CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: Total Darth Vader
"But, I don't understand." John began, glancing up from Mary and his conjoined hands that wereresting on the couch between them to meet Castiel's intense gaze. "I thought Dean couldn't 't teleport. Only Sam could."
The angel seemed trouble, nodding solemnly before answering. "Dean is starting to acquire the same powers that Cain possessed. Teleportation, smiting, more that even I am unaware of." He trailed off, leaving the rest to their imaginations.
Jo was sitting passively in the corner, beating herself up about the fact he was gone. Perhaps if she would've said something different, stayed down there with him. He was perfectly fine when I was with him... how did everything go to Hell so fast?, she thought, feeling helpless in the situation.
Bobby shook his head, removing his worn cap and rubbing his head before he replaced it with a huff. "That boy is gonna end up gettin' himself in more shit than he already is. We gotta find him."
Sam seemed irritated by the comment as he stood brooding up against the wall, still upset for being reprimanded by the angel. "He's going after the Blade. We should double check that it's safe. Cas, where did you put it?" He questioned with a hint of mallice, Castiel turning to face him with a look of disapproval.
"It is perfectly safe were I have hid it." He said evenly before turning back to the group. "Our main goal is to find Dean, thankfully that shouldn't be too difficult with my expertise." Cas was gone in an instant, leaving the rest of the hunters alone.
"I can't just sit here and do nothing." Mary proclaimed, standing up with determination.
"It'll be faster if we just let Castiel-" Ellen started only to be interrupted by the angel appearing in the middle of the room.
With a regretful look around the room, Cas sighed. "We may have a problem."
...
"Zapped outta there pretty quick." Meg noted, sliding onto the empty barstool in a small dive in Massachusetts next to Dean who currently was nursing a glass filled with Jack Daniel.
He scoffed, taking a swig and took a moment to appreciate the burning sensation as the liquid went down his throat. "You found me pretty quick." He added, giving her a sideways glance. "How did you manage that?"
The brunette looked satisfied with herself as she leaned on the bar, wanting to make sure she didn't set Dean off in anyway. "Even with that new warding tattoo you got yourself, I know you a little better than you think." She said vaguely, making sure to keep her mysterious ways to herself. She took a deep breath as if she was preparing for a long talk before Dean cut her off, sensing it.
"Listen, I need help getting the First Blade. Sam trusts you, I bet if you went back there offering to help track me down, they'd tell you." The middle Winchester began, taking another long sip and smacking his lips together before turning his full attention to her. "Feel up to doin' me a favor? For old times sake?" A small smirk crept at his lips as a cruel glint shown in his eyes.
Meg faltered under his gaze before composing herself. "You took the words right out of my mouth." The brunette knew that if she was going to pull this off, she had to play both sides pretty damn well. With a quick wink in his direction, the demon disappeared.
...
"Meg, I was beginning to think you had gone back on our little arrangement." Crowley noted, swiveling in his revolving chair that sat behind the monstrous desk that occupied most of the King's office.
The brunette situated herself in one of the plush seats, shrugging casually. "Dean-o has warded himself against Sam and the rest of them." She began, Crowley giving her a surprised look.
"He's smarter than I gave him credit for. Does he have the Blade?" The King asked almost hungrily, looking forward to having a new Knight of Hell at his disposal. The last one he had encountered, a ginger if he remembers correctly, was the 'shoot-first-ask-questions-later' kind of Knight that ended up falling off the map quite some time ago. Crowley was soon brought out of his reminiscing by Meg's informative voice.
"Nope, the angel up their sleeve hid it when they first got topside. But-" She gave Crowley a glare when he interrupted her.
His eyebrows rose as the word 'angel' bombarded his brain. "Tell me again, a what up their sleeve?" He questioned, hoping he had heard wrong.
Meg shook her head, the image of Cas ordering her and Ruby out of the basement coming to the forefront of her mind. "His name's Castiel, he's the one who sprung Dean lose and ever since he's been hanging around waiting for Dean to snap."
Crowley stood up, smoothing his suit before snapping his fingers and making a lower level demon appear beside Meg. In a blur, he sent one of the many angel blades he possessed flying into the newcomers throat, the weapon lodging itself deep in his jugular.
Walking over, the King grabbed a bowl from off his desk he always kept handy and glanced at Meg. "I think it's time to make a short phone call."
...
"I am afraid I am unable to find Dean. He has warded himself from me and demons as well." He said with a sorrow filled tone, glancing at Mary. "I doubt even you'd be able to track him."
"Well, it's a good thing you all have a person on the inside." Meg quipped from where she had appeared next to Jo who hadn't even flinched when she appeared next to her. The brunette rested her elbow on the young hunter, earning a glare that could kill.
Sam seemed skeptical as he eyed Meg. Even though she had been helpful up till she was captured, something about her sudden reappearance gave him a bad feeling. "What do you get from this?" He questioned accusingly, ignoring the sharp gazes he was receiving from all around Bobby's living room.
Meg seemed entertained as she stepped away from Jo, not wanting to press her luck with her much longer. "You find a cause and you serve it. Fortunately for you all, I've signed on with the good guys this time." She answered simply, crossing her arms. "Now, do you want my help or not?"
The youngest Winchester looked around the room and saw no objections. With a sigh of frustration he clenched his teeth. "Fine."
...
"Crowley, how the hell are ya?" Dean said overenthusiastically as he watched the blood bubbling in the makeshift bowl he had conjured up that rested on a random car he had happened across. He wiped his scarlet stained knife on his jeans, the still bleeding form of some poor bastard lying on the ground next to one of the wheels. The demon replaced the blade to his waistband, resting his palms on the hood and leaning forward.
"I was wondering where you had taken off too." Crowley answered, sounding more than a little irritated. "You warded yourself I see."
A smirk tugged at the middle Winchester's lips as he brought his gaze up, making sure he was still alone. "I needed a little me time. The last thing I wanted was more people on my ass."
Crowley took a pull from the glass of scotch that had been resting on his desk, feeling a migraine starting to form. "I heard you've got an angel on your shoulder." He began, wanting to know more and how involved Castiel was with their group.
Dean seemed surprised that the King knew about the little angel but he never let it show. "Yeah, for some reason the God Squad has got their eyes on me. But, there has to be a better reason you called than to just see what I've been up to." He said, suspicion in his tone as he cut to the chase.
The King chuckled as he adjusted his position in his comfortable chair. "I was wanting to give you a chance to come home."
A dark laughter erupted from the middle Winchester as Crowley's offer hit him. "Crowley, the last thing I'll be doing, is joining you." Without any other words spoken between the two, Dean dramatically hit the bowl off from the hood of the car, severing the connection.
...
Because Sam and Jo were assigned to go and follow the lead Meg had given them, they found themselves in a small town in Connecticut, probably the last place they would expect Dean to be.
"You think Meg is messin' with us?" The blonde asked after they had teleported to some random bar that the middle Winchester had been supposedly spotted at.
"Almost positive." He answered pessimistically as his eyes darted around and took note of all the people who were scattered around. "But, we might as well humor her for a moment."
Jo's eyes fell on a sign that displayed the name of the bar and below it the words 'South Dakota's Finest' printed in black lettering. The young hunter's brows furrowed in puzzlement, swearing to herself that Meg had said Connecticut. As she went to turn to ask Sam what the hell was going on, she saw his tall form make it's way over to the bar to an all too familiar blonde.
With a fire in her stomach, Jo stormed over there and grabbed the floppy-haired demon's arm with enough force to demand attention.
He looked at her as if he had forgotten she had been with him. He tried to stammer out some excuse before Ruby chimed in. "Mind letting the grown ups talk?" She hissed, eyeing Jo with disgust.
"Sam, what the hell?" The hunter barked, not even paying Ruby the time of day.
"Go screw yourself, that's what." The blonde demon interjected, hopping off the barstool she had been occupying.
Jo glared daggers at her, not in the mood with all the stress of Dean missing eating at her. "Sam, let's go." She insisted right before Ruby latched onto to her retreating form.
"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to insist you and Sammy come with me." Ruby purred, winking at the youngest Winchester's creased brows.
Jo hadn't even been able to respond before they disappeared and everything went black.
...
Sam groaned as he felt a throbbing pain in his torso. He remembered vaguely a conversation with Ruby, but how he got here was beyond him.
Speaking of here...
The demon pried his eyes open, his wrist reflexively twitching at the constricting feeling of chains wrapping around it. His gaze fell on Ruby who had just finished securing his wrists and ankles to a wooden chair. "What the fuck..." He breathed, blinking rapidly as the bright light penetrated his eyeballs.
"Welcome back, sleeping beauty." Ruby taunted, rifling through a bag she had set up on a table to his right. She saw Sam glance down at his chest with bewildered eyes, a circle of red standing out. "Oh, sorry about that. I didn't want you zapping out of here." The youngest Winchester felt panic seep into his system as he realized it was a bullet with a devil's trap carved into it that was sapping his powers.
Sam took in his surroundings, the cement walls seeming daunting as they enclosed the small space. He noticed the corrugated door and he guessed they were in some type of storage units. He had just been ready to ask the blonde in front of him why she was doing this when it dawned on him that he had been with Jo. "Where is she?" He spat, his black gaze turning on Ruby.
She flicked her brows up before fishing out a cell phone from the bag, dialing a number before placing it to her ear. After only a few rings, a rough voice answered with annoyance.
"Dean, how are things?" Ruby started off, Sam's gaze immediately landing on her at the sound of his brother's name.
The middle Winchester scoffed at the sound of the blonde demon's voice, having just ended his call with Crowley roughly twenty minutes ago. "Ruby, how dumb are you to contact me?" He asked, genuinely wondering.
Ruby lifted herself up onto the table, giving Sam a venomous smile before continuing on the phone. "I just wanted to let you know that I happen to have two very important people that you may want to think about rescuing."
Dean rolled his eyes on the other end, the thought that Ruby had snatched two of his former family members not even fazing him. "Oh really? They were stupid enough to let you get the better of them?" His voice was amused as went on. "Just for curiosity sake, which two?"
"You're little blonde girlfriend and poor helpless Sammy." The vindictive demon was dripping with wickedness as she walked over to Sam, pulling out the demon killing knife she had stolen from his pockets. "Now, I'll make you a deal. If you come and turn yourself over to Crowley, I promise I won't make these two eat their own intestines." She threatened, dragging the edge of the blade along the youngest Winchester's cheek. Sam stared with silent defiance, not wanting to give the traitorous bitch before him any satisfaction.
"Well, there's only one problem with your plan here Ruby." He paused for dramatic effect, able to imagine rather precisely the look of aggravation that was plastered on the blonde's face. "I don't give a shit about either of them. So whatever happens to them, it's not on me."
Ruby's eyes widened, having been unaware that Dean had gone total nuclear. "But-"
"I suggest you do whatever you have to do, but know this." Dean leaned against the wall in a alley he had ducked into, smirking darkly. "Whatever you do to Sammy and Jo, will be nothing compared to what I'm gonna do to you."
After allowing a moment to let that sink in, Dean hung up.
Ruby shook her head, snapping the cellphone shut before getting a hold of herself. "Guess what, Dean-o has given me permission to do whatever the hell I want with you two. What do ya say Sammy, let's get started."
...
TBC
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