Chapter 12 Final attempt

Sorry for the rather long wait. Thank you very much for your reviews. Glad to see this story still stirs some interest :)

Nothing you recognise is mine

Sam and Dean's quarters

Sam was pacing the small room, unable to sit still. Dean was sitting on his own bed, trying to ignore his brother's restlessness. All in all, things were not going too bad. They would have the talisman tomorrow and they could be out of that place. Then they would be back to more familiar ground, in their own element. There was something about Babylon 5 that unnerved Dean. It was not really a good place for a Hunter.

Sam, meanwhile, was thinking along another line. Like his brother, he could not help feeling relieved that they would be off the station the next day. Unlike Dean, though, he did not think going now was a good idea.

"Look Dean," he began, finally making up his mind to share his thoughts with his brother. "There's something that we've overlooked. And – I'm sorry, but I don't think we should leave until with dealt with everything we can deal with."

Dean raised his eyebrows at that.

"Be a little more specific, won't you?" he asked.

"The demon," Sam clarified. "The one looking for the talisman. The one who killed the lurker, probably had Morden sic Mollari on us. He's still on the station. We can't just leave him here. These people won't have any idea how to deal with him. He's the type of thing we deal with, Dean. And we have to stay on Babylon 5 until he's gone."

Dean sighed heavily. He ran a weary hand over his features.

"I know," he admitted. "But I'm thinking we won't have to make too much of an effort to find him. Actually, I'm willing to bet he'll be the one finding us tomorrow."

Sam turned to look at Dean puzzled.

"Why do you say that?" he wanted to know.

"He's been searching for the talisman for a while, right?" Dean pointed out. "And he's had zero luck in finding it on his own. So the next best thing is have us lead him to it and then spring a trap on us. Trust me, Sammy, he won't let us leave Babylon 5 alive – not without the talisman."

Sam nodded, thoughtfully. Dean's theory made sense. It pointed out how twisted and jaded he was that he thought the prospect of a demon springing a trap on them a good thing. He could not help worry, though. A lot of things could happen before tomorrow. He thought of Delenn and what he told her before leaving her quarters.

"Do you think she'll do it?" he asked.

Dean shook his head impatiently. His brother had a way of carrying on an entire conversation in his head and letting Dean catch only the tail end of it.

"Do I think who will do what?" he wanted to know.

"Delenn," Sam replied. "Do you think she'll salt her door like we told her to?"

"She will, if she knows what's good for her," Dean muttered distractedly.

In truth, Dean was not too comfortable with the situation himself. There might have been animosity between him and the Minbari Ambassador – at least, there had been before Delenn had convinced Captain Sheridan to let Sam go - but that did not mean Dean enjoyed the idea of putting people who had no idea about the things that were out there at risk. That was not the way he worked.

There was also the fact that, apart from the brief conflict with Sheridan, things had gone quite smoothly so far. It made Dean feel suspicious. Their jobs did not usually go like that. it all felt too easy for him. Something was bound to go wrong in the end. It was for that reason that Dean did not call Bobby again to let him and Cas know they would be getting the talisman tomorrow. No use getting anyone's hopes up when things might go downhill after all.

Delenn's quarters

That evening, Susan Ivanova dropped by Ambassador Delenn's quarters to verify the arrival time of a Minbari ship carrying important documents. As she was about to step through the door, she stopped short. She stared with raised eyebrows at the white line of something that looked suspiciously like salt, feeling a little at a loss. Delenn, however, calmly instructed her to step over it. Susan did so. Before she could ask about it, Delenn got straight to the matter of the transport ship. Susan shook her head, still baffled, but decided to ask no more questions. After all, that was hardly the strangest thing she had seen on Babylon 5. Garibaldi would have perhaps thought it waste of a good ingredient that was better put on food than on the floor, but Susan thought it was the Ambassador's own business what she did with her salt. Maybe it was part of some Minbari ritual Susan did not know about, or maybe it was just one of Delenn's eccentricities. After all, Sheridan was right in one of the interviews he had given about Babylon 5: you did not have to be crazy to be stationed there, but it certainly helped.

Grey sector

The Demon stood hidden next to one of the airlocks. The advantage to possessing a dock worker was that no one thought twice when they saw you in places usually restricted to the general public. Of course, the fact that the area was restricted, did not appear to deter others to get there and conduct various shady transactions – far too shady to be conducted even in Downbelow. Like the sale of a talisman that could offer unspeakable advantages, kill almost anything and shatter previously locked doors. Because that was what the demons wanted with the talisman. Lucifer was back in the Cage. But that did not mean the Cage could not be opened again, with the right equipment. And the talisman was the right equipment.

The Demon smirked. Morden had no idea. He had not even thought to ask what he wanted with the talisman in the first place – most likely did not even care. The only thing that Morden wanted was to get the talisman off the station, afraid that its presence there might cause him to lose the influence he had on the likes of Mollari – or might make his enemies more powerful than necessary. And yet what would Morden say – and, most importantly, what would his so-called associates think – if they were to guess how the Demon wanted to use the talisman?

It was an appealing thought. It would be quite interesting to restart the Apocalypse just as the Shadows were beginning their own war – a little friendly competition to see who could wreak more havoc, and who could actually end all worlds. They would not even be stopped. The Angels were busy with their own internal squabbles and most of them actually wanted the Apocalypse too. The Vorlon might object, although the Demon doubted it. His kind had long ceased to interest the First Ones. Most of them held Morden's belief that they were obsolete. Well, they'd be shown how wrong they were soon enough.

Sam and Dean walked into the Grey Sector. It taken them a while for them to sneak inside – they were smart enough to realise that whatever understanding Sheridan and Delenn might have reached concerning them, it did not extend to them walking boldly into a restricted area, no matter the reason. Still, they had been taught to sneak into various restricted areas since before they could remember. They knew how to make themselves unnoticed.

That morning Delenn had promptly offered them the pay demanded by the Vendor and told them to make good use of it. There was something in her manner that told clearly that the sooner they saw this matter through, the better for everyone. Dean could not agree more.

The Vendor was not there yet. Sam and Dean exchanged worried looks.

"Do you think he double-crossed us?" Sam asked worriedly. "Maybe he sold the talisman already. Maybe even to the demon."

"Why would he?" Dean pointed out. "He's not the type to know about Demons – all believe in them. He does believe in the chaos the bigshots here could cause and I don't think he's ever dreamed of catching a bigger fish than the Minbari Ambassador. No, he'll be here. He won't risk missing this golden opportunity."

Sam frowned, slightly thoughtful.

"Why's he doing this, though?" he wondered. "Clearly he wants to turn things upside down, but why? What can he gain from all this?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders. He had never stopped to wonder about the motivations of people like the Vendor. He thought it was best if he did not know anyway.

"Search me," he replied. "I guess some people get off on breaking things. Don't ask me why, though. Normal people are sometimes more screwed up than the things we hunt."

Sam nodded. Dean leaned against the wall to wait for the Vendor. Sam, however, could not relax.

"What's got you so on edge?" Dean wanted to know.

"I don't know," Sam admitted. "Just have a bad feeling about all this. It's like something's bound to go wrong."

"It all went smoothly so far," Dean reminded Sam. "Let's not jinx it now at the end."

After half an hour of waiting, the Vendor finally showed up. He was walking slowly, his limp more pronounced than ever, but his eyes were glinting with excitement. He was carrying a small box.

"There you are," he greeted the two. "I was wondering if you'd still be here."

"We were wondering if you didn't hang us out to dry," Dean deadpanned.

The Vendor laughed.

"Do I look like the type?" he inquired cheerfully.

Dean merely glared at him. The Vendor huffed impatiently.

"I suppose you do have my pay," he said.

"First we see what's in the box," Sam said.

The Vendor raised his eyebrows.

"My, you're quite mistrustful, aren't you?" he commented.

He still opened the box and showed the two what was inside. Sam and Dean exchanged puzzled looks. The thing looked anticlimactically inconspicuous – like a trinket one bought at any tourist store. It was nothing more than a golden locket on a rusty chain. Certainly, it did not look like an object that so powerful it could kill archangels.

"How do we know this is it?" Sam demanded. "How do we know you're not double-crossing us?"

"Would I?" the Vendor asked again, the quickly shook his head. "Don't answer that. I'd double-cross you two in a heartbeat. I wouldn't double-cross Delenn, though. If the Minbari want this thing – we'll who am I to deny them this little pleasure? I'm sure they'll use it well. Actually, I'm so sure of that, I even offered a discount. Ask Na'toth. I was about to charge the Narns double."

"A discount, eh?" Dean repeated. "Out of the goodness of your heart?"

The Vendor leered.

"Let's just say the work is its own reward in this case."

Sam and Dean knew they could not really trust the Vendor, but there was nothing for it. they had no way of verifying if this really was the talisman they needed – not until they got it to Castiel. If there was a chance they were being scammed, they had to take it. Sam handed the Vendor the pay and he received the box with the talisman in return. Sam inspected it carefully, but did not dare to touch it yet.

"You can handle it, if you want," the Vendor told him, watching his moves. "Just let the Ambassador know that if she wants to kill someone with it, she'd best be prepared for that to be the last thing she uses the talisman for."

"Why?" Dean frowned.

"That's just how it works," the Vendor said. "You throw it at a living thing, it shatters, taking its target along with it. There were many talismans such as this and they were all wasted in that way. This is the last one, so use it wisely."

"Right," Dean said cheerfully. "We'll tell Ambassador Delenn not to carry the thing around Londo Mollari. He's the type of person you'd be tempted to thrown things at. Nice doing business with you."

The Vendor huffed. He turned and walked quickly away, no doubt later for another of his nefarious transactions. Sam and Dean glanced at each other.

"Let's get out of here," Dean said.

They were just about to follow the Vendor out of the Grey Sector, when Dean suddenly stopped short, alerted by a sound somewhere behind him. A little ahead of him, Sam stopped too and turned around. He saw a figure move from the shadows, a PPG pointed at Dean. As the man met Sam's eyes, his own flashed black.

"Not so fast," he said. "Now, Sammy-boy, you either give me the talisman, or things aren't going to look so good for your brother. So which is it going to be?"