Disclaimer: I used to own supernatural, the boys, the Impala and everything else on the show. But then, the men in white gave me my meds and I had to take them.
Summary: Dean was the one they should be worried about. Dean was the one they should be watching out for. They didn't realize what Dean was capable of and if Dean had his way, they wouldn't realize it for a long time.
A/N: Here's Ch2. In this story, I'm kind of basing Dean's character on Guts from a manga called Berserk. In that the lead character becomes so damaged by a friend's betrayal that he becomes blood-thirsty and ruthless to the point of psychotic. Seriously, the hero would not hesitate using innocent little girls as human shields against their demonic fathers.
Chapter 2. Good Day In Hell
"A penny for your thoughts." Bobby said, making Dean look up from his research.
"Just a penny?" Dean replied. "You're turning into a cheapskate."
The Winchesters were holed up in the Singer Salvage yard after a particularly nasty hunt. Nasty for Sam, anyway. While Dean had made it out with a few cuts and scrapes, Sam had concussion and a broken ankle, courtesy of a pissed off spirit. He was currently sleeping it off upstairs. Not sleeping, Dean reminded himself, because this new Sam didn't sleep. He was probably staring at the ceiling in daze, too stoned from the painkillers to do anything else.
"Bobby, you know any sure-fire way to summon an angel?" Dean asked, looking up from his research.
"Have you tried- I dunno- praying?" Dean nodded. "What's the matter? Castiel not answering your calls?"
"He does when he thinks we have something for him." Dean replied. "He'd a no-show the rest of the time."
"Well, he must be busy with his war. You think he has something new on Sam?" Dean shrugged. "You have something you need his input on?" Another shrug. "Then why the hell do you wanna summon him?"
"I don't. Not right now." Dean said. "Just thought it might come handy in future. A guy needs someone to talk to from time to time and it sure as hell ain't gonna be that robot upstairs."
"You could talk to me."
"Last time I checked, you didn't like me calling you and bitching about stuff." Dean replied coldly.
Bobby considered Dean with a troubled look. It bugged him to see Dean's new attitude towards his brother, especially since it wasn't Sam's fault that he was soulless. Besides, Dean had never shown any hesitation in coming to him with his problems. And even though the old hunter would never admit it, it had made him feel good, like he was a real father to Dean, someone Dean trusted to take care of him. But Dean hadn't talked to him much in the last few weeks. Sure he'd called to get information on monsters and Sam's soul, but he had stopped calling Bobby to just vent.
"Whatever, screw it all." Dean said, closing the heavy book. "Guess, I'll just head out then."
"Head out where?" Bobby asked. "You just got here last night."
"Got a hunt in new Orleans." Dean replied. "Looks like there has been a 'sudden rise in cultist activities and deviant sexual behavior' among the good citizens of the city. Thought it was worth checking out."
"Sam's in no condition to handle a hunt right now." Bobby pointed out.
"I know. Which is why I'm flying solo on this one." Dean replied. "Atleast I won't have to watch my back on this one."
"Enough, already." Bobby said angrily. "I know you are mad at your brother, but it ain't his fault. Trust me, when he gets his soul back- "
"Can it, will you?" Dean interrupted Bobby's tirade. "You wanna give me another lecture about family, then you can shove it. I know you like to pretend like we are your kids, but you are not our Dad, not even close. So you can stop trying to take care of me because you'll just screw it up."
"Are you mad at me or something?" Bobby asked confused. Was that why Dean was giving him the passive-aggressive cold shoulder treatment?
"Damn right I'm mad at you." Dean replied heatedly. "You go around acting like you know what's best for everyone, but you know what, you are a piss-poor judge of character. You think Sam's a great hunter, well what about you? You knew he was alive for a year and never noticed he was missing a soul or that there was anything wrong with him. If you had told me about Sam like you should have a year ago, we probably would've fixed this mess by now. Even after that, you were so mixed up in your own soul problems that it took Sam letting me turn into a vampire to make you take me seriously. And you were so desperate to get your own soul back, we lost the one thing we could've leveraged over Crowley. Stop trying to be our father, Bobby. The last one screwed us up for a lifetime, I don't need you to make it worse."
Bobby stared at Dean in shock. He had never ever heard Dean talk like that to anyone. Dean's rant was meant to hurt and as much as Bobby hated to admit it, it'd hit all the right spots.
"Dean- I -" Bobby tried to say.
"Forget it." Dean interrupted. "Tell Sam that he can join me in Louisiana when he feels up for it."
Bobby dumbly watched the elder Winchester walk out the door as he tried to figure out what he'd done that was so bad to warrant that tirade. Sure, he had screwed up a few times, but Dean had always forgiven him. Why were all those issues coming to surface now?
Sam, Sam, Sam. It was always about Sam. Bobby might say he was his favorite, might even believe it himself, but clearly, Sam's well-being came first. Like always. Atleast he couldn't say the same for Castiel. Whatever the angels shortcomings, like never answering the calls, of all the humans he knew, he'd always put Dean first.
"Cas, c'mon." Dean said trying to look up and keep his eyes on the road at the same time. "This is about helping you."
"You have found another one of heaven's weapons?" It was a testament to how much Dean had grown accustomed to the angel's unusual arrivals that all he did was stiffen in his seat and not swerve the car off the road. "Does this involve the case you are working on."
"No, it does not." Dean replied. "This case is about increased pornography among Louisiana cults. I'm thinking some an incubus or a sex-demon."
"There is no such thing as a sex-demon." Cas said conversationally. "Unless you count Lust."
"One of the seven sins?" Dean said. "Wait, I thought that the incubi were a kind of demon."
"They are hell-spawn like the hounds, bit not demons per-se." Cas explained. "They do, however, share a lot of characteristics with Lust. They both invoke sexual desire in people and their primary goal is to procreate. Though they do have a much higher success rate than Lust, considering that she hasn't been topside for six centuries and you sent her back to hell when she got here."
"Yeah, good times." Dean smiled.
"Is that all then?" Castiel questioned.
"No. I – uh - ." Dean cleared his throat. "I wanted to apologize to you. I know I have been asking a lot from you recently, especially since you have huge problems of your own. So, to make it up to you, I wanna offer you my help."
"Your help? In the civil war?" Cas looked bemused.
"I know, I can't do much for you up there. So I'll do what I can down here." Dean explained. "If you can just tell me what nukes were missing and what they do, I'll try to track them down by watching for signs of them showing up. That's gotta lessen your load somewhat."
"Thank you, that would be a great help." Castiel said, considering the proposal. "But you need not apologize for demanding things from me. The fact that you do so, makes me feel like one of you."
"Uh-huh." Dean said stonily. "So you make any headway with Sam's soul?"
"Regretfully, no." Castiel replied. "I have found an ancient spell that could locate all the parts of a person if you have a part of him. I mean, if you have his body, it can help you locate the soul and vice-versa."
"And you didn't tell me before, because-"
"Because I still don't know how it works exactly." Castiel explained. "I haven't figured out all the details and some of the ingredients required are extremely difficult to find."
"Can't you just angel your way to whatever you need?" Dean asked. "Ingredients were never a problem for you before."
"It's not that simple Dean." Castiel said, and as he proceeded to explain the nuances of ancient magic, Dean realized that it was the longest conversation he had had in his car for a long time.
As it turned out, Dean was still a pretty good hunter on his own. He had figured out the case all by himself. He had infiltrated the cult and waited for their demon-god to appear, which, as he had expected, had turned out to be nothing more than an incubus. He had killed their God, right in front of them in the middle of a ceremony and in the ensuing chaos, killed most of the witches who had summoned it. All in all, he had done an exemplary job. Even Sam had admitted as much. The Campbells had not been as generous.
"You let some witches escape?" Christian asked snidely.
"Give him a break, Chris." Gwen said. "It was his first time flying solo after a long time."
A week after the hunt he had rejoined Sam and they were currently at the Campbell base, trying to find some clues about an Alpha. Sam and Samuel were holed up in the study. Clearly, Samuel still didn't trust him enough to share the more intimate details of the Alpha hunt and he didn't see Sam speak up for him. Meanwhile, it was all he could do to keep himself from killing both Christian and Gwen for their patronizing tones.
"Why don't you take on an incubus yourselves?" Dean replied. "Let's see how you fare?"
"Oh, we're gonna." Christian replied. "A source tells me that there might be one in Mansfield. Now it's either two incubi within a week from each-other in the same state, or you didn't kill the last one properly or maybe the witches you let escape, have summoned themselves a new God. Which one do you think it is?"
"The incubi sometimes hunt in packs." Dean said thoughtfully. "But the one I was hunting was definitely alone. You sure you got this thing right. Not missing anything."
"Don't be petty, Dean." Gwen interjected. "The info is solid. Don't worry, we'll give you some tips when we get back."
Cockiness was never a virtue for hunters, however much it was in show during their dealings with these creatures. Both Christian and Gwen were too cocky for their own good and the way they were going, Dean thought, they were going to get themselves killed. He said as much to Sam later on.
"You are kidding, right?" Sam seemed surprised. "Dean, you can't stand those two. You can't be alone with Christian for more than five minutes without coming to blows."
"But you like them." Dean countered. "That should be reason enough for you to want to help them."
"I'm not sure like is the correct word." Sam replied. "I mean, I trust them to watch my back and they are family. I guess if I really felt something, I could care for them a lot, but as things are, I don't. I think they can handle it on their own."
"Wow." Dean said. "You didn't think I could handle the incubus hunt on my own. You said as much on the phone."
Sam had the decency to look chastised, even if he didn't feel it.
"Look, I just think we have bigger fish right now." He said. "Why are you so worried about it anyway?"
Dean looked a bit uncomfortable at the question.
"I just have a bad feeling about this, that's all." He answered.
Dean's instincts were usually dead-on, Sam told himself. Even though there might be no rational reason for the hunt to go south, if Dean's instincts said so, Sam thought, people better take notice. Even if Christian would never agree with the idea, the fact remained that he had returned from the hunt alone.
"Can you remember anything else?" Samuel sounded desperate. Dean didn't know if it was genuine concern for his grand-niece or the desire to protect an asset who knew a lot of his secrets, he had been desperate enough to include Dean in the hunt. "Anything? Like what it looked like?"
"I told you, we never even saw the damned thing." Christian answered. "I was looking for the witches and found them dead and by the time I got back, Gwen was gone."
Dean looked around the room. There were atleast six other hunters, apart from him and Sam, trying to figure out where Gwen might be. He wondered if the turn-up would have been this impressive if he had gone missing. Probably not.
"Guys, have you looked at this." Dean pointed to a small area on the map of Louisiana. "Weather patterns been crazy over here. Lightening, electrical storms, the lot. I think this might be worth checking out."
"The incubi don't cause that stuff." Christian said. "You are looking at demonic patterns and unlike you, Gwen won't be stupid enough to let a demon get a drop on her."
"Look, there has been something wrong with this hunt from the get-go." Dean said, ignoring the insult. "These patterns, they were there in Mansfield when you were hunting. And the kidnapping pattern doesn't fit the incubi. There are only two reasons they'd want a hunter chick. Either they wanna kill her, which we are hoping against or they wanna spawn. In that case, they won't kidnap and take care of her for nine months. They are more of dream-rapists."
"The demons have nothing to do with this." Samuel said distractedly. "I asked Crowley. He knows nothing about this. The incubi are our best lead for now. Things are breaking pattern nowadays, if you didn't get the memo."
"Demons lie." Dean said at the same moment as Arlene entered the room.
"Found them." She announced to the hunter collective. "Anderson got a lead on an incubus gang. It's about five hundred miles from where Gwen disappeared."
"Great. We can head out tomorrow." Samuel issued the orders. "Everybody, pack –up and get a good night's sleep. Dean, why don't you stay put on this one?"
"What?"
"Look, Sam's ankle is still not a hundred percent, so he can't come." Samuel explained. "I just feel that it would be better if you stayed behind with your brother here."
Dean looked over at Sam who didn't seem much concerned by Samuel's orders. He probably had been asked to stay behind before, Dean thought.
"So you are saying that the only reason you'd want me on a hunt was if Sam was there." Dean asked acridly.
"No one's saying that." Samuel replied. "But we have a difference of opinion on this one. And if there is one thing I have learned, it's that when you don't agree with someone, you don't follow their orders. And I don't need you getting in way of this hunt."
"Fine. You are the boss." Dean answered.
Dean could seem deceptively innocent when he wanted to, Sam realized. He had believed Dean would stay put, as had the others, but as soon as the rest of them went to sleep, Dean had their duffels packed, loaded and ready to go.
"Dean, Samuel's gonna be mad if we jump the gun on this one." Sam said looking over to his brother whose eyes were focused on the road.
"He'll get over it." Dean replied. "Especially when we save Gwen."
"Why not let them do it?" Sam asked. "Why are you so desperate to prove yourself to them?"
"I'm not." Dean answered. "Look, Samuel's chasing down the wrong lead. It's not an incubus, I just know it. We are following my hunch. If I'm wrong, well, we just gank a demon."
It was a demon. Though looking for it had been as easy as looking for a needle in a haystack, they had tracked it down to its lair, which happened to be a nice two-storey house in the suburbs. Sam was convinced that had not noticed their presence, which made it easier for them to sneak in the house and lay a trap for it. It had been pretty easy afterwards, just laying low and waiting for it to step into the paint. The only hitch in the plan was, even when they had trapped it, they had no idea where Gwen was or if it even had her.
"If you boys had told me you were coming, I would have set up a proper welcome." The demon was surprisingly congenial.
"It wouldn't be a surprise then, would it?" Dean said splashing holy water in his face and watching him writhe as steam rose off him. "I'll ask you one more time. Where is Gwen Campbell?"
"Who again? I'm really bad wit names." He smiled charmingly. Sam had to admit, this one had good taste. It had chosen a strikingly handsome man to possess. "Enough about some chick Dean. Tell me about you. What's been up with you since the last time we met."
"We've met before?" Dean asked.
"C'mon Dean." He answered. "You can't tell me you have forgotten the passion that we shared the last time."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't swing that way." Dean answered.
"Ofcourse you do." He replied. "Everyone swings every way with me. Look at Sam right now. He looks ready to jump me."
Uncomfortable heat pooled Sam's stomach as realization dawned on him.
"It's Lust." He informed Dean. "One of the seven sins."
"You feeling his effects?" Dean asked, looking uncomfortable.
"Ofcourse he is." Lust replied. "Turns out, when you don't have a soul to guide you, your primal instincts come right to the surface. You are the only one who had ever been able to resist my charms, Dean. You should really tell me your secret sometime."
Dean considered his dilemma. The interrogation seemed to be going nowhere and Sam looked ready to start humping the nearest thing.
"Alright Hefner, you got two choices." Dean said. "You can either tell us where Gwen is and we will let you pick between killing you or sending you to hell. Or you can keep playing and we will hand you over to our angel. You have heard about him, right? Castiel the badass. He is currently at war and he would love an opportunity to get the seven virtues on his side by handing them a live sin."
"You are lying." Lust said. "Virtues are a myth. We are the only real deal."
"Well, if you believe that, you got nothing to worry about." Dean said as he turned upwards ready to shout fro Cas.
"Alright, fine." Lust interrupted. "Your cousin is in a warehouse five down by the docks. She is in a cage and some of my demons are keeping guard. Okay, I've told you what you wanted. Now kill me already. I can't go back to hell again"
"As you wish." Dean said, taking out the demon-killing knife.
"What? No." The demon said. "You are not supposed to do what I ask. You are supposed to do the opposite, send me back to hell."
"Sorry, buddy." Dean replied smirking. "We are men of honor."
Flashes of light ran all through the demon's body as Dean stabbed him. Another one down, Dean thought, that was four out of the seven sins. He wondered if they actually managed kill the other three, if the world would actually become sin-free. Fat chance, but a man could dream, right?
"Sam, c'mon, we gotta get to the docks." Dean said turning around and found Sam sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"Yeah, why don't you go get her and I'll clean-up here?" Sam said.
Dean smirked. It wasn't Sam's fault that his loss of soul made him extra vulnerable to Lust's power. But he sure as hell wasn't going to let his brother live this one down.
Samuel Campbell had never felt so frustrated in his life. This should have been a successful hunt. All signs had solidly pointed towards it being one. He probably shouldn't have taken such a big team with him. Some incubus must have noticed them rolling into town because no sooner that they had set up camp, all signs had disappeared. They weren't even able to bag a single one of them, let alone get the confirmation that Gwen was with them. On second thoughts, he probably should've just left Christian behind. He wouldn't have liked it but Christian was known to these things. If one of them saw him, they'd know what they were in town for. Well, atleast he didn't have Dean on his ass about the screwed-up hunt. Sam and Dean had split the night before and Samuel had half been expecting them to try and undercut him, but clearly Dean had taken offence at being asked to stay put and gone off to follow some hunt with his brother. It was a pity, they could use Sam on their side now. The young man was a fierce hunter who had won Samuel's respect with his prowess over the year. Even though Samuel didn't agree with some of the decisions he made, he could see now that the decision to leave Dean out of the hunt had been a good one. The elder Winchester had been a thorn on Samuel's side since the beginning, reminding him too much of the young upstart who had dared to date his daughter. Samuel could remember the suspicion with which he had greeted Dean back in 1973 and realized now that the same suspicion was being returned to him in full. No sooner had Dean come into his life that all his plans were starting to fall apart. The boy never listened to orders, always asked uncomfortable questions, always tried to take charge and always led his emotions lead him. It looked like all the bad qualities he had tried to stamp out in Mary had been passed on to her son. Well, if Dean was pissed enough, he might not have to deal with him for a couple of weeks.
No such luck, Samuel realized as he entered the base and found Sam lounging on the chair.
"Hey, how was the hunt?" Sam asked cheerily.
"It was a bust." Samuel answered sullenly. "You brother here?" Sam nodded. "Go tell him to pack his crap. I guess we got no choice now but to follow his lead."
"No need." Sam smiled brightly. "Dean and me did that on our own. He was right. It was a demon. Dean is inside with Gwen right now."
Samuel supposed that the news would have been better received had they not simultaneously had to swallow the fact that Dean had succeeded where they had failed. Inspite of that there was a collective sigh of relief of relief followed by a barrage of questions about her well-being.
"She's fine, physically atleast." Sam said calming everyone down. "Look, she's a bit stressed right now, so don't everyone barge in just yet. Just unload your stuff and give Dean some time with her. Samuel, Christian," Sam added as the rest of them dispersed. "Can I talk to you guys in the study for a minute?"
Sam was working his nerve to tell them something big, Samuel realized. He felt a chill of fear race through him. He needed Gwen. Turned out, not many hunters were willing to follow you when you were taking orders from a demon. Gwen was one of the few family members left that he could trust. Christian was there ofcourse, and Sam, but Dean was a wildcard. He hoped that this rescue wouldn't let Dean turn Gwen against him as well.
"Look, Gwen went through pretty bad stuff in her captivity." Sam said, closing the study door behind them. "She was kidnapped by a pretty powerful demon. The one they call Lust."
"You mean like one of the seven sins?" Samuel asked. "They are real?"
"Yeah." Sam answered. "Me, Dean and a few other hunter faced them sometime back. We managed to kill a few and send the rest back to hell. I don't know how but Lust made it back topside but it did. And with Gwen – well- he raped her."
Sam let them have a moment to let it sink in and watched their expressions change from shock to horror to rage.
"That son-of-a-bitch." Christian shouted. "I'm gonna rip him limb from limb."
"Too late." Sam said. "Dean already killed him. Besides, that's not even the worst part."
"What could be worse, Sam?" Samuel asked, his voice filled with dread.
Sam's answer was interrupted by Arlene rushing into the room.
"Sam, I just saw Gwen." She said. "She is throwing up in the toilet. I'm not sure if I even saw this right, but she looked – pregnant."
"That would be the worse." Sam said as Christian fell back into the chair and Samuel put his head in his hands. They sat quietly like that while Sam brought Arlene upto speed.
"This is just gonna be a normal baby right?" Christian said, looking around for confirmation. "I mean, the guy was possessed, but it was still a guy and she is just a girl. No reason for this thing to be anything another than a normal pregnancy."
"You didn't see her." Arlene said. "She looks like she is a two months into the pregnancy already."
"Its way worse than that." Sam added. "When a demon has a baby with a human, well, the result is the Anti-Christ."
"That's real too?" Christian asked.
"Yeah, me and Dean met one during the apocalypse." Sam explained. "Now this thing's real power comes out when Lucifer is topside, but it's pretty powerful even without it. It has some natural protection against angels and demons."
"Well, then, we are just gonna have to kill it before it's born." Samuel said decisively. "There is no other way around it. This things cannot be allowed to be born."
"I know." Sam said. "But Gwen wants to have the kid. I guess some power the baby has makes the mother want to protect it above everything else. Look," Sam added as he saw everyone get tense again. "Dean is trying to talk her out of it. Give her some time to process it before you start forcing an abortion on her."
He should have given them more time to process, Sam thought. After what seemed like ages of silence, they all agreed that one way or the other, Gwen would have to terminate her pregnancy.
"Sam, you done with your chat?" Dean said barging into the room in his usual display of good manners. "C'mon, got a lead from Bobby. We got a hunt."
The abrupt announcement of their departure took Sam by surprise, but he supposed that Dean didn't want to stick around a moment longer than he absolutely had to.
"Dean, is she- ?" Samuel started getting up.
"She's fine." Dean replied. "As fine as I suppose she could be with demon-spawn inside her. She's asleep right now, so just give her an hour before you start the third degree, okay?"
Samuel sat back down.
"Dean, son, I – uh -" Samuel started.
"Yeah, I know. Apology accepted and you are welcome." Dean said sarcastically. "Are we done here? Good. Sam, your stuff is in the trunk. Let's roll."
Sam walked out behind his brother without another word. Dean had every right to be pissed, but did he have to be so ungracious about it? This might have been his chance to be truly accepted as one of them. But Dean didn't seem to care. He practically ran out of the compound with Sam in tow. Sam didn't even have the chance to see if Dean had actually collected his stuff before they were speeding their way out of the compound. Dean really was in a hurry to get out of there.
"Dean, what the hell is going on?" Sam asked when he first got the chance about a mile away from the base. "Why the hell are we practically running out of the base?"
"Because of me." A voice said from the back-seat.
Sam jumped and then turned around to see Gwen sitting up in the seat. She had been laying low there the whole time.
"Dean is helping me get away from them." She said.
Sam looked questioningly at Dean.
"Samuel is never gonna let that baby be born." Dean said without turning around. "But Gwen wants it. So we are helping her protect her child."
Sam sank back into his seat. There was no way that this was going to end well.
Travelling with a pregnant woman was hell. Travelling with a pregnant woman who got sick every five minutes – worse hell. Travelling with a pregnant woman who got sick every five minutes and was carrying hell-spawn and Sam though that he was back in the cage. It wasn't enough that they couldn't move as fast as they usually did, they had to do so while avoiding contact with any and all hunters they knew. They even had to avoid Bobby, lest they brought the heat upon him. Apparently the news of a new Antichrist was out like a wildfire and every hunter they knew seemed to be gunning for them. For the hundredth time Sam regretted his promise to his brother to take his orders.
That didn't mean he hadn't tried. He had tried his best to convince both Gwen and Dean to see reason, but they had both been adamant. There were times that he had almost called Samuel to let him know of their location, but he hadn't. It wasn't compassion or a moral compass that had stopped him, but he knew that if he betrayed his brother one more time, Dean would leave him. And if Dean left, he'd have absolutely no hope of ever getting his soul back. Crowley's game was perfect. He had masterfully used both him and Samuel to do his bidding. Dean was the only wildcard in the game, the one thing that always brought the plans of heaven and hell to nullity. Sam had been ignorant of everything, of the absence of his soul, of the extent of Samuel's knowledge and of his part in furthering Crowley's plans. But within weeks of coming back, Dean had been able to expose everything. So if Crowley's plans failed, they were going to because of Dean and Sam was willing to put the fate of the world at risk for that.
There was only one upside of the pregnancy and that was its rate of progress. The way the baby seemed to be growing, it seemed like it would come to full term within a month. And sure enough, after one month on the run, the brothers were waiting outside the motel room, while a providently found mid-wife was helping Gwen deliver the baby. They heard a new-born's cries arise from inside at looked at each-other, the unsaid words clear between them. The Antichrist was born.
"You feeling better?" Sam asked.
"Much." Gwen smiled. "Now that that little devil is out of me."
It had been a day since the birth of the child and Sam had hoped that whatever magical hold the baby had over Gwen would end with the pregnancy. No such luck. Gwen was as much in love with the child as any mother could be. And even if he could somehow convince Gwen, now that the baby was born, Dean would probably insist on doing the irrational thing. Well, the child didn't seem much like a monster, except when he was screaming bloody murder all night long.
As if on cue, they heard the wailing start up again outside the motel room where Dean had taken the baby for some fresh air. A few minutes later Dean came back in looking frustrated and a little guilty.
"I'm sorry." He said. "He just woke up again."
"Aww, someone doesn't like uncle Dean." Gwen cooed to the baby, taking him in her arms. "He seems to like Uncle Sam just fine."
"Probably all the demon blood." Dean said under his breath.
It should have hurt, Sam thought, but it didn't. Perks of not having a soul.
"Guys, really, thanks for all you have done." Gwen said looking gratefully at each of them. "You don't have to worry about me much longer. Me and little Dean here are going to be out of your hair tomorrow. We'll go into hiding somewhere and you guys can go back to the camp. If they'll take you."
"Don't worry about us, Gwen." Dean reassured. "You just take care of yourself."
Sensing an awkward moment coming on, Sam excused himself to get some food for them. For a moment he considered asking Dean to go, but rejected the idea. Neither Gwen nor Dean seemed comfortable leaving him unsupervised with the child.
"I'm guessing he will try to stay gone as long as he can." Dean said watching Sam step out of the room. Little Dean chose that moment to restart his lung exercises. "I guess I will join him."
"It takes two guys to bring back a couple of burgers." Gwen said teasingly.
"Yeah, you got me." Dean said ruefully. "If I listen to that thing cry one more time, I'm gonna shoot you for giving birth to it."
"Just go." Gwen said. "We'll be fine. The salt is in place and the sigils are okay."
"Great." Dean replied, grabbing his jacket. As the volume of cries increased, he added, "Might not make it back for few hours, though."
"Dean you have to realize the stupidity of this." Sam was making a last ditch attempt to change his brother's mind. "It's not like with Jesse. Jesse had a normal nine-month pregnancy. He grew up almost a normal kid till Lucifer showed up. His powers are completely dependent on Lucifer, but this kid, he is born into a post-apocalypse world. Things are crazy all around and it is already using its powers. Gwen is in its thrall, so she can't see it, but you should."
"I know Sam." Dean replied quietly. They were parked on the side of the road, contemplating their next move.
"Everybody we know, every single hunter, says that kid needs to die." Sam continued. "The Campbells, Rufus, even Bobby, they all want it dead. It isn't like with the shapeshifter kid. I know you think that it isn't evil, but with something this powerful, we can't take that chance."
"I said I know Sam." Dean said heatedly. "I get it. Kid needs to die."
Sam was surprised. He had hoped but never expected to actually change his brother's mind.
"Just like that?" He said. "You agree with me just like that?"
"I always knew that we couldn't let it live." Dean said sadly. "But I wanted to let Gwen make that choice. Well, it's too late for that, now that she's parting ways tomorrow."
"So," Sam considered their options, "You want me to do it?"
"Are you crazy? No." Dean replied. "Gwen would try to kill you if you tried to hurt her baby. It can't be the Campbells either, they need her back in the fold. I got a better idea."
Dean took out his phone and dialed a number.
"Who are you - ?" Sam started asking but Dean held up a hand to quiet him down and put the phone on speaker.
"Hello, Dean." A silky smooth voice said from the other end.
"Hiya, Crowley. How's life?" Dean replied cheerily.
"It's always difficult when ones employees go AWOL. I don't like that." Crowley said.
"Sorry about that." Dean replied. "Had a family emergency. Think you might have heard. There is a new life amongst us."
"You don't understand what you are playing with." Crowley's voice took on an edge. "That child could restart the apocalypse, he could destroy everything we have worked for. I knew you were stupid, but this is too monumental, even for you."
"Get your panties out of the bunch, Fergie." Dean said, "I know we can't let that thing live. So this time, I'm letting you do our dirty job. Just one condition, the mother lives."
"Alright. As you say." Sam could almost hear the smile in Crowley's voice.
"Dude, remember, she is Samuel Campbell's pet. You kill her and whatever hold you have on gramps might not be enough."
"Very well. I give you my word." Crowley sighed.
"Guess that'll have to do for now." Dean said, "They are in 157, Pines motel, Colorado Springs."
Sam looked at Dean with something akin to shock as the line was cut. This was not usual behavior for his brother.
"You think you can trust a demon with this?" He asked.
"Yeah." Dean answered. "Crowley will never let anything that can one day upstage him, survive."
And sure enough, when they reached back to the motel two hours later, Gwen was crying silent tears, holding a bloodied child in her arms.
"You should never have let it come to this." Samuel said. "You should have killed that child long ago."
"It was Gwen's choice." Dean replied.
"Doesn't matter." Samuel countered. "Her judgment was compromised. Yours wasn't."
They were taking turns watching over Gwen. Since the baby's death, the power it had had over his mother had disappeared, but it still left Gwen broken and despondent. She agreed that the child had to be killed and she also agreed that they shouldn't have let her get away with it, but none of the facts eased her pain of child-loss.
Samuel had once again chosen to put the blame squarely on Dean's shoulders. But he was forced to admit now that Dean was one of them. If he cared enough to risk everything for sake of a cousin he barely knew, then he definitely must be a Campbell.
"By the way, Samuel." Dean said as his grandfather was leaving the room. "I want you to know that I'm here to help. Anything that you need with the Alpha hunt, I'm here."
"Really?" Samuel looked suspicious. "Why?"
"Because I think I know why you are working with Crowley." Dean answered. "There ain't many things that can get a hunter to work for a demon, but family's one of them. And I realize now how you feel about family. I happen to know from my visit to heaven that Mom and Dad are not there. So, I'm guessing that either Crowley holds their souls or they are in purgatory. Either way this hunt is the only way to get them some peace." Dean saw Samuel stiffen up. "Look, you don't have to say anything. You can keep your secrets. Just know that, I'm here. If you need me."
"Thank you, Dean." Samuel nodded. "You are a good man, son."
With that he stepped out of the room to let Dean continue the vigil. Dean sighed and sat down for another long night.
"He's right, you know?" Gwen said from the bed.
"You are awake?" Dean observed.
"Yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all you did." Gwen said. "You might not have made the best decisions, but still, thanks for taking care of me and my baby. You might not be all that as a hunter, but you are hell of a guy."
Dean felt a trickle of anger seep into him.
"Not all that as a hunter, huh?" He said coldly. "I seem to remember saving your bacon a couple of times."
"No – I didn't -" Gwen took a deep breath. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm really not trying to offend you."
"Then tell me." Dean said. "What makes me such an inferior hunter to the rest of them."
"Well, you let your heart rule your head." Gwen replied. "You can't control your emotions and you end up making the wrong decisions. Like with me and the baby, the smart thing to do, the right thing to do was to terminate the pregnancy. But you didn't let that happen. In my experience, things like that get you killed. That is why Sam without his soul is the best hunter among all of us."
"Thanks for the tip. I'll remember that the next time you are spreading you legs for a demon." Dean spat venomously and walked out, ignoring the bewildered and hurt look on Gwen's face.
"Come on down, Cas." Dean shouted to thin air. "Get your ass here, pronto."
It had been two days since he and Sam left the Campbell base. They had no hunts at the moment and Sam was out getting them some food.
"C'mon Cas. I got something for you." Dean felt like he was repeating himself needlessly. "Well, technically it's for me, but this was your idea."
"I presume from your words that it is not one of heaven's weapons." Castiel said appearing behind him. This time Dean didn't even flinch.
"You presume correctly." Dean replied mimicking the angel. "How do expect me to find anything when you still haven't given me the list?"
"I'm sorry. That was remiss of me." Castiel admitted, handing over what seemed like a diary to Dean.
"Okay, cool." Dean said, flipping through the pages and giving it a once over. "I'll call you if I find anything. Onto other order of business then. You made any progress with that soul locating spell you have been working on?"
"No." Castiel informed him regretfully. "The last ingredient is the key and it still remains elusive."
"Well, here you go then." Dean said, taking out a vial of red liquid from his pocket and tossing it to Castiel. "Blood of the Antichrist, the great bridge between humankind and spiritkind."
"This is genuine." Castiel looked at the vial in awe. "How did you come by this? I've been looking for Jesse for months."
"It's not Jesse's." Dean replied. "You may not have heard, but we recently had an Antichrist born in the family."
"I've heard. An event of that magnitude is sure to reach Heaven." Castiel replied. "But I was under the impression that the child was dead."
"He is." Dean concurred. "But the blood was taken when he was alive. It will work right?"
Indicating his assent, Castiel took out a pouch from his pocket and poured its contents, which appeared to be grey colored sand, into an empty coffee mug. He then slowly poured the contents of the vial with an Enochian incantation.
"I had already mixed the other ingredients and the rituals beforehand. We just need to complete the final step." Castiel told Dean as they watched the grey sand soak up the blood and disintegrate into red powder. "By the way, Dean. I am glad that you or your brother did not have to end that child's life."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"Even from heaven we could feel the great evil within that child." Castiel explained. "Unlike Jesse, I do not believe that he had a choice in the matter of his fate. However I also know that if you or your brother had to kill him, the death would have weighed heavily on your conscience. I'm glad that you do not have to go through that."
"Sometimes we gotta bear the burden, Cas." Dean replied cryptically. "So is it done? How does this spell work?"
Castiel picked up a glass full of water and put a pinch of the red colored powder in it. Dean watched as the water turned reddish in hue.
"Now we need some body part of Sam's." Castiel said.
"Will a hair do?" Dean asked lifting one from Sam's brush. Castiel took the hair and put it in the concoction. Dean could notice no change, no sudden revelation of Sam's soul.
"Now what?"
"Now you drink this." Castiel answered. "If everything works perfectly, you will see visions indicating the location of Sam's soul."
If he had know that he had to drink the stuff Dean wouldn't have picked the hair, he'd have picked- well it was hard to imagine any body part of his brother's that didn't sound disgusting. Pinching his nose, Dean downed the brew in one go. No sooner had done so, visions assailed him. Not just visions but sounds, smells, tastes, everything. Waking up he found himself lying on bed where Castiel had undoubtedly placed up after he had collapsed.
"What did you see?"
"Bunch of random stuff." Dean replied. "A few motels, the Campbell base camp. Sam must have left some DNA there too. I saw Startbucks where I'm guessing Sam is right now. Cas, this stuff let's you find where all the parts ot he person are, not just the soul."
"Yes. That is how I explained it to you." Castiel said, "What else?"
"Well, in between it was all red and black." Dean continued. "I couldn't see anything but I heard screams and then I saw the Stull cemetery and oddly enough, the Devil's gate in Wyoming."
"The spell is showing you the pathway to your brother's soul." Castiel explained. "It is as we feared. Your brother's soul is in hell."
"What the hell, Cas?" Dean said angrily. "We knew that already. You are telling me that we went through all this trouble and found nothing?"
"I'm sorry Dean, but this is all I can do at the moment." Castiel looked genuinely contrite.
"Its fine. This atleast confirms it." Dean comforted. "Hey, can I keep the rest of the mojo? I'll put it to good use. It'll make me feel that the kid's life atleast meant something."
"Ofcourse, by all means." Castiel replied. "Though I must say Dean, the whole birth of Antichrist thing is very troubling."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, finishing up pouring the powder back in the pouch and tying the strings. "Do you know what happened?"
"Certainly. The birth of the Antichrist greatly affects heaven." Castiel replied. "We conducted an investigation of events."
"You turn up anything good?" Dean asked curiously.
"The whole chain of circumstances is extremely odd." Castiel explained. "Two days after we talk about Lust, the demon is released from captivity by one of the witches who, until now had been worshipping incubi. The ritual summoning a sin is of great rarity. Bobby is the only human I know who has it in his collection. Then the demon happens to impregnate you cousin and against all odds, the child is born. All of it seems too convenient to be co-incidental."
"What are you trying to say, Cas?"
"Dean, I fear your brother may have gone too far in his attempt to regain his soul." Cas explained. "Think about it, if he is one of the few persons who had access to the summoning ritual, to summon a demon he knows to procreate. And then the Antichrist survives just long enough to fulfill his purpose. This does not seem shady to you."
"Cas, man, you can relax." Dean laughed. "Sam didn't have anything to do with it. Why do you think he isn't here right now? I haven't told him about the spell Cas. He knows nothing about the Antichrist blood and its uses. And he didn't even know that Lust wanted to spawn until I told him and that was after I killed Lust. So you got nothing to worry about."
"You do not find it suspicious?" Castiel asked with a tilt of his head.
"Ofcourse its shady. Its shady as hell." Dean agreed. "But there are too many things Sam couldn't control even if he did set Lust free. He couldn't ensure that Lust would take a man-suit. HE couldn't predict that he'd take a fancy to Gwen. And he certainly couldn't count on hunters sparing the baby long enough for it to be born. Besides, I was with him from the start. He wanted to kill the baby from the get-go."
"Yes. Yes, you are right." Castiel said with a smile. "No human could have manipulated this course of events. I would suspect Raphael, but he would not have let the child die until it freed Michael and Lucifer from cage. No, you are right. Thank you for setting my mind at rest. It's just an unlucky occurrence of events."
Castiel disappeared in a flutter of wings and Dean smiled to himself. That's right Cas, he thought, it was all just an unlucky occurrence of events. As long as everyone believed that, that would be the truth and Dean- well, he had no reason to correct them did he?
A/N: Whoa. This is definitely the longest thing I've ever written in one go. I was thinking of splitting it into two parts, but I simply could not leave it without the twist at the end. Dean seemed such a swell guy in the story, even if a little pissed off. How many of you saw it coming? Review if you did and review if you didn't.