My apologies for the delay! My esteemed theological advisor is becoming more important as this odd AU progresses. (We're gonna have a trial! We're gonna have a trial!)

Chapter Thirty-three

Sam noticed the hesitation as his brother handed over the car keys. He wanted to reassure his brother that he was not sneaking off just to get away from Dean, but he didn't know how without inviting Dean along. That would defeat the whole purpose. Sam needed some time alone to think. So much had happened so quickly, he really couldn't wrap his head around it all yet. He wasn't freaked out by any of it, which was weird all by itself, but he did need some time to analyze things.

"How long will you be?" Dean asked as Sam slid behind the wheel.

"Not long. Just a couple of errands. Now you two go get all your bitching and moaning done while I'm gone." Sam flashed a grin at his brother. "I want happy faces when I get back."

Dean's eyes rolled, a soft hue lighting them. Sam wasn't sure if that meant amused or annoyed, but right now it didn't matter. He turned the key and the ignition turned over so smoothly he could swear it was a movie sound effect instead of a real vehicle. The drive to the store was essentially uneventful, but the Impala's soft hum grew louder the further from Dean he drove. Sam grinned at the discovery. He suspected as much. Even the car responded to Dean and his moods. Then the implication of that sunk in further. How much influence did Dean have over him now?

Sam pondered the question as he headed inside the store. He needed candy. Maybe beer, too.

-

Ruby paused mid-step. Her targets were inside that bar, but something had changed. She searched her feelings, the ones she still had, and discovered a shining opportunity. The spell to take her back to Sam Winchester had to be performed quickly. Ruby ducked between buildings as she pulled a bag from her pocket. After examining the contents, items sure to make the average person nauseated at the very least, she closed her eyes as she chanted the spell. Wind whipped her hair and face. Ruby squeezed her eyes tighter. Her borrowed body felt as though it was under pressure from every direction, like she was immersed deep in the ocean under tons of water. Then, as suddenly as it started, the pressure fell away and the wind stopped. She opened her eyes slowly.

She was standing in the aisle of a supermarket. "The one chosen to lead a demonic legion is grocery shopping?" She snorted, glancing around to see if her unorthodox arrival had been observed. A little kid, definitely under ten, stood at the end of the aisle watching with huge eyes. "What are you looking at?" she snapped.

The child continued to stand and stare. "Henry? Henry, where are you?" A woman in jeans, an old band tee-shirt and fuzzy blue house-slippers pushed a cart around the corner. "Henry! How many times have I talked to you about not taking off like that?" She glanced over at Ruby. "I'm sorry, I hope he wasn't bothering you?"

Ruby glowered at the woman before snorting again and turning away. She needed to find Sam Winchester. As she walked along the aisles, Ruby marveled that someone as tall as Sam Winchester did not stand out. As a matter of fact, she passed him twice before she realized that she had found him.

"Excuse me?" she said with a smile. "Aren't you Sam?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously and her stomach fluttered with a rare emotion: hope. He might still be what she needed. "What makes you think that's my name?"

Ruby broadened her smile. "I know Bobby Singer," she said. It wasn't exactly a lie. Singer had sent many of her kind back to hell and Ruby was doing her level best not to cross the man. "He's mentioned you." Yeah, just not to her, obviously.

Sam's stiff shoulders relaxed and he took another assessing look of her. "Bobby's a good guy." His eyes searched the shelf and he grinned as his hand reached for a box of mac 'n cheese. "So what's your name?"

"Ruby." She took a step closer to him, pitching her next statement at a whisper. "There are demons coming for you."

Sam spun towards her, clearly startled. "Wh-what? Who are you?"

Ruby glanced around, worried that something might be eavesdropping. "Can we take this outside? Someplace private?"

"Uh, I guess." Sam rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around, worried. "My brother's car is in the parking lot. That private enough?"

Ruby shrugged. "I guess it'll have to do." She walked away, expecting Sam to follow. As she rounded the corner out of the grocery aisle, Ruby realized that she was alone. "Uh, are you coming or what?" she demanded.

Sam waved one hand at her. "In a minute. We need oatmeal."

This was the chosen one? Ruby looked around for a wall she could pound her head against.

-

Bela giggled as she moved closer to the hunter. She slid a hand up his thigh. He looked immensely pleased at the turn of the events.

"Bobby Singer?" Bela asked, shocked. She giggled again to cover it. "Bobby Singer was one of John Winchester's confederates?" She stared hard at the hunter giving her the information as she tried to sound casual. It didn't come cheap, even with her considerable skills at persuasion thrown in. Apparently it was bad business selling out a Winchester. Dean especially had a reputation for being unstable and ruthless. She could testify to the unstable part. This hunter had just finished retelling a story about Dean beheading a vampire at a lumber mill. Bela took it for what it was, hunter talk. These guys exaggerated like crazy. Not a one of them was technically sane.

"If I were you, I wouldn't mess with them," the hunter warned her again. "Singer's bad enough, and he's pretty stable. But Winchester's boys…" The man shook his head slowly as he covered her hand with his. "I wouldn't want to cross paths with them."

"Never mind that," Bela said in a soothing voice, "Bobby is still based out of Duluth, isn't he?" She smiled and batted her eyes. The foolish man practically melted in his seat. No problem, Daddy, Bela thought as she ran her tongue over her lower lip, I have my own ways too.

-

"Where's Sam?" Bobby asked as Dean crashed on the couch.

Dean shrugged as Hillary lumbered in to the room. She made a beeline for him. "He said he had a few errands to run."

"You two sure took off quick. What was all that about?" Bobby stared hard at him. "And why are you soaking wet?"

Dean blew out a long breath. "New job. God, Bobby, I don't know how I'm going to be able to fit in hunting with this thing. I mean, before, being some kind of morale officer took up pretty much every spare minute. But now…" He rubbed a hand over his wet hair. Ew, that felt slimy. Maybe he needed a quick shower.

"But now what?" Bobby took a seat opposite him. "What's changed, Dean?"

He looked down at his hands. Never before had they betrayed him, always perfectly solid and rock-steady. Now they trembled at the thought of failure. "Before, if I screwed up, somebody just couldn't sleep or didn't call their husband on time. Nobody died." He clenched his jaw as he leveled his gaze at Bobby. "Now kids can die."

"What's the job, Dean?" Bobby asked softly. "What'd they promote you to?"

He leaned further back into the couch. "Trying to save kids who are going to die from doing something stupid."

Bobby grimaced. "Sounds more like a punishment than a promotion, if you ask me. But, you know," he took off his hat, rubbed his jaw, scratched his head, "you sound perfect for that."

Dean stared for a moment in disbelief. "Excuse me? I sound perfect for what?"

Bobby smiled at Dean, a warm soft smile. It made him a little uneasy. "Son, I've seen the way you take care of Sam. All his life, you've been there for him. If I had to pick someone to save kids, you'd be my first choice."

"What's for lunch?" Dean asked. "We missed breakfast."

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Boy, you are the worst damn deflector I've ever met." He shook his head. "So what happened? Why are you wet?"

Dean sighed in defeat. "Ask Sam when he gets back." Hillary leaned heavily against his leg. His fingers found the sweet spot just under her collar.

"I'm asking you," Bobby insisted. "Tell me."

Dean found himself powerless to deny Bobby's request, his order. He told the story with as much emotional detachment as possible, until he got to the part where he ordered the friends to tell the boy's parents. "And if they don't," he shook his head as he heard the rumble in his voice.

"What?" Bobby asked. "What will happen if they don't?"

Dean snorted. "Let's just say they better not ever need a special favor."

"Really?" Bobby took off his hat to inspect it. Like that looked normal and casual. Dean sucked at deflection? "Why?"

"Because they won't get it," Dean snapped. As the words spilled out he knew they were true, he just wasn't too sure how he knew that. "Bobby? Sometimes I feel like I'm losing it." As much as he hated to admit it, to anyone, it felt good to confide in Bobby. Emboldened by the good feeling, he continued. "Stuff I've never known before keeps dripping into my brain, and I know it's true. It's all true. It's all real. And Bobby," Dean stared right into Bobby's eyes, "it's scaring the hell out of me."

-

Ruby followed Sam out to the parking lot and a big black car. She liked the color. It seemed suitable for a potential antichrist. She leaned against the side while Sam put his bags in the backseat. The fact that he had paid for his purchases with bogus credit cards eased some of her tension. Maybe he was the one she needed after all.

"So." Sam turned to stare down at her. Man, was he tall. "What were you saying about demons?" That silly grin was gone, thanks to all that was unholy.

"There is a new demon leader rising. When she gets enough support, she plans to come for you," Ruby explained.

Sam actually looked startled. "Why me?"

Ruby stared. Was he serious? "Why you?" she demanded. "You're the freaking chosen one!" He waved his hands at her, telling her to lower her voice. She glanced around. A few people walking to and from the cars glanced their way. "You're at the top of the hit list for every demon with delusions of power, that's why," she hissed, careful to keep her voice down.

"Ah. That." Sam nodded seriously at her. Ruby waited. Surely he had something else to say. "So how do you know any of this? It isn't exactly on the news or internet."

Ruby gritted her teeth. She felt her host scream with shared frustration in their head. Not many demons bothered to find a willing host the way she did. Funny how dying of brain cancer changed people's perspectives. "You'd be surprised what you can find on the internet," she grumbled.

Sam laughed at her. "Yeah, I'll give you that. I know there are some rumors floating around out there about me, too, but I didn't think they'd made it onto the internet yet."

Ruby shook her head. "I've been able to delay that, for now. Can't make any promises, though."

The smile dropped from Sam's face. "You have? Why? How?"

Ruby cocked her head to one side, regarding the man standing before her. It was hard to believe he was personally chosen by Azazel to lead the legion. "I'll answer one more question. You pick it."

Sam's eyes shone with an intensity she hadn't thought was possible before now. "Why? Why are you doing this for me?"

She figured he clarified that question so she couldn't just answer it any way she wanted. Maybe he was as smart as they said. That didn't mean she really wanted to give him an honest answer, but for some reason she found that she had a hard time flat-out lying to Sam Winchester. How weird was that? "I don't want to see the legion win. That's all."

Ruby tried to walk away, but he called her back. "What's in it for you?"

"That's for me to know, and you not to find out," she snapped as she marched away without looking back.