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Chapter 34

Five figures stood amoung the grey gravestones in the cemetary. It was dark, but the full moon made it seem like a spot light was upon them. A sudden chill wind blew, cutting through the graveyard.

Castiel shivered next to Dean, and the hunter pulled him close, wrapping an arm around him. "Are you ready?" the hunter asked Sam and Bobby quietly.

Sam gave a curt nod; Dean thought he still seemed a bit uptight that he had not thought of the idea of summoning a Reaper. At least he had agreed that it was the best course of action to take.

Bobby was setting a small pile of dry leaves and sticks on the ground, and then pulled out a lighter to set it alight. Sam tugged an old piece of parchment from his pocket and waited for his part.

Amber knelt besides Bobby and began handing him things from the bag she was carrying: a bowl made from a human cranium, jars and springs of various herbs. Vials of blood.

Bobby mixed the various ingredients and muttered under his breath about how they were all idjits for summoning a reaper. Bobby topped the gruesome mixture in the cranium bowl with a dead rat fetus and placed it carefully on top of the fire. The wind shrieked through the trees as he did so, and Amber screamed .

"Sorry," she whispered apologetically. "Wasn't expecting that."

Giving a nervous laugh she stood up and backed away from the fire, standing next to Sam. He gave her a reassuring glance and she relaxed a little, although she did move even closer to him.

"All right, Sam. Go ahead." Boby said as he straightened up, staring at the small fire.

Sam took a deep breath before reading aloud.

"Vocare nos hic repetit vitae, gratiam postulare. Nos offeratis ultra sacrificium dona sanguine dotes occidere. His assumptis audientium petere, ut nobis videtur in oculis tuis."

Dean listened intently, and searched the area, waiting for something to appear. Castiel was breathing heavily next to him. Glancing at him, Dean saw he was pale and he frowned.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, turning his full attention to Castiel. The angel gave a wince, and rubbed his stomach.

"The baby is wriggling around quite a bit..and it just kicked me. I think the baby's scared, Dean."

Dean was going to argue that the kid probably had no idea what was going on, but the way Cas said it, it was like he really believed it. So Dean let it go.

He reached for Cas' hand, and placed their entwined hands on the bulge of the angel's stomach. "Cas..tell the baby that there's no reason to be afraid. Because I'm here and I'll protect it no matter what. Okay?"

The baby kicked again, on the spot where it's parents hands were.

"I think the baby heard you, Dean." Cas looked up at him with a small smile on his face.

"Good." Dean leaned down to place a kiss on the angel's forehead, and pressed his hand against Cas' belly, trying to reassure the kid further. He felt a bit stupid doing it, but who knows? Maybe the kid did sense that they were out there.

"Hey," Bobby hissed. "Will you get your heads out of your asses and pay attention?"

The two looked up. There was a smokey grey mist flowing between the gravestones, and the fire in front of them rose higher and sparked before puffing out instantly. A figure appeared from the smoke, and as it cleared to reveal the Reaper, all five instinctively stepped back.

A pale, frail old woman stood there, clothed in black. She stared at them, eyes glazed over.

Taking a step forward, she reached out a hand, pointing to Castiel.

"Do the binding spell," Amber nudged Sam quickly and he rambled off the spell written on the second sheet of paper.

The reaper made a gurgling noise, before taking a step back. She was still pointing at Castiel, almost accusingly. Dean stood in front of the angel protectively, pushing Cas behind himself.

"Angel." she stated. "An angel of the lord."

"What's it to you?" Dean spat, fingering his gun, even though he knew it would do nothing to a Reaper.

"Dean, stay focused here." Sam nudged his brother before addressing the Reaper. "We need to talk to your boss. Where is he?"

THe Reaper gave a dry crackling laugh and Bobby rolled his eyes. "Nice job of being blunt and to the point."

"Well, how would you ask?" Sam said, offended.

The Reaper's eyes brightened suddenly as she looked to a spot behind them. Becoming completely motionless, her eyes stayed glued to the spot.

The air became colder, so cold it was hard to breathe. Cas shivered and Dean touched his hand, enveloping Cas' hand in his to keep it warm. The Reaper was still focused intently behind them.

Turning around slowly, they saw what the Reaper was staring at. An older man, in a crisp suit and tie, was standing there, leaning heavily on an elegant can. A silver ring shone on his finger.

"You are dismissed." The man pointed to the Reaper and she vanished instantly. He turned to give the others a somewhat exasperating look, like they were wasting his time.

"May I ask, what would you want with one of my Reapers?"

"You're Death?" Amber blurted out unexpectedly, and the man looked at her with amusement.

"What do you think?" His eyes traveled over the people in front of him, and landed on Dean. Death met Dean's eyes, and the hunter felt a piercing chill go through his body. His heart felt like it was frozen in mid beat, and for a moment he couldn't breathe. Falling to his knees, he clutched frantically at his chest, gasping for air.

"Dean," Cas knelt beside him, placing a hand to his mate's chest to try and relieve his labored breathing, but he was still out of juice.

Death glanced lazily at Dean again, and the hunter was finally able to take in beautiful, sweet breaths of air. "I assume you wanted to find me, am I correct?"

Nobody answered; they hadn't expected to meet the final Horseman so soon. THey were all taken aback, and nobody had words. Except Amber.

"We need your ring," Amber squeaked out. "Can we borrow it?"

Sam grabbed her quickly and pulled her backward before she could say anything else.

"Sam, it's no secret." Death smiled as though he was talking to a small child. " I already knew what you wanted. The clues were there...Pestilence, War and Famine...gone missing and their rings as well. I already know that you're collecting them, and why, of course. They form a cage that can imprison Lucifer."

Cas helped Dean to his feet, and they both stared at Death.

"Don't stand there gaping like incompetant morons. I am old, perhaps as old as God himself. I know things that you can't even begin to imagine." Death snapped.

Bobby cleared his throat, and Death's eyes swiveled to him. "Are you gonna kill us then? Cause if you are, just make it quick."

Dean held Cas close; he could feel the angel's heart beating rapidly. Cas was scared. The angel's belly was pressed against Dean, and the hunter could feel the baby moving around, as if terrified. Maybe it really did know what was going on.

"No. I'm not going to kill you." Death twisted the ring off his finger, and held it up. It sparkled in the moonlight. "I'm going to give you my ring."

"Why?" Sam questioned curiously. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that Death was simply offering the ring to them..surely he would want something in return?

"Because I am being bound by a child having a temper tantrum," Death held his arms apart, and a silvery ghostlike chain appeared, binding his hands. "Lucifer has me doing his bidding. Whoever he wants dead, he sents me to take them. Even whole cities and towns. It's frustrating that a mere insect such as himself is making the rules." Death held the ring out, reaching for Dean.

"Take it." he said, and Dean stuck his hand out, palm upturned. Death held the ring between his thumb and index finger, pausing. "You must do whatever it takes to ensure that Lucifer is caged."

He glanced to Castiel for a second, before resuming his gaze on Dean. The hunter didn't catch the glance, however. He was too busy trying not to have a heart attack. " Whatever it takes, no matter the cost. Do I have you word, Dean?"

Dean started sweating; why was Death directing this question at him? As if he knew something that none of them did...he shuddered as Death's eyes bore into him.

"Your word?" Death repeated sharply.

Sam kicked Dean hard in the shin and he averted his eyes from Death's gaze.

"Yes, alright. Fine." he said hoarsely, and Death released his ring so it dropped onto Dean's palm.

"Do not disappoint me." were Death's parting words, and then he was gone.

Everyone was silent, Dean clutching the ring tightly in his fist. He was still shaking; the way Death spoke to him and looked at him... it was unnerving.

Castiel seemed to sense this, and took Dean's hand in his own, squeezing gently.

"What just happened?" Sam broke the silence with the question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue. "Did Death give us the ring?"

Bobby nodded. He could hardly believe that it had been so easy. "Why did he single you out, Dean?"

"How should I know?" Dean snapped. Holding out his hand to Sam, he said, "Take it." before pressing the ring into Sam's palm. He shuddered as if Death was still looking at him. "Let's get out of here."

He turned on his heel abruptly and started for the direction of the car, weaving in and out of the gravestones hurriedly. Sam and Bobby traded glances; that meeting with Death had upset Dean. Or rather the words that Death spoke. 'You must do whatever it takes.'

It would put a damper on them as well if an all powerful being spoke to them like that.

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Dean was in a brooding mood for hours after their midnight encounter with Death. Even after the others had gone to bed finally, he was still brooding. Sleep would not come tonight. He couldn't relax, so he started pacing the room. Past the bed that Sam and Amber were in. Past Bobby sprawled out on the couch. Past Cas curled up under the covers in his bed.

He stopped at the motel window, but staring out into the darkness did nothing to help put him at ease. Dean closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to the cool glass. The more he thought about it, the clearer the reason was why Death addressed him with that morbid statement.

"Dean," Castiel spoke quietly from behind him. He has gotten out of bed when he saw Dean stop at the window; he had been watching Dean pace and worry for the past few hours, and it had gone on long enough. "You've barely spoken since we met Death. Tell me what's the matter."

Dean breathed in silently before turning to face the angel. Waves of concern were flowing from him, and his face was drawn and pale with worry. He grinned for Cas' sake, although it was a hollow, emotionless grin, and slid an arm around his mate's shoulders.

"I'm alright, Cas. But you don't look so good. How's your arm?"

Cas frowned as Dean directed the subject to him. "It's fine. Dean, what is going on? Do you know something? Is that why Death singled you out?"

Dean tugged gently to make Cas move forward to the bed. "I don't know anything, Cas." He let go of the angel to pull back the covers. "Get in." He helped Cas into bed and slid beside him. Cas moved close to Dean, and he could feel the hunter was still troubled.

"Please," he pleaded softly."I can feel something's wrong."

Dean hesitated; Cas knew he was on the verge of telling him what was going through his mind. Just when Castiel thought Dean was going to tell him...the hunter slid a hand down to carress Cas' swollen belly.

"How's the kid? Recover from it's meeting with Death?"

"The baby is fine." Cas replied, a alittle stonily as Dean had avoided his question again.

Dean continued to massage Cas' stomach lightly, the baby kicking every so often. Cas could feel his body relaxing under Dean's touch, and he started drifting off. Instinctively he snuggled closer to Dean, head resting on the hunter's chest. Dean drew an arm up to hold him, ceasing his carressing.

"Dean, don't stop," Cas whispered drowsily, so Dean brushed his fingers against Cas' skin once more. The angel was so relaxed now..he was about to fall asleep. But Dean couldn't, not when these thoughts were weighing on him. Dean struggled internally for a few more minutes about whether to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn't worry Cas, or blurt out what was goung through his mind. He selfishly chose the latter.

"I think Death wants me to let Lucifer ride Sam into the Cage." Dean said softly. The angel didn't reply for a moment; he gazed at Dean sleepily before his eyes suddenly widened.

"What?" he sat up abruptly, looking worried.

"Yeah." Dean shifted, and wrapped his arm around Castiel again to pull him back down.

"We..Sam and I..talked about it. If he said yes to Lucifer, then jumped into the pit. But I told him no."

"Dean...he won't come back." Cas frowned with concern. That would explain why Death had spoken only to Dean...but they couldn't let Sam go to the deepest parts of hell to live out eternity being tortured by Lucifer.

"I know, Cas." Dean sighed heavily, and Cas could feel waves of rollinng emotions coming off of him, all mixed up and boiling so he couldn't tell exactly what Dean was feeling.

"I can't lose my brother. Not after everything. Not after all this crap we've been through." Dean's voice broke, and he took in a shuddering gasp as a few tears fell from his eyes.

"Dean, it'll be alright. We can figure something out...so Sam doesn't have to go to the pit with Lucifer." Castiel hugged his mate close and Dean wept silently into his shoulder. The only thing that Cas felt from Dean now was fear and desperation. Dean wrapped his arms around the angel, hanging on to him like he was the only thing left in the world.

"What are we going to do? Tell me, Cas." Dean pleaded, but the angel had no answer. Dean already knew the answer; it was staring him in the face. He needed to let Sam do this. Sam was ready for it; but he wasn't.

Cas touched his lips gently to the hunter's to soothe him, because he had no words. There was no way to trick Lucifer into the Cage. He would have to be led in somehow.

"I can't. I can't let him." Dean shook his head frantically while Cas laid next to him helplessly.

"i don't know what to do, Dean." laying a hand gently on Dean's cheek, he looked at Dean so their eyes met. The gaze gave Dean strength to pull himself together. "Go to sleep. You're exhausted. Tomorrow we can talk about it; there has to be another way."

The thought of using his Grace popped into his mind again. Dean was already so upset, he didn't want to mention it now. But it was a possibility.

Castiel moved closer so their foreheads were touching, and he reached for Dean's hand, entwining their fingers together. Whatever happened, even if they lost Sam, they would have each other.

Sam gazed up at the ceiling, eyes wide open as his brother and Cas drifted off finally. He had heard the whole conversation, and it disturbed him. He was ready to do this, he had caused the apocalpse and he needed to make it right. But he didn't know if Dean would survive the grief after he took Lucifer into the pit. He wasn't even gone yet and Dean had broken down. What would it be like when he was truly gone?