3. You Will Not Harm Dean Winchester (4.01)
The brothers, Andy, and Felix follow Bobby down a set of stairs as he heads for his car. "She's about four hours down the Interstate. Try to keep up."
"We'll be right behind you," Andy tosses over her shoulder as she and Felix climb into a powder blue '78/'79 AMC Pacer.
"I assume you'll want to drive," Sam says as they others drive away, pulling a set of keys out of his right pocket and tosses them to Dean.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" he chuckles, running a hand lovingly along the Impala as he approaches it. "Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?" Getting into the driver's side, he settles in, but his revelry is soon broken when he notices the iPod plugged into the stereo. Pausing, he gives it a dirty look, and when Sam slips into the passenger seat with a grin, Dean glares at him too. "What the hell is that?" he exclaims.
"That's an iPod jack."
"You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up."
"Dean, I thought it was my car."
Dean sneers, and turns the key in the ignition with a sigh. "Vision" by Jason Manns begins to play and Dean rolls his eyes, glaring at Sam with a pained expression on his face. "Really?" His little brother shrugs innocently as Dean rips the iPod out of the jack and tosses it into the backseat.
"There's still one thing that's bothering me," Dean says when they're a few miles down the road.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or . . . got bit." He chuckles at his own joke and Sam rolls his eyes. "How'd you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you."
"Well, she tried. She couldn't."
"What d'you mean, she couldn't?"
"She fired this, like, burning light at me, and . . . didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something."
"Immune?"
"Yeah. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that."
"Huh. And what about Ruby, where is she?"
"Dead. For now."
Dean bites his lip, not really sure he should ask the question that's bugging him, but does it anyway. "So you been using you're, uh, freaky ESP stuff?"
"No," his little brother says automatically.
"You sure about that? Well, I mean, now that you've got . . . immunity, whatever the hell that is . . . just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you've got going on."
"Nothing, Dean," Sam stresses. "Look, you didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go down that road. It was practically your dying wish."
"Yeah, well, let's keep it that way," Dean tells him.
About a yard ahead of the Winchester brothers, Andy is singing softly along to "Space Junk" by Wang Chung while Felix draws in the sketchbook she'd stashed under the seat.
"You shouldn't do that in the dark, Fee, you'll hurt your eyes."
"No I won't."
Andy sighs, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. "What're you drawin'?"
"You'll see."
Andy sighs again.
"Alright, what's wrong?" Felix asks without looking up.
"What, what d'you mean?"
"You only sigh like that when you've got somethin' on your mind. So spill. What's up?"
"Dean and Bobby asked me how I knew Sam wasn't lying."
"You told them about your super power?"
"Yeah," Andy chuckles.
"Anything else?"
"I told them about . . . my mom."
Felix's head snaps up, her storm grey eyes glowing even in the dark. "The day you became a Hunter? What else did you say? You didn't tell them that you-"
"No, Fee, I didn't," Andy assures her. "I told them I blacked out instead. I didn't want to freak them out by saying that I killed a bunch of Demons with the glowing white light that comes from my hands."
"That would freak anybody out," Felix says, then grins. "But not me."
"No," Andy laughs as she leans over to kiss her girlfriend. "Not you, baby."
Early the next morning, the group pulls up in front of a quaint little house, and when Bobby knocks on the door, it swings open to reveal a strong and beautiful, thirty-something woman with a ready smile that can only be Pamela.
"Bobby!" she exclaims brightly, and grabs him in a hug, briefly lifting him off the ground. The brothers, Andy, and Felix all share a look.
"You're a sight for sore eyes," Bobby grins.
Pamela steps back to look the boys up and down approvingly. "So, these the boys?"
"Sam, Dean. This is Pamela Barnes, the best damn psychic in the state."
"Hey," Dean says flirtatiously.
"Hi," Sam mumbles awkwardly.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm. Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual."
"If you say so."
Glancing over the boys' shoulders, Pamela grins at the sight of Andy and Felix. "And who are these two lovely ladies?"
"Pamela, this is Andrea Moss and her girlfriend, Felix," Dean says. "They picked me after I came back."
The psychic shakes both girls' hands, lingering on Andy as they lock eyes. "Now, you, my dear, are something special." Releasing Andy's hand, Pamela gestures for everyone to come inside.
"So," Bobby asks as the door closes behind them, "you hear anything?"
"Well, I Ouija'd my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your boy out" -Pamela's gaze finds Andy, who quickly looks away- "or why."
"So what's next?"
"A seance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed."
"You're not . . ." Andy gapes. "You're not gonna summon whatever it is here, are you?"
"No." Pamela shakes her head. "I just want a sneak peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal."
"I'm game," Dean says.
The follow her into a darkened room where Pamela spreads a black tablecloth covered in symbols over a small table. Sam and Dean look at it warily. Felix and Dean cock their heads as Pamela squats in front of a cabinet, revealing a scrawled tattoo across her lower back that reads: Jesse Forever.
"Who's Jesse?" Felix asks, twirling the lollipop in her mouth.
"Well, it wasn't forever," Pamela laughs.
"His loss," Dean tells her, and she gets to her feet with several pillar candles in her hands, stopping in front of Dean with a smirk.
"Might be your gain."
Lowering his voice as she passes by, Dean turns to Sam and whispers, "Dude, I am so in."
"Ditto," Felix murmurs from beside him, staring at Pamela's swishing hips.
"Yeah, and she'll eat you both alive," Sam murmurs back.
"Hey, I just got out of jail. Bring it."
"You're invited too, grumpy," Pamela says with a wink at Sam as she passes by, adding to Felix, "You too, shortcake."
"You are not invited," Dean whispers to Sam.
A few minutes later, Pamela, Bobby, Sam, Dean, Andy, and Felix are seated around the small table, which now had six lighted candles in the center.
"Right. Take each other's hands," Pamela says, and they did so. "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched." She slides her hand along Dean's inner thigh and he jumps.
"Whoa. Well, he didn't touch me there."
"My mistake."
Dean, suddenly nervous, then takes off his outer shirt and pulls up his left t-shirt sleeve to reveal the brand. Sam stares at it, wide-eyed and shocked, and glances at Bobby. Pamela lays her hand on the brand.
"Okay." Each of them close their eyes as Pamela begins to chant: "I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle." A television suddenly flicks on to static and Pamela continues. "I invoke, conjure, and command . . . Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy."
"Castiel?" Dean says, confused.
"Its name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back."
"Maybe we should," Andy says, her voice trembling.
The white noise and static continues as the table begins to shake.
"I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face."
"Maybe we should stop," Bobby shouts over the white noise and rattling as it became more violent.
Beside Pamela, Andy was trying to yank her hand out of the woman's death grip. "Do as he says," she cries. "Please!" Her eyes shoot skyward as tears begin to streak down her cheeks. "Castiel, please don't do this! Please!"
"Don't break the circle, I almost got it," Pamela says, gripping Andy's hand even tighter. "I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!"
The candles suddenly flare up several feet into the air and Pamela starts to scream as her eyes fly open, filled with white-hot flame. Andy shrieks, scrambling out of her chair to hide under the table.
The rattling, white noise, and flames, all die out at once the second Pamela collapses.
Bobby catches Pamela as she falls and slowly lowers her to the ground. "Call 9-1-1!" he shouts, and Sam scrambles out of his chair and into the next room.
Felix crouches over Pamela and Bobby. The psychic is conscious, but bleeding and burned. Her eyelids fly open to reveal black, empty sockets.
"I can't see!" she sobs. "I can't see! Oh god!"
Dean can hear Sam calling the ambulance from the next room as he kneels down in front of the small table. Slowly lifting up the tablecloth, he's shocked to see Andy curled into a ball, tears streaming down her cheeks that are turning pink as they mixed with the blood that is coming from the corners of her eyes.
"Andy," he murmurs gently. "He's gone. Castiel is gone. He can't hurt you anymore."
"He told her not to look," she babbles, almost incoherently. "He told her it would burn out her eyes."
A couple hours later, in Johnny Mac's Diner, Dean is giving his order to a brunette waitress.
"Be up in a jiff," she tells him with a smile and, as she turns to leave Sam walks in, talking on his cell phone.
"You bet," he tells Bobby, hanging up the phone as he sits down across from his brother.
"What'd Bobby say?"
"Pam's stable. And out of the I.C.U."
"And blind, because of us."
"And we still have no clue who we're dealing with."
"That's not entirely true."
Sam quirks an eyebrow. "No?"
"We got a name," Dean tells him. "Castiel, or whatever. With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us."
"You're crazy. Absolutely not."
"We'll work him over. I mean, after what he did?"
"Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face-to-face?" Sam lowers his voice, nodding his head in the direction of the booth next to them, where Felix was trying to sooth a babbling Andy. "Just look at what he did to Andy. She's practically gone insane."
"And we still don't know why she freaked after Pamela said Castiel's name. Besides, you got a better idea?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I followed some Demons to town, right?"
Dean appears skeptical. "Okay . . ."
"So, we go find them. Someone's gotta know something about something."
The waitress suddenly appears with two plates of pie and sets them on the table.
"Thanks," Sam says with a smile.
She then plops down in a chair at the end of the table and Dean glances at her, smirking. "You angling for a tip?"
"I'm sorry. I thought you were looking for us," she says. Her eyes go Demon-black for a moment, the a uniformed man by the counter and the cook behind the counter also flashing the Demon-black. A second later the uniformed man heads toward the door, locks it, and stands in front of it. The waitress's eyes go back to normal. "Dean. To hell and back. Well aren't you a lucky duck?"
"That's me," he replies. "The luckiest duck in the world."
"So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh?" the she-Demon says. "Tell me. What makes you so special?"
"I like to think it's because of my perky nipples." His eyes harden. "I don't know. Wasn't my doing, I don't know who pulled me out."
"Lying's a sin, you know."
"I'm not lying. But I'd like to find out, so if you wouldn't mind enlightening me, Flo . . ."
"Mind your tone with me, boy. I'll drag you back to hell myself."
Sam, glaring daggers at the she-Demon throughout the exchange, shifts in his chair, as if he's about to attack. Dean holds up a hand and Sam stops, settling back into his chair.
"No, you won't," Dean says.
"No?"
"No. Because if you were you would've done it already," he tells her. "Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose. And you're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answer. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad Demon boss. I'm guessing at your pay grade that they don't tell you squat. Because, whoever it was, they want me out. And they're a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send me back. But don't come crawling to me when they show on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose."
Eyes burning with rage, the she-Demon leans close and whispers: "I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs."
Dean leans forward, a challenge in his green eyes, but before he could do anything Andy is there, glaring at the she-Demon.
"You will not harm Dean Winchester."
The she-Demon laughs. "Oh, lookie here, a little girl trying to protect a big, bad Winchester. You must be crazy."
Andy shifts and suddenly a long, silver blade is pointed at the she-Demon's throat. It's eyes widen with something Dean's never before seen in a Demon's eyes: fear.
"What are you?" the she-Demon asks.
"You will not harm Dean Winchester," Andy says again. "Or I will slaughter you and all your little friends in this godforsaken diner. Understood?" The she-Demon backs away, motioning with a wave of her hand for the uniformed Demon to unlock the door and move away from it. Andy nods to Felix and the redhead quickly ushers Sam and Dean out of the diner. "You come after us and you'll regret it."
A minute later, Dean comes strolling back in and pulls a roll of cash out of his pocket, carefully peeling off a ten dollar bill which he holds up and drops on the table like an insult. "For the pie," he says, grabbing Andy's arm and hauling her out of the diner after him.
"Holy shit, that was close," Felix breathes once they were out in the parking lot.
Dean drags Andy towards the Impala. "Are you crazy?" he shouts at her. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"What're you talking about?" she says. "I was defending you!"
"Yeah, well, I can pick my own battles, thanks," he snaps. "And where the fuck did you get that blade from anyway?"
"What blade?" He grabs her wrist and holds up her hand, her fingers were curling tightly around a silver blade. Her eyes go wide with shock and she drops it, quickly backing away. "I-I don't know," she says, shaking her head. "I don't know where that came from." Felix rushes over, pulling Andy into a hug as she stares wide-eyed at the blade sitting at her feet.
Sam approaches them cautiously. "We're not just going to leave them in there, are we, Dean?"
Tearing his eyes from Andy, Dean says, "Well yeah, there's three of them, probably more, and we've only got one knife and Andy's weird fucking blade between us."
"I've been killing a lot more Demons than that lately," Sam tells him.
"Not anymore-the smarter brother's back in town."
"Dean, we've gotta take 'em. They're dangerous."
"Didn't you see them back there, Sam?" Andy asks. "They're scared. Okay? Scared of whatever had the juice to yank Dean's pretty boy ass out of Hell."
"She's right," Dean says. "Andy's right. We're dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time, Sammy."
my."