The oddballs have spoken!! Okay you oddballs, it's continuing. Well, now I know how to get some of you lurkers to tell me what you think – threaten to end it. A bit drastic though, so I won't do that again until we romp in this playground a little longer and I find a better way to conclude it.
Chapter Thirty
Bobby had the distinct feeling that Dean wanted to talk, without Sam around. Sam, however, did not appear to be even tired. How could he get Sam out of earshot?
"Hey, Sam?" Bobby turned to the younger brother. "You mind taking Hillary for a walk for me? We usually do a circuit of the yard this time of night."
Sam exchanged a look with Dean before answering. "Who's Hillary?"
Bobby turned to let out a whistle. A massive female mastiff lumbered into view. "Hillary, this is Sam. Sam, Hillary." Drool dripped slowly from her jowls as she eyed the boys. Hillary headed over to Dean first, leaned heavily against his leg. Dean smiled as he rubbed her neck. She made a funny grunting noise, like it was better than sex. Bobby decided that he really didn't want to know, even though he noticed what might be a glow coming from Dean's fingertips buried deep in her fur.
"Go say hello to Sam," Dean urged, giving the dog a gentle shove toward Sam. The big dog stood regarding the younger brother an instant before she sat directly in front of him.
Sam reached out with a tentative hand. "It's friendly, right? Dogs don't always like me."
"She, Sam," Dean corrected. "Give her a chance, she's gonna love you." Dean winked at Bobby while Sam concentrated on the dog. Yeah, Bobby needed to ask about that.
Sam's hand touched the dog and she leaned into it. A slow smile blossomed on Sam's face as he rubbed the dog's ears and she grumbled agreeably, like she was trying to encourage him to keep it up.
"Take her for that walk, Sam," Dean said. "She'll love you forever."
Sam chuckled. He patted his leg as he stood and Hillary jumped to her feet to follow. "Just around the yard?" he asked Bobby.
Bobby motioned to the dog. "She knows what to do, just follow her lead, Sam."
Bobby waited until the two were outside before he turned to Dean. "She'll love him forever, Dean?" Dean shrugged, a small smile on his face. "You did something, didn't you?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Geez, Bobby, you're getting as bad as Sam."
"Sam is usually right when it comes to you," Bobby pointed out. "And you didn't answer my question."
"That's because I didn't want to answer it. I wanted to talk to you about this trial thing," Dean replied. If Bobby stared hard, he could just see some green glowing in Dean's irises. He decided that he didn't want to stare that hard. "So, do you think it already happened or that it's coming up?"
"That's bothering me as well," Bobby admitted. "You met Gabriel too, huh?"
Dean's smile twisted into a scowl. "What a bitch." He sighed, eyeing his beer again. "I don't suppose?" Dean held up his bottle.
Bobby sighed, retrieving a shot of holy water from the fridge where he hid the stash he kept for doctoring drinks. He poured it into Dean's beer. Dean took a sip, eyes closed as he swished it around in his mouth. "Oh yeah," he murmured slowly, "that's the good stuff." When Dean's eyes opened again they glowed, probably enough to see in the dark.
"So can you see in the dark?" Bobby asked, the question out before he could stop himself.
Dean cleared his throat, shifting in the hard wooden chair. "When I want to," he admitted.
Bobby shook his head. That conversation could wait – maybe forever. Hillary wouldn't keep Sam occupied outside all night. "What happened with Gabriel?"
Dean stared hard at his beer as he answered, his voice tight. "She was convinced I didn't get it all. She wanted to check."
"Check? She wanted to check that you really healed Sam? How?" Bobby leaned forward, anxious. These were archangels they were talking about, not the kind of angels that sat on fluffy clouds playing harps or finding people parking spaces. These angels defeated dragons.
The appropriate text from the Bible ran through Bobby's head:Revelation 12: 7-9 "And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."
Dean shook his head. "I shouldn't have let them, Bobby. I really shouldn't have." He sighed, meeting Bobby's eyes. That glow actually seemed sad, and it made Bobby feel sad. "Nobody should have a couple of archangels poking around in his head, Bobby. That's just wrong."
"In his head?" Bobby sat staring, stunned. "They had to go inside Sam's head?"
Dean nodded, swirling his beer in the bottle before taking another swig. "Yeah. At least we were able to get the place cleaned up a little first. That attic of his, though." Dean shook his head, rolling his eyes at the ceiling. "You'd be jealous of all the books in that kid's head, Bobby."
"When you say cleaned up, you mean that from when you healed him, right?" Bobby waited for Dean to nod. "So did Gabriel find anything?"
Dean shook his head again. "Nah. She was pretty pissed about it, too." He chuckled. "Bitch."
"Dean." Bobby shook his head at his young, brash, friend. "You really shouldn't talk about archangels like that."
Dean rolled his eyes, lifting the beer bottle to his mouth again. "So do you think they've had Sammy's trial yet?"
Bobby shrugged. "Who knows? Time probably doesn't even work the same for them as it does for us."
Dean's eyes dropped back to his beer again. "I could call Mike and ask him."
"You can do that?" Bobby asked, studying Dean. He always did have a soft spot for this boy.
Dean nodded slowly, studying his beer. About that time they heard a hard rock tune playing. Frowning, Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket. With a shrug, he answered it. "Hello?"
"Who is this?...Bela?"
Bobby's heart stuck in his throat. Bela? That woman was nothing but trouble, not to mention a raving bitch.
"You have a lot of nerve calling me now," Dean growled into the phone.
"Hillary!" Sam's voice carried clearly indoors. "Hillary, get back here!"
"Yes I'm talking about the Colt." Dean moved to look out the window. "What do you think I'm talking about?" he asked as he peered out.
"What? You know what, lady? If you really want help, call a psychiatrist." Dean shoved his phone back in his pocket. "Come on, Bobby. There's something going on outside."
Bobby followed as close as he could, but Dean was younger and in a hell of a lot better shape. He snagged a shotgun on his way out the door.
"Sam!" Dean bellowed as he ran toward his brother. Bobby trailed a few feet behind, hoping nothing had entered the yard. He rounded a stack of cars after Dean, stopping short so he wouldn't run into the kid.
"Sam?" Dean asked, a quaver in his voice.
Bobby peered over Dean's shoulder to see the problem. The sight that greeted his eyes made him chuckle. Hillary squirmed on her back, legs straight up in the air, while Sam gave her a world-class belly rub.
"Uh, Dean?" Bobby asked, trying to choke back a chuckle. "Is this what you expected?" The shotgun dangled loosely from his hand.
Dean turned on one heel, eyes scanning the area. The intensity of his expression forced Bobby to check the area out too as his hand tightened on his weapon.
"There's something here," Dean muttered, circling his brother and the dog. The fact Hillary did not seem disturbed made Bobby wonder if perhaps the events of the past month were simply catching up with his young friend.
"Dean?" Sam asked from his kneeling position, fingers still kneading soft canine belly. "What's going on?"
"Just checking out the area, Sam. Nothing to worry about it." Dean waved a hand as though he did not have a care in the world, but that look in his eyes said otherwise. "Let's go inside. Now."
Sam leapt to his feet, the dog imitating him instantly. Hillary whined as her ears perked toward Dean and her brow furrowed. Dean jerked his head away from them. The dog jumped forward in that direction, powerful muscles propelling her forward.
"You two head back to the house. We'll be there in a minute." Dean said, eyes pinned to the dog.
"No, Dean." Sam walked up on the other side of his brother. One hand gripped Dean's shoulder. "What's here?"
Dean frowned. Hillary returned a moment later. She whined as she approached Dean, head down and moving slow like she needed forgiveness. Dean sighed as he reached down.
"I guess it's gone," he replied, stroking Hillary's head. "Good girl. You did just fine."
She shook and slobber flew in all directions, including Dean. Dean just chuckled and scratched under her chin. "Yeah, you're a good dog. Come on." He led the way back to the house, the mastiff following close on one side and his brother on the other. Bobby followed, always followed, but this time he kept a wary eye and ear out for anything out of the ordinary. When Hillary took off like that, it was enough to convince Bobby there was really something out there. That, or Dean now had dog mind control. He figured he preferred believing something was in the yard.
Just before crossing over the threshold into the house, Dean paused. He glanced around again, suspiciously, before going into the house. The look on his face made all the hairs on the back of Bobby's neck stand straight out. Bobby had always been glad he and the Winchesters were on the same side, but never more so than today.
She watched the men go into Singer's house. Damn. So close. There were not many opportunities to get Sam Winchester alone any more, not with that brother of his always hovering so close. She had had the opportunity and she blew it. No closer now than she had been a month ago when she escaped Hell, Ruby headed back to the road. Even without a potential ally, she had plenty of work to do.
A large man with dark wild hair and stunning blue eyes stood at the road. He seemed to be waiting for something. As she headed for the road, intending to take care of a couple of things until she found a good way to talk to Sam Winchester, the large man blocked her way.
"Back off, pal," Ruby snapped. "I'm not in the market."
He glared at her. "And what exactly did you think you were doing here?"
She rolled her eyes as she attempted to push past him. When she couldn't take a step past, her feet stuck as though in solid concrete, Ruby took another look at the guy. "What are you?"
"I'm the one asking the questions here," he said with a snarl. "Why were you trying to get close to Sam Winchester?"
She frowned. He couldn't be just another hunter, not with the way she was unable to move her feet. Okay, technically they were not her feet, they were 'borrowed,' but it wasn't like her 'host' really minded. A higher ranking demon maybe? She had the unshakeable feeling that whatever-he-was could either send her back to hell or destroy her where she stood.
"Why?" Ruby demanded, trying not to sound intimidated. Showing fear just gave other demons an edge. "I suppose you have better plans for him? That brother of his will never let him lead the stupid legion."
His eyebrows arched. "Stupid legion?"
She blew out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, come on! Everybody knows what I think about it."
"Well I'm not everybody," he told her. Wow, what a voice. She almost wanted to lose herself in it. "Why don't you tell me what you think about it?"
"Got a name?" Ruby asked.
"Do you?" he asked back.
Now names held power, and she was not quite ready to just hand hers over without knowing which demon she was consorting with. "Yep."
He nodded at her, his wild dark curls bouncing in their own personal breeze. "Me, too."
"Well," she tried to shift from foot to foot, but they were still superglued to the pavement, "glad we got that sorted out. So what's your interest?" Ruby jerked her head toward the house. While she talked she ran through her mental catalogue of spells. There were a couple that might account for this, but none felt quite right and there was no way she would be able to perform a counterspell stuck here anyway. Her best bet – check that, only bet – was to talk her way out of it. Not exactly her strong suit.
The guy just shrugged, those amazing blue eyes darting toward the house and back. "Sometimes, I'm not really sure."
She stared, but he didn't offer any more. "You are one strange guy. You know that?" He shrugged again. "You're not going to just let me go, are you?" Ruby wondered if she would be able to escape from hell again if this creepy, great-looking but creepy, guy took her back down there.
"Tell me the truth and I might," he said.
For some strange reason that she couldn't fathom, Ruby believed him. "I hate the legion. I hate the other demons." He continued to stare at her. "What? You want me to say I'm here to get the so-called messiah to lead the fight against the legion?"
He nodded slowly. "That's what came out of the hell's gate? An organized legion?"
Ruby shrugged. What was this? A test? "I wouldn't say organized. After the Winchesters killed Yellow Eyes and Sam didn't turn, there wasn't exactly any cohesive leadership left."
He let out a long breath. "Well, at least we have that."
"What?" She glared at the strange man. This wasn't a test, was it? What the hell was he?
"I guess you can go." He nodded toward the road. "You haven't broken any of the rules so technically I can't interfere. But if Dean catches you..." He shrugged, a hint of a smile on his face.
She looked toward the road. When Ruby looked back, the man with the wild hair was gone. Her eyes searched the sky, but there weren't even traces of black demon smoke. So, not a demon then. But then what the hell was he? Maybe she didn't want to think about that right now. Right now she needed to get to where a pair of demons who had taken particular pleasure in tormenting her down below were terrorizing a little town. Ruby looked forward to showing off her new knife when she caught up with them. Afterwards she could worry more about the Winchester brothers.