuck. I know you know. It's this life. I can't even remember what it's like to have a normal life. You and Dean never got that...if this ends in our favor the only thing I want is for him is to be happy. Even for just a little while. " She said.
"We're going to finish this. Dean'll get the ring, hell he probably already has it and can't hear his phone over his shitty music." Sam told her smiling. "I can do the rest. Whatever it takes I will get Lucifer back into the Pit."
Dean was just getting out of the Impala and stretching his stiff back when Bobby's black van pulled up beside him. "Heard about the warehouse on the radio. Nice work." He told the others as they exited the van and walked towards him.
"Did you get it?" River asked him.
"The pizza? Yeah it was delicious." He answered smiling cockily.
"Jackass," River muttered lunging for his jacket pockets.
He laughed holding a shiny object far over her head towards his brothers outstretched hand. "You mean the ring. Of course I got it."
Sam turned the brilliant white opal ring over in his fingers. It felt far heavier in his hand than it should have. "You really killed Death?" He asked handing the ring to River.
"No," Dean answered shaking his head. "He gave it to me."
"What'd you have to give him, son?" Bobby asked.
Dean smiled thinly, "We'll talk about it later."
"What the fuck does that mean?" River snapped.
He glanced down at her trying to avoid her worried eyes. "Baby needs a bath. Bring a couple beers around back in a little while?" She nodded and dropped the ring back into his hand before turning toward the house. "Shit, wait a second sweetheart I almost forgot." Dean said grabbing her hand before she could walk away and reached down into the Impala with his free arm. He procured a foil wrapped package and held it out to her.
"Is that?" She asked giddily as the mouthwatering aroma of garlicky tomato sauce and cheese made her momentarily forget about Dean's vague answer. He snatched the take out container out of her reach before she could grab it.
"Extra cheese." He murmured as he leaned down to kiss her.
"Nerd." She told him grabbing the container of pizza. "Come on Cas I'll let you have a bite of my pizza." After the pizza was devoured Castiel passed out on the couch, Sam disappeared to his room and Bobby walked laps around his cramped house. River found Dean wiping the last beads of water of Baby's rear window. She sat at Bobby's work table sipping her beer and watching as he triple checked there were no water stains or missed specks of dirt.
"Quit staring at my ass." He said over his shoulder as he polished the hub caps.
"Make me," She called over the rim of the amber beer bottle she held to her lips. "So we got the rings. What now?" She asked as he ambled over drying his hands off .
"Now we use 'em," he said taking a swig of his own beer.
"How?"
He smiled cockily, "Watch this." He reached into his pocket and dropped the Four Horseman's rings onto the table in front of her. The rings clattered to the wood table then were drawn together as if magnetized; Death's opal ring in the center surrounded by the other three rings forming a vaguely triangular shape. Dean held it up for River to inspect more closely.
"What the fuck?" She whispered taking the rings from him.
"Death told me how to use the. This and an Enochian spell opens a one way portal straight back to the Cage."
"And Death just…gave you his ring? With instructions on how to use them. Free of charge?" She asked incredulously handing the rings back.
Dean shrugged, "Not exactly free of charge. Death knows about Sam's plan to jump in the Pit with Lucifer. I had to promise not to stop him when he tries…"
"Sam knows whats at risk. If he fails we're all fucked…he's damaged and dark and there's a lot of baggage there," River said quietly. "But he's good man. He's brave and strong, he's a hell of a lot stronger than any of us have given him credit for. He could save all of us. We have to let him try."
Dean shook his head, pressing his index and thumb against his eyes, "He's been my responsibility since I was four years old. I'm supposed to protect him. And now I'm just supposed to watch him go to Hell."
"If it means saving the world? Yeah, yeah you are."