We'll Always Have Kansas: Chapter Nine by asesina
Disclaimer: Kripke owns Supernatural.
A/n: sorry for the long delay. I had a small bout of writer's block for a while. I hope you like this chapter!
I am planning on making the story about 10 chapters with the possibility of an epilogue as well.
Summary: The apocalypse is over, but Sam and Dean still have work to do. The world is a desolate wasteland full of wandering spirits who all want to take their revenge on Sam. Sam is ready to accept his punishment, but Dean isn't so sure. Throw some vengeful angels into the mix and you can see why Sam and Dean are tired of being caught between heaven and hell!
Warning: The following chapters will include character death, so please do not read if you do not like this kind of plot!
"It don't make no difference to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free…"
-Refugee, Tom Petty
Dean's eyelids fluttered open slowly. It took a while for his eyes to grow adjusted to the dim light of the dingy motel room as the electric orange glow assaulted his retinas.
"W-what time is it?" he sputtered weakly, tasting the dull, coppery tang of blood in his mouth.
"Dean," Sam whispered worriedly. He rushed over to his brother's side and peered into Dean's green eyes with concern.
"How are you feeling?" Sam asked quietly.
"I- I-," Dean gagged mid-sentence and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
Shit- more blood.
"'m fine, Sammy," Dean managed. He tried to pull himself into a sitting position, but Sam put a firm hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
"Stay in bed, Dean. You need to rest. You almost-," he faltered, pausing to take a breath.
"You almost died, Dean, and it's all my fault," Sam exclaimed, gazing bitterly into the distance as he sat on the bed with a quiet thud.
"Sam, I just couldn't protect you. How do you think I feel?" Dean asked weakly, pausing to let out a rattling, wet cough that shook his entire body.
"I don't want to play the blame game, Dean. I just… I think that this has to end right now. You can't keep doing this," Sam said angrily, eyes pleading.
"Just watch me," Dean said resolutely as he exhaled slowly and started at the motel's tiled ceiling.
"Where is Cas, anyway?" Dean asked suddenly. Sam pointed at the door and waited for Castiel to materialize from the shadowy corner of the room.
"Right here. I've been keeping watch," Castiel said in a distant voice.
"Who are we hiding from, again?" Dean asked, grunting in pain as he rolled over onto his bruised side.
"Lydia," Castiel said coolly.
"Can't you stop that crazy bitch, Cas?" Dean asked, staring over at the angel.
"I'm not sure. She is considerably strong, but I was able to fend her off briefly. I'm not sure if I would be able to banish her from her vessel with any success," Castiel admitted. He absentmindedly poked at the wall of the motel as if to test the strength of the building's structure, but something caught Dean's eye.
"Did the wall just- sparkle?" Dean asked incredulously. Castiel grinned briefly and nodded.
"I've managed to build an aura around the room. It should hide us from Lydia for a few hours, but it might only last until daybreak," he explained, waving a hand in front of the wall to demonstrate the qualities of the web he had woven around the room.
The walls shone like dull gold, sparkling with intermittent waves of light like a monochromatic aurora borealis.
"Castiel, will that give Dean enough time to recover?" Sam asked suddenly.
He stood up and stretched before moving closer to Castiel.
"He's obviously weak, Sam. He can't go anywhere near Lydia, even after the night is over," Castiel admonished, staring at Sam with cold blue eyes.
"That's fine. I'll find her myself. We have to find a way to banish her, Castiel. I don't mind dealing with the spirits, but a vengeful angel is not what I need right now," Sam retorted as he folded his arms across his chest.
"No, Sammy," Dean said quietly.
"What are you trying to say, Dean?" Sam asked with surprise.
"You're not going there alone. I'm coming with you, even if you have to drag me there," Dean said with a weak grin.
"No way, Dean! If you lose any more of Michael's blood, you could die," Sam shouted, throwing Dean a warning look.
"I know. And you could die if this angel bitch lays her hands on you," Dean shot back, wincing as he propped himself up on the bed.
"I don't care if I live or die," Sam said softly.
"Come on, Sam. Don't talk like that. You can make this right. We can handle this together, man! Once we fry this angel, we can go back to hunting ghosts just like we used to," Dean said gently, trying his best to avoid patronizing Sam.
"It'll never be the same, Dean. Even if we defeat Lydia, I'll always have to deal with my sins. You shouldn't have to deal with it. That's why I plan on doing this alone," Sam said quietly. He blinked back the tears that threatened to fall as he turned his back to Dean and began packing his duffel bag.
"Where are you going, Sam?" Dean demanded, fighting against waves of pain that coursed through his body as he attempted to stand up.
"I'm just getting ready for tomorrow," Sam said quietly. He packed his Beretta, the rock salt gun, a few knives, and a book of incantations.
"I need to find out how to banish angels," Sam muttered to himself. He began to leaf through their old notes and any book that might have some information on the subject.
Dean stared at Sam and Castiel in disbelief.
"How can you let him do this, Castiel?" Dean yelled, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he limped over to the angel.
"You should sit down, Dean," Castiel commanded. Dean shook his head vehemently and gestured in Sam's direction.
"That is my little brother. You cannot let him march out there and take on an army of angry spirits and a crazy angel chick just because you think that he deserves this punishment!" Dean shouted angrily, staring deeply into Castiel's unwavering gaze.
"I won't let Sam die, Dean. I do need his help when we face Lydia. Sam will confront her directly, and I will banish her when she is distracted," Castiel explained calmly, placing a hand on Dean's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.
"Oh yeah?" Dean began, shoulders trembling with anger as he took a deep breath and balled his fists.
"What if your fucking plan doesn't work? What if this crazy bitch kills either one of you? What are you gonna do then? You need both of us there, Cas! An extra set of eyes and fists will do you a world of good," Dean said exasperatedly, feeling himself beginning to hyperventilate from the sheer exertion of his anger.
"Rest now, Dean," Castiel said softly.
"No," Dean murmured, trying his best to fight off the lassitude that dragged him back to the warm, comforting bed.
"I can't let 'em do that to Sammy, Cas. I have to help," Dean mumbled as he crawled back into bed and let his head unceremoniously flop down onto the pillow.
"Castiel, what are we going to do?" Sam asked in a tiny voice.
"We will leave at sunrise. Dean should still be asleep," Castiel said.
Sam nodded.
When Dean opened his eyes once more, he was greeted with pale sunlight and the smell of stale coffee.
Dean sat up in a panic. It was already morning! He glanced around the room and was terrified when he saw that it was empty.
Sam and Castiel were nowhere to be found, and Sam's duffel bag was missing.
Dean kicked off the covers and tried to get dressed as fast as he could, but he found it to be quite a difficult task when every inch of his body was sore.
It felt like he had the flu, but something else ate away at him.
He felt like his insides were empty. His limbs felt light and hollow, and his energy level was incredibly low.
Dean felt like he hadn't slept in days.
"Gotta get to Sammy and Cas," Dean mumbled to himself as he felt in the drawer for his Colt .45. He also grabbed his cell phone and a knife before heading towards the door of the motel.
"Cas, you better have turned off your freakin' angelic ADT system," Dean muttered as he put his hand on the doorknob.
He was shocked when it slid open with ease.
"Thank God," he whispered sarcastically as he headed down the hall, shifting his eyes left and right at every turn.
The motel was desolate. Half of it was still in ruins from the recent battle.
Dean wrinkled his nose as the acrid scent of smoke and decaying flesh met his nostrils.
Why did the apocalypse have to smell so fucking bead on top of everything else?
Dean made his way to the front desk of the motel, but he was dismayed to find that the Impala was gone.
"Damn it, Sammy," Dean muttered. He followed the tire skid marks out of the parking lot.
They led him to the main street of Cheyenne, right in front of the capitol building.
The overcast winter sky created a stark, eerie backdrop for the scorched buildings and piles of refuse.
"Where the hell are you, Sammy?" Dean wondered aloud. He made his way past the piles of charred bodies and mangled cars.
Panic gripped Dean's heart as he began to jog down the streets, looking left and right for any sign of Castiel or Sam.
They were nowhere to be found.
Dean shivered in the frigid air and pulled his leather jacket tighter against his bony frame.
Had he really lost that much weight?
Dean could care less. He began to run down the street, aimlessly searching for his sasquatch of a brother and a trench coat-wearing angel who would normally stick out in a crowd like a pair of sore thumbs.
After several minutes, Dean grew tired again. He slowed down and paused by a stone park bench.
Dean gulped in the thin air, but it flew down his trachea like a flaming sword.
He felt his body protest as he took in breath after ragged breath in a desperate attempt to replenish his dwindling oxygen supply.
Dean did his best to ignore his inflamed respiratory system, trying to focus all of his energy on finding his brother.
He felt around for his cell phone and hurriedly dialed Sam's number.
Dean waited for three interminable seconds before he heard Sam's weak voice on the other end.
"Dean?" he said quietly.
"Sammy?" Dean asked, voice rising with fear when he heard the tone of Sam's voice.
"Where the hell are you?" Dean asked, pulling out his Colt .45 as he awaited Sam's answer.
"We're in the field right outside town, Dean- just a few blocks from the capitol. Dean, you can't come here," Sam said weakly.
"What the hell is wrong with you Sam? Are you all right? Where's Cas?" Dean shouted, heart racing as he began to run towards the park.
"He's right here, Dean. He's going to summon Lydia," Sam said quietly.
The line went suddenly dead.
"Sam? Sammy?!" Dean called, slamming the phone closed in frustration when he couldn't get a signal.
He had to get there before Lydia wiped them off the face of the earth.
A few blocks felt like he was circumnavigating the globe. Dean ran up to the main entrance to the park, but Castiel and Sam were nowhere in sight.
"Sam! Cas!" Dean called, looking down the rows of carefully-manicured trees that cast soft shadows in the weak morning light.
The grass was slippery with dewy frost, Dean noted with mild annoyance as he shook the moisture from his shoes.
He ignored the stabbing pain in his chest as he followed the main gravel path down the meandering rows of gnarled dogwoods and oaks.
Dean finally spotted Sam and Castiel in a small meadow beyond the treeline.
"Sam!" Dean called.
Sam turned around at the sound of his big brother's voice.
"Dean, stay back!" he yelled back.
"No, Sammy! You can't do this alone!" Dean shouted.
"Dean."
Dean whirled around to see that Castiel was standing right behind him.
"You've gotta stop teleporting like that, Cas," Dean exclaimed.
"You cannot be anywhere near Lydia. She has no plans for you, but she will if you get in the way. We plan to distract her while she goes to attack Sam, and I will use a sigil to exorcise her from her host body," Castiel explained quietly.
"What if it doesn't work, Cas?" Dean asked suddenly.
"Then you must escape," Castiel warned.
"Without Sam? No way," Dean growled in protest. Castiel shook his head in impatience.
"She will not kill Sam. She will just make the spirits attack him. She wants him to suffer because he was Lucifer's host. I do not know much of Lydia's past, but it is said that Lucifer convinced several of her favorite brothers and sisters to join him when they left heaven," Castiel explained.
"She wants to get revenge? Why is she still an angel? Shouldn't she be a fallen angel by now?" Dean asked.
"She essentially is a fallen angel, but her bloodlust and vengeance are forgiven because she wants to attack Lucifer, the prime enemy of heaven," Castiel added.
"Dean, you have to stay back. If you don't leave the area now, Lydia will find you. She may take out her revenge on you for helping your brother," Castiel warned.
Dean shook his head.
"I'm gonna stay here, Cas. If you need any help, I'll be there in a second," Dean said firmly.
Castiel finally accepted Dean's help with a reluctant nod.
"I'm going to draw a sigil while Sam distracts Lydia. Only I will be able to banish her, so we have to act quickly," Castiel said. He disappeared and reappeared at Sam's side.
"It's time," Castiel said quietly.
"Lydia, I am ready to discuss the terms of my punishment. Show yourself, O angel of the Lord!" Sam called, staring up at the heavens in fearful anticipation.
After several moments of silence, Sam raised a hand and closed his eyes.
"Lydia, I beseech thee, show thyself and allow us to be in thy presence!" Sam called, trying his best to sound respectful and to hide the disgust on his face.
A brilliant flash of light flooded the park like a tidal wave.
"I thought you'd never ask," came a gentle, musical voice from the sky.
Lydia appeared before Sam. She was clad in a blindingly bright white gown that caught the weak glint of the November sun in its folds.
"I never thought you'd actually accept your fate, Sam. You always struck me as a bit of a rebel, much like Lucifer," Lydia said with a melodious chuckle.
Sam swallowed a grimace and nodded curtly.
"I'm ready," he said quietly.
"First things first," Lydia began.
"What?" Sam asked, instantly wishing that he hadn't said anything.
"I know you're hiding something or someone," Lydia said with a wink.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked again, hoping that she continue to focus on him instead of turning around.
"I can smell a traitorous angel right behind me," Lydia said as she whirled around and caught Castiel's shocked gaze.
"I think it's time for you to stop interfering," she said with a snap of her fingers.
Castiel disappeared into thin air.
TBC…