Author's Note: Sorry for the considerable delay. It was a combination of massive writer's block and real life really sucking. Not sure which was the chicken and which was the egg. This one is short and not my best; but, I've already got the next chapter started, so I hope somebody is still interested in seeing how this ends.

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Chapter 54

"So, what's Plan B?" Charlie asked, after she and Missouri had related what they knew about Bootback.

All three women looked at Sam for an answer. They were all extraordinary in their abilities to gather information; but they all knew Sam was the one who knew how to use the information to formulate a plan. It had turned out they had a lot of information; and that Charlie had done a lot more than just follow his and Amelia's paths.

From her secure base, and she had actually called it her Batcave at one point; she had located several other hunters through Garth. After Sam's call to Garth, the quirky little hunter had made arrangements to keep eyes on the areas Sam had given him, including the Bootback location. Garth had become a kind of clearing house for hunters, filling the void left by Bobby's death. And after Charlie had contacted him, she had been working with Garth to organize and disseminate all the information gathered by the few remaining hunters. And, Charlie had reached out to Jody and Missouri after they had returned to Lawrence; and they now had a solid law-enforcement connection to their network.

Sam had found all this vaguely interesting, but he really only wanted to know why they couldn't use the planned location, the Bootback plant, for trying to reach Dean.

It turned out the treatment plant hadn't been actively used by the county water department in the last several years, and that was why Crowley had been able to set up shop there without much notice. After all the damage was discovered, Crowley's torture chamber and the blood on the wall used to open Purgatory; the county had decided to refurbish the facility and convert it into a community building. That's where Missouri's client had been helpful.

According to Charlie's intel, two members of the clean-up crew had been Levis, and they were there trying to pry open the door to Purgatory to let the others back into this world. It also turned out; Crowley hadn't completely abandoned the site and had a couple of his demons keeping an eye on the place. When they got wind of what the Levis were trying to do, they took action. According to Missouri's client it looked like a cage wrestling match on PCP, before he got the hell out of there.

Charlie had assumed the demons won because there was nothing else coming from the Levis. But, after eliminating the Leviathan problem; Crowley had installed his own enhanced security. He had demons possessing at least one member of every shift at the site.

X

Sam wished, for at least the ten millionth time, that Dean was here. Making tactical battle plans was something that was better with two heads; making sure nothing was missed. Of course, in their line-of-work, there were always so many variables and unknowns; plans tended to be changed on an on-going basis. Or, as Dean had said on more than one occasion, 'making this up as we go'.

That was the other part of wishing Dean was here. With a nod of the head or a glance at a target, they knew what the other was going to do, or needed. While Amelia could read his mind to know what he was planning, it was a one-way communication. She was also pretty handy in fighting demons; but it would just be the two of them. There was no way he was risking Charlie or Missouri in a fight.

So, was there a Plan B? Sam still couldn't bring himself to consider going back to Carthage. The Devil's Gate in Wyoming and H P Lovecraft's place in Rhode Island were too far away. Omaha wasn't that far away, but they had already tried reaching Dean through that location; and had just avoided a confrontation with… It suddenly occurred to Sam, they didn't know who was in the SUVs that had been headed for the SucroCorp building that day. It could have been Levis, Demons, or private human security or the FBI.

If Bootback was so closely watched, maybe Omaha was a better option. It was only a three hour drive down the I-29 for Jody to come down and help. But, he needed more information. "Charlie, can you get me current intel on the SucroCorp lab site in Omaha?"

The hacker had been using her laptop to show him some of her information; and was already opening a new window, as she asked, "What do you want to know?"

X

It turned out the old SucroCorp lab would be an even worse option than the plant in Bootback. In the two weeks since Amelia and Sam had been there, the place had been leveled and reconstruction had already begun. The place was crawling with people. And, according to Charlie, the hunters watching the area had reported there were several demons in the area; laying low, like they were waiting for something, or someone. Everybody at the table had been in agreement; they were probably waiting for Sam to try and get to Dean.

Charlie could find no evidence that Leviathans were involved; but it was a safe assumption they hadn't given up and could be in the area.

As Sam was weighing the pros and cons of the two locations it occurred to him that Amelia had been very quiet through all the discussions. He assumed she had been reading his mind; and knew he felt both places were miserable choices. For a brief second he considered bagging the whole idea. After all, they only had to contact Dean to assure Castiel's rescue; Apsu had told them they could save Dean from anywhere. As quickly as the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it. The Winchester's took care of their own. And despite his earth-shattering mistakes, he owed it to the crazy little angel to get him out of Purgatory.

"Uh, Amelia, you have any thoughts on any of this?" Sam finally asked the quiet goddess.

Amelia had been listening intently; to both what the three humans were saying and what they weren't saying. Missouri and Charlie were both putting on brave faces but were scared. But both had also discovered an inner strength and courage they hadn't known they had. They were also both willing to do whatever Sam asked of them. She saw that Sam had sensed that, too. She also saw that he had no intention of letting them put themselves in so much danger. That he was never again letting his friends get killed during a Winchester fight, like Jo and Ellen had.

As far as the decision between SucroCorp building and the water-treatment plant, she knew her choice. "I think we stick to our original plan, and go to Bootback." She announced calmly. She didn't say it didn't really matter which location they used. She had been quiet for another reason; she had been busy taking inventory of the new sensations in this vessel. Well, not new; just long dormant powers she hadn't felt for a very long time.

She wasn't completely sure why these strengths were returning, but she didn't have time, right now, to worry about the why. Amelia would take time to consider the possible reasons after they contacted Dean through the weaken seal in Bootback. To the others, she just said, "I can use the water from the river to help us deal with whatever, or whoever, is there".

Her few words crystallized Sam's decision. Amelia was right; it had to be Bootback. Crowley may have placed a few demons to work at the treatment plant; but Amelia and Death had put the King of Hell out of commission over a week ago. The chain of command would surely be suffering by now. And, they at least knew what they'd be up against there, as opposed to the miasma of possibly both demons and Levis, not to mention all the humans working on the Omaha project.

It was now almost 4 AM, everybody was exhausted; and more importantly, dawn would be breaking before they could get to the area north of Leavenworth. Sam was already formulating a plan in his head; and, if it worked, it would work better in daylight. It would be basic subterfuge, and they wouldn't need anything but a couple new ID badges and uniforms. Missouri and Charlie had already proved they were as adept at creating and obtaining new identities as any seasoned hunter.

Sam gave the psychic and the hacker their assignments for in the morning; and everybody found a place to crash for a few hours. Amelia created another shielding spell for Charlie before climbing into bed next to Sam. She also knew none of her new human friends would be able to get any real sleep, so she cast a small spell to let them actually sleep for a couple of hours.

X

By 9AM everybody in the house was up and Missouri was setting breakfast out on the table. It was shortly after 10AM when Charlie and Missouri headed out to pick up coveralls and ID badges for Sam and Amelia. Jody arrived just before noon. Sam called Garth and he contacted the hunters watching the plant in Bootback. Missouri and Charlie returned with the best fake ID badges Sam had ever seen and coveralls 'borrowed' from the county water department, courtesy of the psychic's client.

It wasn't so much as a Plan B, as their first plan adapted to meet the needs of the situation. Sam smiled to himself thinking Dean would approve of the plan, he just hoped it worked so he could tell him and Cas about in a few days.

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Slight spoiler ahead: Yet another weird conincidence; I had Charlie having a Batcave before the boys found the bunker. (That's how long I've been struggling with this chapter.) I thought about having Charlie call her lair something else, but nothing else quite conveys the image of the Batcave.