Family Matters Part 2

The three hunters were in the Impala.

"Things go okay back there?" Dean asked.

"Fine." Sam shrugged.

"Nothing weird?" Angela pressed.

Sam just shook his head. Dean suddenly stopped the Impala and shut the engine off.

"Angie and I saw you walk that alpha out the door, Sam," Dean replied. "Now, call us crazy…But that seems weird."

Sam sighed. "Oh."

"Oh." Angela scoffed.

"You guys weren't supposed to know about that," Sam admitted.

"Know what?" Dean asked.

"It's just something Samuel's been doing," Sam explained. "Catching things, taking them somewhere, grilling them for info."

"Grill. Torture, right?" Dean asked. "And not telling Angie and I—that was his idea?"

"No, it was mine." Sam shrugged.

"Why?" Dean asked, confused.

"Honestly?" Sam replied. "Because you'd mess it up. You shoot first, ask questions later, and we needed to ask questions. And if we had told Angie, she would have told you."

"You're damn right I would've told Dean!" Angela snapped. "You know what, I don't care if you've got soullessness or the freakin' mumps! Sam, you know better than this!" she added angrily. She paused for a moment. "Do you even want your soul back?"

Sam's brows furrowed in confusion. "How does that have anything to do—

"Have you been to the place where Samuel takes them?" Angela pressed. "I mean, have you been in on these interrogations?"

"No, but I hear—

"And why?" Dean interrupted. "And did it ever occur to you that this is really shady?"

"Dean, he's our grandfather." Sam sighed.

"Yeah." Dean scoffed. "Yeah, a guy who talks a great game. But you can't assume that family means the same thing to him as it does to us." He added. "Wow. You don't see it, do you?"

"What?" Sam asked.

"You've got no instinct," Dean replied. He scoffed slightly. "I mean, you are seriously messed up."

"Thanks," Sam replied sarcastically.

"I'm not kidding, man. Nobody's forcing you to work with Angie and I, okay?" Dean replied. "But if we do this…Angie and I drive the bus and call the shots. You tell us everything, whether you think it's important or not, because—trust me—you can't tell the difference. Or, you know what, go—go with Samuel. See how that goes. It's up to you."

~/~\~

Sam stood in the doorway of Samuel's office.

"Samuel?" Sam asked.

Samuel flinched slightly and looked up at Sam. "Damn, kid. Learn how to knock." He replied. "Where's your brother and Angela?"

"Gone," Sam replied vaguely.

Samuel's brows furrowed. "What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"I mean they left about an hour ago," Sam explained. "We just weren't seeing eye-to-eye anymore, I guess."

"That's too bad," Samuel replied.

Sam squared his shoulders slightly. "I want in."

"In?" Samuel raised a brow.

"On the interrogations, on everything." Sam clarified. "I can help. This family—this is it for me now. Whatever you need, I'll do."

"Yeah, I know you will." Samuel nodded.

"Great." Sam nodded.

"But until we can figure out this soul business of yours, I need you to keep doing what you're doing," Samuel replied.

Sam frowned. "But I can—

"No, you can't." Samuel cut him off. He sighed deeply. "I'm sorry."

"Right." Sam sighed before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

~/~\~

Sam got back into the passenger's seat of the Impala.

"Hey." Angela greeted.

Sam looked at Dean and Angela. "You guys didn't think I'd come back."

"I figured 60/40." Dean shrugged.

"I figured there was a 50/50 chance," Angela admitted. "Can't tell with you these days."

"So, Samuel didn't take the bait," Sam explained. "So I went with plan B."

Dean frowned, confused. "We had a plan B?"

"Fired up the GPS on one of his cellphones," Sam replied. "We should be able to track him right to the alpha."

"The old man won't notice?" Angela raised a brow.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Trust me." He scoffed. "He thinks Velcro is big news." He added before his phone started beeping. "There. Got him."

~/~\~

Sam raised a brow when he noticed something on the walls of the warehouse. "Dead man's blood?"

"Smart," Angela admitted.

"Lock the place down with vamp repellent." Dean nodded.

~/~\~

The alpha vampire was tied to a chair in a large cage. He tilted his head slightly. "Are you three going to hide all night? Come on out."

Dean, Sam, and Angela emerged from where they were hiding.

"How can I help you?" the alpha vampire asked.

"We have some questions for you since you're going nowhere fast," Angela replied.

The alpha vampire chuckled. "Don't be so sure."

"Yeah?" Dean asked. "Locked down pretty tight. And with all that dead blood rushing through your veins, not sure you got enough juice to fire up that psychic bat-signal of yours, do you?"

"True." The vampire nodded. "Not near enough juice for that…Dean."

Dean raised a brow. "I didn't realize we were on a first-name basis."

"Of course we are." The vampire replied. "After all, you were my child…for a time. Dean, tell me…did you enjoy it?"

Dean glared at the vampire, clenching his jaw. "I'm asking the questions here, fright night."

The electricity in the room crackled ominously.

"When your kind first huddled around the fire, I was the thing in the dark!" the vampire snarled. "Now you think you can hurt me? I have all night. Anyway, I'm happy to tell you whatever you want to know?"

"Why?" Angela asked suspiciously.

"Why?" the vampire smirked. "Because soon, I'll be ankle-deep in your blood, sucking the marrow from your bones."

"So you're really it," Sam said, fascinated. "The first of your species."

"The very first." The vampire nodded.

"But if you're the first…who made you?" Angela asked.

"We all have our mothers." The vampire replied vaguely. "Even me."

"What does that mean?" Dean asked, only earning a chuckle from the vampire. "And what's with the big surge of vamps lately? I mean, it's like—

"Like we're going to war." The vampire interrupted.

"Why?" Sam asked. "What's going on? Why did Samuel bring you here?"

The alpha vampire sniffed. "You smell cold." He noted. "You have no soul. What an oddity. Do you feel how empty you are? What is it like to have no soul? Answer my question."

"You first," Sam replied. "You're the one in the cage."

The alpha vampire sighed. "The thing about souls—if you've got one, of course—is they're predictable. You die, you go up or down. Where do my kind go?"

"Alright, enough with the sermon, freak." Dean scoffed.

"I'm trying to answer the question." The vampire defended. "Now, when we 'freaks' die…where do we go? Not heaven, not hell. So?"

"Legoland?" Dean sassed.

The alpha vampire sighed deeply. "Little rusty on our Dante, are we?"

Realization dawned on Sam. "Purgatory."

"Purgatory?" Angela asked, stunned. "Purgatory's real?"

"Oh, stupid cattle." The vampire chuckled. "Of course! And it's filled with the soul of every hungry thing like me that ever walked this earth. Now, where is it? That is the mystery. And that is what Samuel is trying to beat out of me."

"Samuel brought you here…to find out where Purgatory is?" Sam raised a brow.

"I keep telling him—how would I know such a thing?" the vampire shrugged. "But he refuses to untie me."

"You know exactly where it is," Sam replied. "Why does Samuel care about any of this?"

"He doesn't care. He does as he is told." The vampire clarified.

"Well, if the old man's Kermit…whose hand's up his ass?" Dean asked.

Suddenly they heard a gun being cocked. "Evening, guys," Samuel said.

Dean turned to face him and scoffed. "Wow, you know, I have seen some stupid in my time, but you take the crown," Dean replied. "Putting Jaws in a fishbowl? How do you think that's gonna end? I don't know what kind of game you're running—

"What, do you think I'm doing this for kicks?" Samuel interrupted.

"I think you've got the rest of the feebs convinced that you're John Wayne," Dean replied. "So whatever you're doing, whatever you're hiding…it's gonna put you and everyone around you in the ground."

"Hi." Gwen greeted as she cocked her gun.

"Gwen." Dean sighed. "And I thought we had something special."

"Are you scared of me?" the alpha vampire asked. "I would be." He chuckled. "Go ahead." He said as he escaped the cage.

Electricity crackled and a man screamed.

"Grab your stuff," Samuel commanded before they ran off.

"How long till the alpha's one-hundred percent?" Angela asked.

"Hour. Maybe less." Samuel replied. "We need to get him dosed up and back in the cage."

"No." Dean shook his head.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Samuel asked.

"I mean, we don't know what your big plan was, but playing catch is not on the table," Dean replied.

"Dean—

"He's right, Samuel," Angela replied. "We take the thing's head off, or it kills us all! You know that." She explained. "Okay. We split up. Clear every single room. You get a shot, you take it." She instructed.

"It's not going to kill him, but he'll move a lot slower without any kneecaps. And if we make it through this, we're having one hell of a family meeting." Dean agreed.

"You think he ran out?" Christian asked.

"No!" Samuel yelled as the alpha vampire came up behind Christian.

The alpha vampire snapped Christian's neck and snarled. "The boy with no soul. I've got big plans for you. It's amazing how that pesky, little soul gets in the way. But not for you. You will be the perfect…animal."

While the alpha vampire was distracted, Christian came up behind him and injected him with dead man's blood. Samuel looked at Christian, confused.

"Christian?" Samuel asked.

Christian just smirked and his eyes went black before he and a few other demons took the alpha vampire away.

Crowley came into the room, slow clapping. "Well, that was dramatic."

"Crowley?" Sam glared.

"Hello, boys. Angela." Crowley greeted. "What an unexpected treat."

"Bring Christian back now," Samuel demanded.

"I'm sorry?" Crowley raised a brow.

"My nephew!" Samuel snapped. "The one you just crammed a demon into!"

"Oh." Crowley nodded. "No. I had him possessed ages ago. Samuel, really. I keep an eye on my investments."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Angela asked, raising a brow.

"Not in the biblical sense," Crowley replied. "More of a business relationship, I'd say."

Sam looked at Samuel and scoffed. "You're Crowley's bitch."

"It's not what you think." Samuel tried.

"It's precisely what you think," Crowley said. "That alpha he's caught is me getting him a gold star."

"Since when do you give a crap about vampires?" Dean asked.

"Since, uh…" Crowley trailed off, thinking. "What's today—Friday? Since...let's see—mind your business."

"You may as well share with the class," Sam said. "We know you're looking for Purgatory."

Crowley sighed. "So you heard about that?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "You want to tell us why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Crowley shrugged. "Location, location, location. I'm a developer. Purgatory is vast, underutilized, and Hell-adjacent, and I want it."

"What for?" Angela asked.

"Ah, ah, ah Angela." Crowley shook his head. "Employees don't question management."

Dean scoffed. "We ain't your employees."

"Of course you are!" Crowley replied. "Have been for some time now, thanks to gramps. I don't keep Captain Chromedome around for his wit, do I? Samuel knows things. More than any of you, actually. Walking encyclopedia of the creepy and crawly. And I knew…You three are so hung up on family-loyalty nonsense, he said jump, you'd get froggy."

"Yeah, well, the game's over." Dean snarled.

"Yeah, well, afraid not, not if you want to see Sam's soul ever again." Crowley threatened.

"You're bluffing," Sam replied.

"Tell them, Samuel," Crowley commanded.

Samuel sighed. "He pulled us both back, me and Sam."

"What?" Sam glared at Samuel. "You knew?"

"No, Cas says it takes big-time mojo to pull something like that off, and you're nothing but a punk-ass crossroads demon," Dean replied.

"Was a punk-ass crossroads demon." Crowley clarified. "Now? King of hell. Believe me, I've got the mojo. I snap my fingers, Sam gets his soul back. Or you can be…you, and I shove Sam right back in the hole." He threatened. "Can't imagine what it's like in there…and I can imagine so many things. So, we clear? Me, Charlie…you, angels. Job's simple enough—bring me creatures. Aim high on the food chain, please. Everybody wins. It's been a pleasure. See you soon."

Gwen glared at Samuel. "You're letting a demon call the shots?"

"Nothing's changed," Samuel assured. "We hunt. Period. Don't worry about him. I'll take care of it. You trust me or not? Get in the van, Gwen."

"Working with a demon, huh?" Sam scoffed. "You're not who I thought you were."

"You don't know anything about me, son," Samuel replied.

"So, what's so important that you're the king of Hell's cabana boy, huh?" Dean asked. "What'd he offer you? Girls? Money? Hair?"

"I got my reasons," Samuel replied. "You gonna make a move, go ahead."

"Or what?" Angela asked.

"Or nothing," Samuel replied. "I'm not gonna do anything to you, Angela. You're family to Sam and Dean, and they're my family. That makes you family too, Angela." He assured. He looked at Sam and Dean. "So the way I see it, you got two choices—put a bullet in your grandfather's head or step aside."

Sam cocked his gun and glared at Samuel.

Angela stepped in front of Sam and shook her head. "Don't do it, Sam."

Sam looked down at Angela, slightly confused. "He sold us out."

"I know." Angela nodded. "Let it go, Sammy."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Get out of here," Dean told Samuel.

"So, what now?" Sam sighed, putting his gun away.

"We can't work for Crowley." Dean sighed.

"Are you sure about that?" Sam asked.

"I don't think you understand. Demons bone you every time." Dean replied.

"Oh, no, I get it. I do, believe me." Sam shrugged. "Just running the math—do we really have another choice?"

"We could stab him in his throat," Angela muttered.

"And get my soul back how?" Sam countered. "I'm just saying, seems like we got to play ball, at least for the moment."

Dean shook his head. "I have done some stupid things in my time, but punching a demon's clock?"

"Look, just till we find another way," Sam assured.

"And then?" Angela asked.

"And then we track Crowley down and give that son of a bitch what's coming to him," Sam replied. "You guys with me?"

Angela looked at Dean and sighed. She looked back at Sam. "Yeah…I'm with you."

Dean nodded. "Guess I am too."

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, I'm about halfway through Clap Your Hands If You Believe and I am so excited for you guys to read those two chapters! I also wanna thank you guys for the recent feedback! Thank you so, so much! I love you guys. :)

~Emily