When they arrived back at the cabin in Michigan, the sun was just starting to go down. Realistically, it would be a good time to head to the library to do research, but they had already searched high and low for instructions on how to use the rosary and had come up with nothing. If only they could ask Bobby, Dean thought. Bobby could always find an answer.
Better yet, Cas could come back and fill them in on what exactly was going on so they wouldn't have to go into a fight blind. It had been six days since Cas had shown up and given them the rosary. Dean remembered how beat up Cas looked, and he worried about if Cas were even still alive. They could only wait for him to return, but in the mean time, what could they do? They could try to keep track of Acham's next move, but they weren't going in unprepared again.
Three days later, Cas showed up at the cabin. He was bleeding, and Dean caught him as he stumbled forward.
"Woah, Cas." He said, but the angel was unresponsive.
They checked Castiel over and found no knife wounds indicating that he had been stabbed with an angel's sword, so they were hopeful that he would be okay. After a couple hours, Cas stirred and sat up suddenly.
"I'm sorry." He said quickly. "I was wounded."
"It's alright, Cas." Dean answered. Despite everything that had happened between them, talking with Cas still felt natural. Sitting in a room discussing a hunt that could ultimately save the world felt familiar, and to Dean, it was like nothing had changed.
"I am able to stay this time." Cas said, glancing at the ceiling for good measure. "They can't find me here."
"You gave us protection sigils." Sam said.
"Yes." Castiel answered. "I embedded them in your soul. Much like the ones on your ribs while you were alive. No angel can find you, and no demon can use its powers against you."
"Thanks for that." Dean said with an upward nod. "Came in handy when Acham tried to kill us. He couldn't, and we didn't know how to use this," Dean pulled out the rosary, "So we just... left."
Cas eyed the rosary in Dean's hand. "You use it to bless holy water."
"You're kidding." Sam said. "That's it? We should have guessed that."
"Yes, that's it." Cas confirmed. "Any holy water blessed with the Rosary of The Virgin Mary will kill a demon."
Dean frowned. "So now what, wait for Acham to strike again?"
"No." Cas said. "Acham knows now that you have the weapon. He will try to kill you. He's looking for your bones."
Dean's stomach dropped at the words. Their bones were easily accessible. Surely Acham would have no trouble finding them. At this very moment, Acham could be digging up their grave. Any second could be their last. Dean suddenly felt anxious, like someone was holding a gun to his head and he was just waiting for them to pull the trigger.
"Don't worry." Cas said. "He hasn't found them yet."
"What do we do?" Sam asked, and Dean could hear the worry in his voice. He felt it, too. He was not going to lose Sam. Not again.
"You must find help." Cas said. "I believe that Bobby can be trusted."
"You want us to go to Bobby?" Dean shook his head in disbelief. "How? We can't... and what are we supposed to..."
"You need to get Bobby to move your bones, Dean. If Acham burns your bones, there's nothing I can do."
"Cas, what's going on up there?" Sam asked.
"Raphael wants another apocalypse, but he knows that other angels do not. He's letting Acham get away with what he's doing so that when the apocalypse happens, he can claim he didn't have any part in it. I am attempting to stop Acham, but Raphael doesn't want me to succeed. Now that you have the rosary, though, he will not kill me. He cannot find you without me."
Dean nodded, face set in determination. "We better get to Bobby's then. Hey, Cas, any tips on manifesting? We haven't figured that one out yet."
Cas frowned. "It is not my area of expertise. However, I believe all you need to do is concentrate."
"Right." Dean stood to leave, then paused and turned back to Cas.
"Cas." He said, and the angel tilted his head and looked up to Dean standing above him. "I never got to say thank you, so, thank you. For everything."
Cas nodded once, slowly. "You need to go."
It was early afternoon when they appeared in Bobby's living room, and the older hunter was sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper and eating pizza.
"Okay." Sam said, unsure. "Let's concentrate."
Dean rolled his shoulders and shook his arms as if he was preparing for a race, and Sam rolled his eyes. They both closed their eyes and several minutes later later they heard a crashing noise and then, "What the hell?"
Dean opened his eyes. Bobby was standing, shotgun in hand, aiming a little to Sam's right. The glass of milk he had been drinking was broken on the floor, and he was looking frantically around the room.
"What happened?" Dean asked.
"I don't know." Sam replied. "I think he saw me for a second."
Dean closed his eyes again to concentrate.
When a whole minute passed and nothing happened, Dean opened his eyes again with an exasperated sigh. Bobby was still waiting, rifle aimed at nothing. Dean ran a hand through his hair and looked at Sam. Sam was still at it, but didn't seem to be making any progress. Then Bobby jumped again and pointed the shotgun more directly at Sam, only this time he recognized the flicker of a person.
"Sam?" The word was sharp and contained every ounce of fear, confusion, and wonder that Dean knew Bobby must be feeling. But Sam was, once again, invisible to Bobby and breathing heavy next to Dean.
"This is hard, man." Sam said through breaths. "I think it's going to take a while to get the hang of it."
"Yeah." Dean agreed. "And all we're doing is freaking Bobby out. Let's take a break, huh?"
Sam agreed and they resorted to watching Bobby, who was staring wide-eyed at the place where Sam had appeared. His breathing was fast and he had the shotgun half-raised as though he wasn't sure if he should try and shoot Sam should he appear again. It took him a full ten minutes to calm down. Eventually he set the shotgun back on the table and sat down, but continued to glance anxiously around the room. Finally, he spoke.
"Sam? Are you here?"
Sam looked surprised, then sad, and replied, "Yeah, Bobby, I'm here," but Bobby couldn't hear him.
Sam and Dean stayed at Bobby's for the rest of the afternoon and early evening. A few more attempts at manifesting were unsuccessful, and just left Sam and Dean feeling tired and out of breath.
Cas showed up just as the sun was setting. The angel looked even worse off than he had at the cabin earlier that day, and Dean couldn't see how that was possible without Cas being dead or at least unconscious on the floor.
"Cas?" Bobby said, eyes wide and full of emotion. Bobby hadn't seen the angel since before the boys had died. He had been alone now for so long, it was a lot to take in one day. First Sam and now Cas.
"Cas." Dean said. "We tried, but we couldn't do it."
"I know." Cas replied, and Bobby looked confused.
"Hello, Bobby." Cas said, and Dean could see clearly now the sick, pale tone of his skin and the bags under his eyes.
"Jesus, Cas. Are you okay?" Dean asked. Cas nodded once in response.
"Hey." Bobby answered Cas, still shocked at having him in his kitchen again after so long. But the man wasn't stupid, and he quickly concluded that seeing Sam earlier and Cas being here now might somehow be related. "I saw... I thought I saw Sam earlier... Is he..."
"They're here." Cas answered, collapsing into a chair and putting his face in his hands.
"They?" Bobby stammered "Is.. is Dean, too...?"
Cas nodded. "They're right here." He waved a hand in Sam and Dean's direction and Bobby squinted his eyes as if he could see if he just tried a little harder.
"So... so they're... ghosts then?"
"Yes." Cas answered. "They weren't originally. I brought them back to Earth as spirits."
Bobby exhaled sharply and sat down in the chair opposite Cas, running his hand over his face. After a moment, he spoke. "What's going on? Why are they... why are you all here now?"
"I gave them a weapon to kill Acham." Cas explained. "But Acham knows they're after him and he's looking for their bones so he can burn them and kill Sam and Dean."
Bobby almost looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have buried them. I didn't–"
Cas cut him off. "It doesn't matter now. We need to get the bones before Acham does."
"Right." Bobby said. "'Course. We can go now." He stood quickly, but Cas put up a hand to stop him.
"You can't go to the bones." Cas' eyes widened. "The house is being watched. A demon under Acham's command."
"Damn it." Bobby cursed under his breath.
"What do we do?" Dean asked.
"I don't know." Cas looked to the ceiling and frowned. "I can't stay here. They'll find you." And without another word he was gone.
The room was silent for a beat, then Bobby sank back into the chair and pulled off his baseball cap. "I'm sorry, boys." He whispered, but Sam and Dean couldn't console him.
Bobby worked through the night, and Sam and Dean stayed by his side. Now that he knew they were there, he didn't carry the nervous tension that Dean had always noticed whenever he and Sam were around. Also, Bobby was talking to them now. As he searched the internet for ways to hide from the demon, or racked his brain for a solution, he would update them occasionally or just subtly mention how he missed them. It seemed cruel to leave now without Bobby knowing they had gone.
Just because they couldn't manifest, Dean realized, didn't mean they couldn't show Bobby they were there. He wasn't sure, though, if floating objects around the room would really be any help to Bobby.
"I don't know." Sam protested. "What's the point? It'll just freak him out."
"Oh, come on, Sam. Bobby's a big boy. He's not going to get scared over a couple ghosts." Dean pointed out. "Besides, he knows it's us."
They decided it wouldn't hurt. Just once, just to let Bobby know they were still there. In the end, Dean ended up carrying a beer to Bobby. Bobby watched, mouth hanging open, as the bottle floated to him and landed gently on the desk. He picked it up and examined it carefully.
"Thanks." He said finally.
After that they left Bobby alone, except periodically when Bobby would pause and hesitantly ask, "you still here?", and Sam or Dean would move something in the room just to show Bobby that they were.
It was sometime in the early morning, the sun was just beginning to paint the sky a pale yellow, when Bobby sapped his fingers and announced, "Got it."
Sam and Dean were ready and listening, and though Bobby couldn't see his audience, he talked to the empty room like they were there.
"I was trying to figure out a way to sneak past the demon and get to your, uh... bones, but we don't have to. I can call my buddy Ray. We can trust him and he owes me a favor. He can get the bones and bring them here, and we can put them in the panic room. They'll be safe there."
"That's good, Bobby." Sam confirmed, and Dean nodded in agreement.
Bobby was quiet for a moment, as if giving them a chance to answer, then he pulled out his phone and left the room to dial Ray.
Ray showed up a few hours later, muddy and grumbling about digging graves in the daylight.
"Quit your whining, Ray." Bobby said, ushering Ray quickly into the house. "Nobody goes to that spot and you know it."
"Yeah, yeah." Ray answered, digging in his bag and pulling out a somewhat smaller bag tied at the top with a thick rope. He held it up and gave Bobby a questioning look. "What do you want with a couple sets of bones, anyway? If it's a ghost problem, I coulda just salted and burned 'em for ya."
So apparently Ray wasn't as trustworthy as Bobby made him out to be. Bobby neglected to mention that he was actually helping a couple ghosts, and not hunting them. It was probably for the best, Dean decided. Hunters were usually unpredictable. Sometimes you think you can trust someone, but they react completely differently than you expected. Bobby wasn't willing to take that risk when it came to Sam and Dean.
"No." Bobby said, holding his hand out for the bag containing their bones. "Thanks for digging 'em up, Ray, but this is kind of a private family matter."
Ray raised his eyebrows and looked at the bag he held curiously. He gave it one shake and then shrugged and held it out for Bobby. Bobby took it carefully, then gave Ray a hard stare.
"Alright, alright." Ray said after a moment, putting his hands up defensively. He took a step back toward the door. "You do a guy a favor." He mumbled as he closed the door behind him.
Bobby waited until he heard the growl of Ray's truck before turning and making his way quickly but carefully down to the panic room. Once inside, he set the bag in the corner and threw a blanket over it. Turning back to face the door, he said, "I suppose you boys can't come in here." He looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time, then sighed heavily and dragged his feet back up the stairs.
Thanks again for reading!
Nobody guessed it, but Acham is actually the demon of Thursday. Haha, I didn't know what to name him so I was looking up different demons online and I came across Acham. I thought it was funny so I went with him. Just an interesting fact! :)
