"The kid made a deal with a demon?" Dean asked.
"She was willing to help him. The demon approached him to offer the deal. She'll help him hunt the Winchester that killed his mother. Not to mention the demon knows that where ever you are, Sam is always at your side. Some of them hold a big grudge over Lucifer being back in the cage, and Michael's presence is definitely making things very comfortable for the demons any time they get close to the cage." God said. "The chance to take out both Winchesters and guiding a young Kitsune's development into a murderous creature? As far as the demons are concerned it's a win-win situation."
"Come You can see Sam for a moment. He's taken a turn for the worse." God said waving her hand and bringing him to Sam's bedside.
"Gabriel, please, If you won't alleviate his suffering allow me to do so." Castiel tried to push past the Archangel as Sam thrashed on the bed caught in the grip of a fever.
"Castiel! Dad said to let him know if Sam took a turn for the worse. I've done that. It's up to Dad, not us." Gabriel said holding Castiel back. "Come on Bro I don't like it any more than you do, Sam's a good kid. Winchester dense in the head but still a good kid. But let Dad handle this." Gabriel looked up and spotted Dean and God "Or rather Mom, since he's still doing the hot chick thing."
God laid her hand on Sam's forehead and he quieted. "Gabriel, should he become delirious again you may ease the symptom but you will not interfere with the infection."
"Dammit he's dying!" Dean yelled.
"Yep Deano he is." Gabriel said. "That's a damned shame too since he's the only Winchester worth a damn as far as I can see. He has enough intelligence to to understand there's more to life than ganking everything he comes across. Unlike you."
Castiel stood rigid watching Sam breathe, hands jammed into the pockets of his trench coat. God drifted over to him and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "I know this is hard Castiel but praying to me won't help. Perhaps you should pray that Dean's mind becomes open to what I'm trying to teach him. If Dean remains closed minded once this part of the lesson is over, then there's no hope for Sam.
One way or another, it will be over soon. But do not try to interfere with Gabriel again, he has his orders." God stepped back and looked at Dean who was sitting on the side of the bed brushing Sam's hair back from his forehead.
"Why won't someone just tell me what to do? I can't lose him. He's the only family I've got." Dean said.
"We all know that Dean, but once again that pesky little thing called free will. You have to put the pieces together for yourself. We can't do that for you." God said not unkindly. "However from here on it's up to you. Either you will realize your lesson and Sam will live, or you will repeat your mistakes and he will die. None of us can interfere, only watch." God waved her hand.
Dean found himself behind the wheel of the Impala. Sam was dozing in the passenger seat. It took him a few minutes to realize what was happening. They were on their way to check out a reported poltergeist in Southern Virginia. Sam sort of snorted then stretched as much as was possible in the cramped confines of the car.
"Where are we?" He asked blinking a bit.
"Just outside of a town called Waverly." Dean answered. "Too bad you missed it. It was like driving through a time warp. Looked like the place hadn't updated anything since the 1950's."
Sam unfolded a map. "So another hour and a half or so, a little over 100 miles.. Why is Garth calling us in on a salt and burn again?"
"Damned if I know. Dude, it's Garth we're talking about." Dean said. "Damned if I know why he does half the stuff he does."
"Gas stop soon? Do it somewhere near food. I'm starving." Sam said with a yawn. "If you had just taken I-95 like I told you we'd already be there."
"Right Bitch. Like I can't read a map." Dean said
"You are the one that got us lost Jerk." Sam replied as Dean turned the Impala into a Chevron station right next to a McDonalds.
The two got out of the car and Dean went to the back of the Impala to pop the gas tank while Sam took the opportunity to fully stretch. "You would end up next to a McDonald's." Sam grumbled.
"Come on Sammy! Ronald isn't half bad for a clown. He does good things. Bring me back a Double Cheeseburger and fries." Dean said as he started pumping gas. Sam turned to walk across the parking lot.
By the time Sam had gotten the food, Dean had filled the tank and gone in the convenience store and picked up a couple of sodas and was waiting beside the door. Sam opened the back door and pulled out his laptop and a Power cord adapter. Sam handed Dean his food while he got in then plugged the cord into the cigarette lighter. Sam opened the laptop and signed on to the internet.
"I thought you were starving." Dean said taking a huge bite out his burger.
"Yeah Not much of a selection." Sam said stealing a french fry. "I'll just wait until we get somewhere with real food. Besides I want to see what I can find on this haunting."
"Oh come on Sam. You don't trust Garth to do his homework?" Dean asked.
"It's not that I don't trust him Dean but something about this whole situation seems...off. And Garth may have taken over for Bobby, but we both know he doesn't know as much as Bobby did. We could trust Bobby. After all he taught us more about the supernatural than Dad did. But Garth just doesn't have the experience that we do." Sam explained. "He called us for help that means that he's stumped. I'll just feel better if we do our own investigation alright?"
Sixty miles of AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Metallica later, Sam closed his laptop with a huff.
"Well, what did you find out?" Dean asked.
"It still looks like a salt and burn, but it doesn't feel like a salt and burn." Sam said. "Something is just not connecting right."
"So we go in help Garth take care of it." Dean said. "I can't see where there's anything different to do."
"Maybe we should poke around first." Sam said.
"Garth has already poked and prodded and annoyed the townspeople. We wait the ghost might just strike again." Dean said. "We can't take that chance. This one is pretty violent."
"I know that. And doesn't that seem odd to you? This ghost is way more violent than it has any cause to be." Sam said. "This ghost has been around for a while not doing much more than playing stupid pranks and now all of a sudden it's going Hannibal Lector on the town?"
"Maybe it held out this long?" Dean said.
"Come on Dean. Remember the Ghosts in the Van Ness Mansion? None of them were vengeful other than Van Ness." Sam said. "I just can't see a non vengeful ghost suddenly going rabid a century later. There's been people living in that house with the ghost and it's never harmed any of them. It just doesn't add up."
"Okay we'll talk to Garth and have him go over every detail of what he found out before we do anything okay." Dean said. "But for now I'm tired. I just want to get to the hotel, take a shower and get some sleep before tonight."
"So Mama/Pops, think Deano is going to get his head out of his ass?" Gabriel asked.
"It's up to him. I've shown him everything he needed to know. He just has to recognize his shortcomings and correct them." God said as she say in a chair reading the Mad Magazine that Gabriel had snapped up. Gabriel sat on the side of the bed next to Sam munching on a Snickers bar while Castiel stood in the corner staring intently at Sam's form.
"He will make the right choice." Castiel said quietly.
"Have you forgotten who we're talking about here, Cassie? Dean Winchester. Deano can turn having your head up your ass into an art form." Gabriel said. "I won't hold my breath waiting on him to figure it out now. He's more likely to dig in even harder just to prove a point."
"I admit that Dean is stubborn. But his determination can be a blessing." Castiel said. "He will do everything he can to save Sam."
"Before or after it's too late?" Gabriel snorted. "From my experience Deano loves bashing his head into a brick wall until he just can't anymore. Then when he has the mother of all headaches he gets the bright idea of looking for a door.
Sam's depending on a brother that will get him killed again to just prove a point and then after the damage is done wail his grief to the heavens and beyond."
"I believe that you will be proven wrong, Gabriel." Castiel said.
"Yeah? Well for Sam's sake, I hope you're right." Gabriel said.