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CHAPTER 26

"Y'all weren't yourselves." Bobby was saying from the front passenger's seat. Sam and Dean said nothing. Dean was driving down a dirt road toward what the sign said was a 24 hour diner and bar. Those were hard to find in this pitstop town they had ended up in. "It was a spell - brought out the worst thoughts in you."

"I know, Bobby." Sam said quietly. Dean said nothing. Bobby sighed and turned his eyes onto the road stretching ahead of them into the trees. A tiny light was visible five miles out.

"I didn't just come out here to save yer sorry asses, y'know." Bobby continued talking. The roar of the engine cut through Dean's cracked window. "Will ya roll that up, Dean?" Dean was still saying nothing... "DAMN IT DEAN! ROLL DOWN THE GOD DAMN WINDOW!" Dean jumped.

"Jeez, Bobby, calm -"

"Shut up."

Sam was rubbing his forehead, leaned forward in the backseat. "What did you come to tell us Bobby?" he asked.

The days had been quiet and tense since Emma left. Dean barely said a word, and when he did it normally came out in some form of yelling or another. Sam tried to keep his spirits up, keep them busy and on the road. In time, Dean had started returning to his old self, but there was still the sulking and the drinking that implied he was not okay - even if the jokes would tell otherwise.

They were making little headway with Lilith. The seals were still being broken, and even when they managed to stop her she was halfway across the country trying it again. Dean was growing increasingly worried about Sam - about his powers. Like with Emma, his relations to demons and his connection with them threw Dean for a loop and bothered him more often than not. Emma's demon issue he could worry about - try to fix (as he had been up every night pouring over books) - but Sam's was different. Sam had chosen this for himself, and it was only a matter of time before he chose it again.

Bobby had been quiet for a long time. "Bobby?" Sam asked tentatively. "What did you come to tell us?" Bobby turned to the side

"Emma called me."

Dean slammed on the brakes.

-+s+-

"So..." Maggie was whispering as she and Emma sat next to each other in a library, "Don't you think we should ask Castiel about this? These are a lot of books to look through, and I'm not sure this is our best use of time."

"I'm not asking Castiel for anything." Emma said simply as she sipped her coffee. She turned the page.

"The thing is that I don't know that anyone's seen this before – or survived it to write it down. How do you keep a body alive if it should be dead?"

"I don't know." Emma replied.

"I mean, I don't wanna be a downer, but let's look at the facts here. If we exorcise Sara, your body won't have anything keeping it alive. So what do we do?"

"I don't know." Emma repeated. "That's why we're here." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maggie dramatically roll her eyes and lean her head back. Emma rested her forehead on her fist, rubbing it back and forth. They were able to push Sara back – having gone to see Pam. Woman was great with spells. "It's only a matter of time before this wears off, though." She had told them. "Better find a cure fast." But the headache was persisting.

"You should be with the Winchester brothers." The voice that came from the other end of the table the girls were sitting at made Emma's body tense up. She simply stared at her book, electing not to say anything. "I know that you can hear me, it's quiet in here."

"Castiel," Maggie was saying gently, "I don't know that it matters if she can hear you or not. I'm pretty sure she's still pissed at you." That would be the understatement of the year.

"Emma's emotional regards to me no longer matter. This is a war. And angels have started to die. You need to be back in the fight."

"Angels are dying?" Emma asked as she turned her head to meet Castiel's cool eyes with her blazing ones. Cas nodded. "Too bad." She added sarcastically, "I mean… what would life be without y'all? Lying to us, dragging us into your shit? I can't imagine." Maggie said nothing, but swallowed rather loudly. "You know, Castiel, you should have told me the truth. And if you weren't so high and mighty about your decision to fuck with me, this all could have turned out a lot different."

"This is the way it has to be." Castiel replied.

"What's the way it has to be?" Emma said rather loudly, jumping to her feet. Maggie looked around the library before leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. "I'm supposed to die slowly? That's the way it has to be? What about this savior crap you're always bringing up, huh?"

"Go back to the Winchesters." Castiel said, sounding defeated. "They can't do this alone, even though they'd like to think they can."

-+s+-

"Now, you two said you were bloggers?" Jim Jenkins was asking from the seat across from Sam at the dining table. The house was cozy even with the bleak afternoon light coming through the window.

"Yes sir," Sam said, "Floored by the Lord dot com." Dean glanced at his brother.

"All of God's glory fit to blog." he said with a grin.

Jim Jenkins had been shot with a bullet to the heart, and miraculously had stood back up a few moments later. He wasn't even bleeding. The day before a man had walked out of the hospital, his terminal cancer gone.

"It was a miracle, plain as day." Jim was saying. How could he be so sure? "The doctor's can't explain it," he continued, "nobody can. There's a bullet in my heart and it's pumping like a piston. Look, honestly, I was nobody's saint - not exactly father of the year, either." Sam and Dean exchanged looks.

"Okay."

"But when that guy shot me and I didn't bleed a drop? I knew the Lord was giving me a second chance."

"That so?" Dean asked, cocking his head to the side.

"I had this feeling-like... angels were watching over me. I wouldn't expect you guys to understand..."

"So he hasn't gone to any crossroads, no demons, could it be the angels doing this?" Sam asked as Dean stirred the coffee in his hand.

"Probably not." Dean replied. Something didn't feel angelish about this.

"Well the guy who had terminal cancer – he was clinically dead. His wife pulled the plug, and now he's taking her out for their twentieth anniversary."

"Any sign of a deal?" Dean asked as he looked at the laptop.

"Nope. What about you? Find anything?"

"Not since Cole Griffith." Dean replied. "Dropped ten days ago. He was the last death I could find." Sam frowned and leaned against the desk. "Maybe it is miracles."

"Since when to miracles happen, in our line of work?" Sam asked skeptically as he sat down at the desk. Dean got up to get more coffee.

"Well… there's no deals, no skeevy faith doctors… I don't know Sam it sounds like these souls just aren't getting dragged into the light."

"Wait maybe that's it." Sam said suddenly. "Grim Reapers, right? That's what they do they schlep souls so… if Death ain't in town…"

"Then nobody's dying. So what?" Dean asked as he swallowed his coffee, "Death's on strike? I don't know Sam…"

"Well then let's talk to someone who does. Let's talk to the kid." Sam said, shrugging his shoulders.

"The kid?" Dean asked incredulously, "Sam the kid's a doornail."

"Exactly. If he's the last one to die maybe he saw something. We should ask him."

Dean chuckled as he stared at the hotel wall. "I love how matter of fact you are about this. Strange lives."

There was a long silence as Sam nodded and the two stared off into space. "So we gonna talk about this?" Sam finally asked.

"Talk about what?" Dean asked. He already knew what. Sam said nothing. "Look, I'm real happy Emma's okay. Good for her. And if she ain't here it means she doesn't want to be here. So let's let it go, okay?"

"Dean she left because she didn't want us to get hurt. Bobby said she was pretty messed up about it all."

"Good for her. Fact of the matter is she left. She told me she-" Dean stopped abruptly.

"Told you she what, Dean?"

"Nevermind. Forget it. Let's just get this case done."

-+s+-

"I'm not talking about full on torture." Emma said as she rolled her eyes at Maggie. They ignored the angry growls coming from the bathroom, where they had a demon trapped. "I'm just saying we threaten it with death – and if it doesn't help us that's one less demon for us to worry about."

"Are you kidding me? This is your solution?" Maggie was saying as she stood in front of her friend. "I thought that the spirit would help too, okay? I really did think she'd have an answer. But you know what? We're a lot better than this."

"Better than what?" Emma asked incredulously, "Better than killing demons? We've been doing that for years!"

"Emma, torturing something like this creates a black mark on our souls. It's sinful, and if we do this I don't know how to repent. That means Hell."

"Repent? Black marks? Maggie, since when are you worried about your soul?" A realization occurred to her, "Why are you worried about your soul, Maggie? Why are you worried about where you're going?"

"It ain't my soul I'm worried about." Maggie replied quietly. "It's yours… Girl… if this don't work-"

"It's gonna!"

"I know, but… if it don't." Maggie hesitated and looked away. "If we can't get her out of you, hell, even if we do – you'll die. Emma… you'll die… and I don't know how to save you from hell. Ain't nobody who can do that but God Himself." There was a long pause, "And it doesn't look like God's around anymore."

Emma stared at her friend for a long time before turning toward the bathroom door. "Look, do this or don't, that's up to you. I'm going in there."

-+s+-

"I can't even begin to tell you how crazy you two are." Pam was saying as she walked into the hotel room. She reached out her hand and felt the counter, then the chair.

"Wow, Pamela, you're a sight for sore eyes." Sam said, smiling as he and Dean stood there looking at her. Pam reached up and took off her sunglasses long enough to reveal her white eyes.

"Aw, that's sweet, grumpy." She said sarcastically, "What do you say to deaf people?" There was a pause as Pam put her sunglasses back on. "Which one of you braniacs came up with astral projection?"

Dean, looking uncomfortable, raised his hand. "Yo."

"Of course. Chachi."

"So, let's be clear. You want to rip your souls out of your bodies and take a little stroll through the spirit world?"

"Uh huh."

"Do you have any idea how heavy-duty insane that is?" Pam asked as she folded her arms across her chest. "It's nuts."

"Not if you know what you're doing." Dean pointed out.

"You don't know what you're doing."

"No," Dean admitted, "But you do."

"Yeah I do." Pam said hotheadedly, "And guess what? I'm sick of being hauled back into your angel-demon, Soc-Greaser crap."

"Look," Dean said, "I'd love to be kicking back with a cold one, watching Judge Judy too-"

"Nice, more blind jokes?"

"You know what I mean. We're talking about the end of the world here, okay? No more tasseled leather pants, no more Ramones CDs, no more nothing…" Sam rubbed his forehead as Pam sighed. "We need your help."

"Well, nothing like shooting blanks. What's plan B?" Dean was saying as he sat up on the bed. Looking around, he noticed that his own body was lying on the bed still. The air around them was blue.

"I'm assuming you're somewhere over the rainbow," Pam said, not taking notice of what Dean had said. "Remember I have to bring you back."

"That was wild." Dean said smiling as a woman ran by outside, her tight shorts bouncing with the rest of her body. Sam looked at him incredulously, and glared as Dean shoved his arm into Sam's chest. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Get out of me."

"We've been spooking this town for hours." Dean sighed as they crossed a street. "No demons, no black smoke. I say we hit Victoria's Secret and get our peep on, huh?"

Sam rolled his eyes, thinking of Emma, and suddenly looked up and to the right. "Hey, three o'clock. Kid in the window." Dean turned his head and stared at the kid, who seemed to be staring right at them. "That's Cole Griffith. The last person to die in this town." And the next moment, the kid disappeared.

-+s+-

"Tell me!" Emma shouted as she sprinkled salt on the knife in her hand. "You know something, think I'm stupid? Tell me how to reverse this."

Meanwhile, the man tied to the toilet was laughing.

Outside, Maggie was sighing.

-+s+-

Cole was speaking slowly, never making eye contact with the Winchester brothers. They were seated in the boy's kitchen, his mother – oblivious to them – was pouring a drink. "I was outside all morning." He was saying to them, "They tell you to be careful when it's cold. Asthma. But then I was in my room. It happened so fast… I called out for my mom, but nothing came out. Everything started spinning, and then I was just standing there, looking down at my body."

Sam was quiet for a second, "And that's when you saw the man?"

"Creepy old guy in a black suit." Sam and Dean looked at each other. "He wanted me to go with him but…" The brothers watched as Cole looked back at his mother, "I didn't want to go."

"A reaper." Dean nodded at his brother, "How'd you get rid of him?"

"I didn't," Cole said quietly, "The black smoke did." Dean started.

"Black smoke?"

"It was everywhere. I hid in the closet, and when I came out, it was gone. So was he." Dean, as he scratched his jaw, leaned forward. "Do you know where the smoke went?"

Cole shook his head. "No, but I know where it is." Suddenly, the lights in the room started flickering. "They're back!" Cole said, frightened, as he disappeared. Dean and Sam whirled around, seeing a white figure fly up the stairs and into another room.

"Another reaper…" Sam and Dean stood up and ran to the stairs.

"Hey hey! Wait! We need to talk to you!" Dean cried as they stood there. A woman was descending the stairs.

"Dean." She said. Dean shook his head and stared at her.

"Do I know you?"

The reaper smiled, "We go way back."

-+s+-

"This place looks like New Jack City. Can nobody see this?" Sam and Dean were walking through a funeral home, where Cole had told them he found the black smoke. The walls were dark and the air green.

"Maybe it's invisible demon ink. Only see it in the veil." Sam said quietly.

"Any idea what it's for?"

"We'll find out."

The Winchester brothers walked through an open door, quietly. In the room there was a square with triangles on each side, to form an eight pointed star. In the figure the woman reaper, Tessa, and an old man in a suit were lying. Dean and Sam exchanged looks before glancing up at the man obviously standing guard. Probably a demon. Dean leaned over toward his brother, smiled, and whispered. "Dude check me out."

Sam watched with a flat face as Dean flitted behind the demon, displaying some of the moves that Cole had taught them. Tapping on the demon's shoulder, he smiled and punched him in the face. Surprised, and unable to see them, the demon staggered away, waving his arms and looking about. Dean laughed. Sam then did the same thing.

"You know, this ghost thing is kinda rad." Dean was laughing, as the demon spun out of control. Another came out of the back room, carrying a chain. He was making painful noises.

"Iron." Sam said and the two of them watched as the demon let go of the chain, his hands smoking. Yet another demon stepped into the room.

"Boys," he drawled. "Find the place okay?"

"Alastair…"

-+s+-

Emma slowly came walking out of the bathroom, wiping the blood off her hands onto her jeans.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna torture it." Maggie sat, her voice flat, as she sat on the edge of the table, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I didn't." Emma shot back. She grabbed a beer from the cooler. "Just threatened."

"What did it tell you?"

Emma sat down on the bed, leaning her head down as she opened the beer. She didn't say anything, and Maggie watched quietly as Emma took a swig.

"Told me to go to hell." Maggie closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall.

"Damn it."

"You too, buddy!" Emma shouted toward the bathroom door and hung her head. Maggie turned away and stared at the wall, hiding the tears that trickled down her face.

-+s+-

"What just happened?" Castiel was saying to Dean as they stood out on the street. "You and Sam just saved a seal. We captured Alastair. Dean, this was a victory." Dean scoffed.

"Yeah well no thanks to you."

"What makes you say that?" Castiel asked.

"You were here the whole time?" Dean asked incredulously. Castiel shrugged his shoulders.

"Enough of it." Castiel turned his head to stare down the street. "It wasn't your friend Bobby who called, Dean. It wasn't Bobby who told Sam about the seal."

"That was you?" Dean shook his head and backed up a step. "If you want our help, why the hell didn't you just ask?"

"Because whatever I ask, you seem to do the exact opposite. Just like your friend Emma."

Dean whirled his head to the side and stared at Castiel. "Emma? You've seen Emma?"

"She's trying to find a solution to her demon problem." Castiel said in his same monotone voice. "What she doesn't understand is that there isn't one, and that where she should be is here."

"You tried to get her to come here?" Dean asked. "She said no?"

"She thinks she's protecting you. She's worried about what Sara will do." Castiel replied. "I told her her place is here – but she won't listen to me. She's too blinded by love for you." Dean made a choked sound and cleared his throat.

"Where is she?"

Before Castiel could answer, Dean shot up on the bed, gasping. He looked around the room and rested his eyes on a dying Pamela.

"Damn it."