Chapter 38

"Are you fucking crazy?" Addy yelled at Sam after he'd revealed his plan to say yes to Lucifer so he can jump in the box.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean yelled as well.

"Guys think about-" he began but she shoved him back so hard he hit the threshold of Bobby's study with a thud.

"Shut up!" Addy ordered, "This is the stupidest thing you've ever thought of!"

"Did you know about this?" Dean asked, looking to Bobby.

"What?" the hunter asked from behind his desk.

"You know what," she said, running her hands through her hair and mumbling, "Fucking Winchesters."

"About Sam's genius plan to cram the devil down his throat," Dean answered and Bobby nodded guiltily, "Well, thanks for the heads up!"

"Hey, this ain't about me," Bobby countered.

"You can't do this," Dean said to his brother.

"That's the consensus," Sam said drily.

"All right. Awesome. Then, end of discussion," Dean said with finality just as his phone began to ring, "This isn't over. Hello?"

"Addy look I-" Sam began to her but she put up a finger, indicating she didn't want to hear it.

"After everything we've done you just want to go waltzing right up to him," she said, shaking her head.

"Cas?" Dean began into the phone.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked.

"We all thought you were Dead. Where the hell are you, man…Are you okay…You want to elaborate…So, a hospital?"

"Hospital?" Addy asked and Dean shrugged in confusion.

"Uh, well, I got to tell you, man. You're just in time. We figured out a way to pop Satan's box…It's a long story, but, look we're going after Pestilence now. So if you want to zap over here... What do you mean…Human. Wow. Sorry."

As Dean continued to talk her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket to see it was her mother. She ignored it to get a questioning look from Bobby which she pretended not to see.

She retreated into the kitchen and opened her phone to see missed calls, voicemails, and text all from her family. Her parents, aunt, and cousin had all called her multiple times and she hadn't answered once.

Sam wanted to dive head first into what they'd worked so hard to stay away from and Cas was a human. Her whole family was leaving message after message begging her to go home because even they didn't believe she'd survive. As hard as they were trying, it felt like they were going backwards. They needed to go after Pestilence and they needed his ring so they could end this once in for all.

"You can't keep ignoring them."

Dean's hand settled on her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder as she replied, "Tell me that after we put Lucifer back where he belongs."

SUPERNATURAL

The Impala was parked outside the nursing home Brady had revealed was Pestilence's location.

"So this is Dr. Evil's lair, huh?" Dean asked.

"It's kind of more depressing than evil," Sam added.

"To Pestilence it might as well be a playground," Addy agreed.

"Great. A whole building full of people. We don't know who's human, who's demon, and who's pestilence. So what do we do?" Sam asked.

"I've got an idea," Addy said and both brothers turned to look at her.

SUPERNATURAL

Addy walked into the security guard's office with several monitors that showed the camera feeds of the entire building. Dean followed behind her.

"Hi," she said sweetly, "We're looking for his grandmother."

"I call her Nana," Dean added for sympathy, "Uh, her name is Eunice Kennedy."

Addy shot him an exasperated look, "If you could just-"

"Go around front and see the nurse," the security guard said gruffly.

"You mind just helping me out, sir? Uh, she's about, uh, about that small and gray hair, wears diapers," Dean explained and then quickly delivered a hard punch to the security guard who fell back out cold.

"Eunice Kennedy?" Sam questioned as he joined them.

"That's the beauty about improv, Sammy. You never know what's gonna come out of your mouth," he said with a goofy smile.

They settled into the chairs and patiently waited as they watched the screens for signs of anything suspicious. Time went on with no sign of the horsemen.

Dean began to nod off and Addy kicked his chair, "I'm awake."

"What are we even looking for?" Sam asked.

"Well, he's Pestilence, so he probably looks sick," Dean answered.

"It's a nursing home," Addy said with an eye roll, "Everyone looks sick."

One of the monitors flickered and died out and they exchanged a look as Dean said, "Oh, now we're talking."

SUPERNATURAL

They walked down the halls, knives in hand. Addy held the demon knife as she followed behind Dean.

"We're getting close," Addy whispered as they rounded a corner to see two dead bodies of a doctor and nurse, "Really close."

Sam coughed into his hand and pulled it back to see blood, "Oh crap."

"What's-" Dean began but started coughing violently, "Aw hell."

"Pestilence is affecting you," she said as they became weaker and weaker with each step they took.

"You think?" Dean asked and started to sink to the floor. She caught him and pulled him up.

"Come on," she coaxed, "Stay up. We need to-"

She began to cough herself and her vision became blurry as she collapsed beneath Dean's weight and stumbled after Sam into a room with an older, sickly looking man, Pestilence.

"Sam. Dean. Addy," he said, "Come right in."

Addy pulled herself to her feet and pointed the knife at Pestilence but the fell to her knees with a groan and blood spurted from her mouth as she fell to her side.

"Addy," Dean groaned at her side and he reached for her but Pestilence stepped on his hand with force.

"Hmm. You three don't look well. It might be the, uh, Scarlet fever. Or, uh, the meningitis. Oh! Or the syphilis. That's no fun. However you feel right now? It's gonna get so very, very much worse," the horsemen said, crouching over Addy, "I bet you're wondering why my powers are working on you. Well, that's simple. I don't give a damn about Lucifer's little rule about hands off his whore."

He stood back up and began to pace slowly, "Disease gets a bad rap, don't you think? For being filthy, chaotic. Uh, but, really, that just describes people who get sick. Disease itself is very...pure, single-minded. Bacteria have one purpose. Divide and conquer. That's why in the end it always wins. So, you've got to wonder why God pours all his love into something so messy and weak. It's ridiculous. All I can do is show him he's wrong, one epidemic at a time. Now on a scale of 1 to 10, how's your pain?"

The door opened to reveal Cas.

"Cas," Dean rasped out.

"How'd you get here?" Pestilence asked curiously instead of threatened.

"I took a bus. Don't worry, I-" the angel began but he fell to the ground, coughing furiously as Pestilence's power affected him too.

"Well, look at that. An occupied vessel, but powerless. Oh, that's fascinating. There's not a speck of angel in you, is there?" he asked in spite and curiosity.

The angel grabbed the demon knife from the ground and in a burst of strength Cas managed to slice the ring from Pestilence's hand and he let out an angry roar of pain.

"Maybe just a speck," Cas said as the effects of Pestilence wore off.

"It doesn't matter," he said, gripping his bloodied hand as a slow smile spread across his features, "It's too late."

With that, he vanished. As Addy stood back up, helping Sam and Dean to their feet as well she picked up the ring and closed her fist around it.

"Three down. One to go," she said, looking between Cas and the brothers.

SUPERNATURAL

"We're getting close," Dean said, Addy's head in his lap as she inspected Pestilence's ring on the steps of Bobby's front porch.

"I know," she replied, looking at it carefully, "but at what cost?"

"What do you…" he began but as she met his eyes he knew what she was referring to.

"We're not letting him say yes to Lucifer," she said with determined eyes, "He's not jumping in that cage."

"I know," was his reply.

She sighed and sat up. Rather than let her go he wrapped his arms around her from behind so she could lean into him.

"We've lost enough to this fight and I'm not willing to lose others," she confessed, "We're not burning another body of a person we care about."

"No," he said and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "We're not."

"We can't stay out here forever," she said reluctantly as she enjoyed their closeness.

"Imagine if we could do this everyday," he whispered into her hair.

The thought of living a peaceful life with him complete with a front porch where they could be like this all the time put a smile on her face.

"Who would've thought Dean Winchester liked to cuddle so much?" she teased.

"Shut up," he said with a smirk she could practically hear on his face.

"What's next? You gonna start saying you wub me?"

"If you were anyone else I'd have shot you by now."

"Ditto."

He chuckled and buried his face in her neck, delivering a swift, peppered kisses to her skin. She loved this. Being in his arms was the best place in the world.

"I do love you, you know."

"Careful Deano. You're starting to sound a little needy."

"Keep it up, princess. I'll spank the smart ass right out of you."

She bit her lip as his lips blew out shiver inducing breath on her ear. She grabbed his thigh, digging the pads of her fingers into the muscle with a smirk,"Is that a promise?"

"What kind of kinky shit are you into woman?" he asked, only slightly taken aback by the one woman who could continually surprise him.

"Remind me to think of a safeword."

"For you?"

She snorted a laugh, "For you. Give me a few hours and I'll show you why what Kitty can really do."

She heard him gulp and she moved ever so slightly, brushing up against him," You're gonna be the fucking death of me."

"Not if you use your safeword."

She turned back to look at him with a mischievous grin.

"We should go back inside before I shoot my damn pants."

"Love you too."

"Well if you say it like that..." he strained out, adjust himself as he stood up and pulled her with him. They made their way inside to Bobby's study where he was parked behind his desk, talking to Sam. Addy took a seat by Sam and Dean stood behind her as she put the ring next to the others on Bobby's desk. Cas leaned against the doorway in an almost watchful position.

"Well, it's nice to actually score a home run for once, ain't it?" Bobby asked and took in their grave expressions, "What?"

"Last thing Pestilence said was it's too late," Sam quoted.

"He get specific?" the older hunter asked.

"No," was Sam's sullen reply.

"We think he left a little going away present somewhere," Addy said, running her hands though her hair, "Croatoan virus."

"So please tell us you have actual good news," Dean said.

"Chicago's about to be wiped off the map. Storm of the millennium. Sets off a daisy chain of natural disasters. Three million people are gonna die."

"I don't understand your definition of good news," Cas said and then wandered off.

"You and me both Cas," Addy mumbled, putting a hand to her temple.

"Well Death, the horseman. He's gonna be there. And if we can stop him before he kick-starts this storm, get his ring back…" Bobby began.

"Yeah, you make it sound so easy," Dean said and Addy shot him a warning look to calm down.

"Hell, I'm just trying to put a spin on it," Bobby said defensively.

"Well-" Sam began but Addy cut him off.

"Bobby how'd you figure this all out?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"I had, you know...Help."

"Don't be so modest, "a now familiar voice said and they turned to see Crowley, "I barely helped at all. Hello, boys…Chihuahua. Pleasure, et cetera. Go ahead. Tell them. There's no shame in it."

"Bobby? Tell us what?" Sam asked, turning back to him with wide eyes.

"World's gonna end. Seems stupid to get all precious over one little...soul," Bobby said guiltily.

"You sold your soul?" Dean yelled.

"Oh, more like pawned it. I fully intend to give it back," Crowley said and they turned back to him.

"Well, then give it back!" Dean demanded.

"I will," the demon said with a shrug.

"Now!" Addy yelled at the same time Sam asked Bobby, "Did you kiss him?"

"Sam!" Addy and Dean said in disgust at him.

"Just wondering," Sam said innocently and the three hunters turned to look at Bobby with a questioning look.

"No!" he said defensively and Crowley loudly cleared his throat. They turned to see him holding a picture of the two kissing.

Addy slowly turned back to Bobby with a grimace who said, "Why'd you take a picture?"

"Why do you have to use tongue?" Crowley countered with a smirk.

"All right. You know what? I'm sick of this. Give him his soul back now," Dean said, advancing towards Crowley.

"I'm sorry. I can't," he said without a trace of regret in his voice.

Addy stood up and walked next to Dean, "Can't or won't, Crowley?"

"I won't, all right? It's insurance," he said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Crowley think very carefully about the next words that come out of your mouth," she warned, "What do you mean insurance?"

"You kill demons. Gigantor over there has a temper issue about it and as do you little Chihuahua and as much as it pains me to admit it you scare me. But you won't kill me... As long as I have that soul in the deposit box."

"You son of a bitch," Bobby growled.

"I'll return it. After all this is over, and I can walk safely away. Do we all understand each other?"

"Fine," Addy said, crossing her arms.

"Good now if you could kindly-"

She stepped in front of him so they were face to face, "And after all this is over and you walk away in what you think is safety I will not stop until I find you and when I do I'm going to take all my temper issues out on you for weeks until I get bored and end your disgusting presence. Now do you and I understand each other?"

"Absolutely," he said smoothly and she brushed past him making sure to knock him aside.

SUPERNATURAL

Dean slammed the trunk of the Impala closed with more force than usual. They along with Crowley were going for Death. Sam and Cas were going to stop the shipment of Croatoan virus disguised as vaccine.

"Dean," she said softly and put a hand on his shoulder. He relaxed beneath her touch and turned to her, "It's time."

He nodded and followed her over to Sam, Bobby, and Cas who had just finished loading the van.

"All right, well Good luck stopping the whole zombie apocalypse," Dean said to his brother.

"Yeah. Good luck killing Death," he said to them and Addy snorted a laugh, "What?"

"About three years ago I used to think hunting wendigos and ghouls was hard," she said with a small smile, "Now I'm about to stop the apocalypse. Time flies with Winchesters."

Both of the brothers managed a chuckle and she met Sam's eyes. Wordlessly, they embraced in a hug.

"Be careful Sasquatch," she whispered.

"You too," he replied and released her looking to Dean, "Make sure both of you come back."

"You got it," was his brother's reply.

Sam pulled out the demon knife, "You might need this."

"Keep it," Crowley said, once again appearing out of thin air and startling them. He handed Dean a small scythe, "Dean's covered. Death's own. Kills, golly, demons and angels and reapers and, rumor has it, the very thing itself."

"How'd you get that?" Cas asked in wonder.

"Hello king of the crossroads. So, shall we?" he asked and looked to Bobby, "You just gonna sit there?"

"No, I'm gonna river dance," Bobby replied sarcastically and Addy smirked to herself.

"I suppose if you want to impress the ladies, "he said and they all looked at him with questioning faces, "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Really wasted that crossroads deal. Fact you get more if you phrase it properly. So, I took the liberty of adding a teeny little sub-a clause on your behalf. What can I say? I'm an altruist. Just gonna sit there?"

Addy looked to Bobby with wide eyes and slowly the old hunter rose to his feet.

"Son of a bitch," Bobby whispered and Addy threw her arms around him.

"Yes, I know. Completely worth your soul. I'm a hell of a guy," Crowley said as Addy released him and turned to the demon with a thankful gaze.

"Thanks," Bobby said in shock.

"Still want to kill me?" Crowley asked her.

She looked from Bobby's wheelchair back to the demon, "Yes but I'll skip the torturing part."

He sighed dramatically, "This is getting maudlin. Can we go?"

SUPERNATURAL

"Hey, let's stop for pizza," Crowley said as a cold settled over Addy's skin in the passenger seat. The Impala cruised the streets of Chicago.

"Crowley," Addy said.

"Yes Chihuahua."

"Shut up and tell us where to go."

He sighed, "Always business with you. Up ahead. Big, ugly building. Ground zero. Horseman's stable, if you will. He's in there."

"How do you know?" Dean asked, following his directions.

"Have you met me? 'Cause I know. Also, the block is squirming with reapers. I'll be right back," he said and disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds, "Boy, is my face red. Death's not in there."

Addy whipped her head towards him, "What?"

"So you want to cut the cute and get to the part where you tell us where he is?" Dean asked, coming to a break.

"Sorry. I don't know," the demons said with a shrug.

"I must not have heard that right," Addy said though clenched teeth, "You don't know?"

"Signs pointed. I'm just as shocked as you."

"Bobby sold his soul for this!" Dean yelled.

"Relax. All deals are soul back or store credit. We'll catch Death in the next doomed city."

"Millions are about to die Crowley," Addy yelled at him, "Any second now this place is going down. We can't let that happen."

"True," he quipped, "So I suggest we get out of here."

"So, what? Call in a bomb threat? 1,000 bomb threats? I mean, how the hell am I supposed to get three million people out of Chicago in the next 10 minutes?" Dean yelled, growing panicked but Crowley had disappeared, "Come on!"

"Dean," Addy said, pointing across the street at a pizzeria as Crowley tried to tell them something near its entrance, "Damn it Crowley we can't hear you."

"I said I found him," he said, reappearing in the backseat once again, "Death. He's in there."

"You coming or…" Dean began asking the demon but once again he vanished, "Or not."

"Guess it's just you and me," Addy said, staring at the restaurant.

"I think you should-"

"I'm going," she said with finality, "You go. I go. End of story. Got it?"

He searched her eyes for a second, "Got it."

"Now let's go," she said, beginning to open the door but Dean pulled her back and attached his lips to hers.

"Now we can go," he said when he finally released her.