At Hell's Gates

by mrsemmettcullen12

What if Sam had a twin sister? This is the story of Dean and Sam with a sister, Alex.

44. Save You Tonight

This is my first story, so please be nice. Tell me what you think.

I do not own any of the characters (except for Alex) and I do not own any of the storylines. I am SO sorry that it has taken me forever to update. School has finally ended so hopefully I'll be able to churn out more chapters a whole lot faster!

Anyway, this story is getting a little long, so I may begin writing the sequel/continuation soon! Thanks for sticking with me and still reading! It is very much appreciated!

Chapter 44

Sam, Alex, and Dean flashed their fake CDC badges to the nurse at the local hospital in Maryville, Missouri. She eyed their badges skeptically.

"You three expect me to believe that you're CDC?" she asked.

Dean exchanged looks with both of his siblings.

"Excuse me?" asked Sam.

"It's just that you're a day early. This must be the first time in history that I haven't sat on my ass all day waiting for you people."

Dean, Alex, and Sam all smirked.

"New administration," explained Dean.

The woman gave him a brief smile.

"Right."

She walked over to the wall where the dead bodies were located and pulled out the dead body that they needed to see. An old man was lying on the cold metal slab.

"Meet Xavier. Date of birth, April 3rd, 1984."

All three of the siblings looked at her strangely and she nodded in agreement.

"I know, I even ran the DNA twice. That's definitely him."

"So what's your theory?" asked Alex, looking at the nurse.

"All I know is I see this male, almost 30 years old, and he died of old age."

The nurse walked away, the man's file in her hands.

"Bobby, you were right about this one. It's definitely a job," explained Dean.

He, Sam, and Alex were leaving the hospital's morgue, Sam loosening his tie as they walked outside. Dean was on the phone with Bobby.

"Yeah, I thought so. Any other stiffs in town?" replied Bobby.

"Nope, just the one body. A couple missing persons were reported, but that's not unusual for a town this size," answered Dean.

"Well, check them out anyway. Call it a hunch, but I think that they all might be connected. Check it out, will you?"

"You got it, Bobby. Take care," said Dean.

He hung up his phone, sliding it back into the pockets of his black dress pants.

"Looks like we've got some people to talk to about their missing family members," said Alex.

Dean nodded and the three of them climbed into the Impala.

"That's the most recent photo," said an older woman, handing a framed photograph over to Dean, who was sitting across from her on her floral patterned couch.

Sam and Alex leaned over to look at the picture of the woman's husband. He was at a golf course, holding his golf clubs and smiling as he stood on the golf green.

"And how long has he been missing, Mrs. Whitlowe?" asked Alex.

"Oh, I knew right away when he didn't come home on Tuesday night," explained the Mrs. Whitlowe.

"Is there someplace he likes to go? After work, perhaps?" asked Dean.

Sam's eyebrows pulled together as he focused on the picture once more, seeing an elaborate tattoo on the man's right arm. The tattoo looked like a crest of some sort.

"Did he have a favorite bar or anything?" asked Alex.

The woman chuckled briefly.

"No. On Tuesdays, he always works a bit late, but he always comes straight home."

Dean smiled.

"May I use your facilities, ma'am?" he asked her.

Mrs. Whitlowe nodded and pointed down the hallway to where Dean would be able to find the nearest bathroom. Dean headed down the hallway, checking behind him to make sure he couldn't be seen as he walked into the office. He searched through everything, finally finding a receipt in a suit jacket pocket. The receipt was from a Golden Palace massage parlor. Dean scoffed.

"Working late, my ass," he said to himself.

He pocketed the receipt and headed back out into the family room to join the others.

"Well, at least the man's consistent. Same room every Tuesday, hourly rates," said Sam.

Alex made a disgusted face as they walked farther along the place, not liking the Golden Palace massage parlor.

"I hope I get a kick out of this shit when I'm his age," said Dean.

Sam scoffed, chuckling.

"Yeah, like either of us will even live that long."

"True," said Dean.

The two men stopped when they reached the end of the hall, standing in front of room 48.

"So, what do you think is in there?" asked Sam.

"Prostitutes," said Alex.

Sam and Dean rolled their eyes at Alex.

"I'm just saying, this is one of those 'happy endings' massage parlors. I mean, this place reeks of sleaze," said Alex, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, let's just go ahead and check it out," said Dean.

"Here goes nothing," remarked Sam.

The two brothers stepped closer to the door, Alex standing right behind the two of them. Sam began pulling out small tools he would need to pick the lock when they suddenly heard yelling from inside the room.

"Oh my God! No, please!" yelled a man.

Sam dropped what he was holding and rammed his shoulder into the door, breaking it open. He rushed inside along with his siblings and they stopped in the middle of the room, taking in the scene. A young man was lying in a heart shaped bed, one woman on his right side and another woman crawling up from under the covers. The two women quickly got up from the bed and headed into the bathroom.

"Sorry. We've, um, got the wrong room, apparently," said Dean.

"Would you close the door?" asked the guy.

Dean nodded and headed for the door, Alex and Sam right behind him. As Sam grabbed the door to close it, he noticed a tattoo on the man's right arm.

"Hey. Nice tattoo," said Sam.

He walked back into the room.

"You wouldn't happen to know anyone named Cliff Whitlowe, would you?" asked Sam.

The man looked down at the blankets on his bed, shaking his head.

"Nope. Never heard of him," he answered.

Sam scoffed.

"Well, that's just weird because you're carrying his wallet."

Sam held up the brown leather wallet, his eyebrows raised. Dean and Alex walked into the middle of the room then.

"Wow, Cliff, you look really great. Did you happen to get some work done?" asked Dean, being totally sarcastic.

The man sighed and shook his head, looking down at the floor once again. He looked over at the two Asian girls who were standing in the bathroom doorway.

"Could you ladies please give us some privacy?" asked Cliff.

Dean winked over at the two of them and Alex just rolled her eyes. Cliff climbed out of his bed and threw on a blue silk robe. He handed them each a $100 bill and then shut the door, locking it once they were gone. He whirled around to face the three siblings.

"Alright, please don't tell my wife about all of this," begged Cliff, sweat beginning to form on his forehead already.

"Alright, slow down there, pal," said Sam.

"No, I'm begging you, as far as she knows, I'm dead. For the love of God, let's please keep it that way."

"How can you possibly be Cliff Whitlowe?" asked Alex.

"I can't tell you," answered Cliff.

Dean raised his eyebrows, looking taken aback.

"Well, either you tell us or we tell the missus," threatened Dean.

Cliff threw his palms up in surrender.

"Okay, okay. It was a game."

"Like what, a freaking X-Box game? Come on, Cliff!" yelled Alex.

"What the hell is an X-Box? No, it was a poker game. High stakes, but instead of cash, you play for years."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Dean.

"Look, I know that this sounds completely crazy. A guy comes up to me at a bar and invites me to play. He gives me 25 of these weirdo poker chips, alright? He does some sort of weird chant over them and suddenly, they're worth 25 years. I'm laughing my ass off at first, but then I come out up. And now look at me!" yells Cliff, his grin wide.

"What exactly was he chanting?" asked Sam, looking skeptical.

"How the hell should I know? All I know is that my bad hip's good, I threw away my glasses, and one of those hookers was here for free! That man was some kind of miracle worker."

"What does this miracle worker look like?" asked Alex.

"He was just some guy. Maybe 35 years old, brown hair? Irish accent. His name's Patrick," explained Cliff, his grin fading.

"Where's this game at?" asked Dean.

"He said he always likes to be moving and he never stays in one bar too long. He finds you," said Cliff.

Dean looked at his siblings.

"Well, thank you, Cliff."

Dean ushered Alex to the door first, letting her walk out with Sam right behind her. He stopped in the doorframe, glancing back at Cliff.

"Stay classy, Cliff."

Dean closed the door behind him and followed his siblings out into the cool morning air.

The three siblings turned a corner, walking away from the massage parlor. Dean was on the phone with Bobby, discussing what Cliff had just told all of them.

"That sounds crazy, right?" asked Dean.

"Actually, no. There's a ton of lore on that stuff, dates back to centuries ago. Traveling card player pops into town, you beat him and you get your best years back. Of course, most players lose," explained Bobby.

"Well, that would explain the way too old corpse that we all saw back at the morgue."

"Supposedly this player's one hell of a card shark. He's got a lot of years in his piggy bank. Did you find the bar he's working at yet?"

Dean scoffed into his cell phone.

"There's a whole hell of a lot of bars in this town. We're gonna have to split up."

"Then why the hell are you still talking to me, boy?"

Bobby rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. Dean pulled his cell phone away from his ear, shoving it back into his pocket as he walked alongside Alex and Sam.

A few hours later, Alex was on the phone with Sam.

"Find anything?" asked Sam.

Alex glanced around the dive bar that she was currently standing in.

"Well, besides a few appreciative glances, no, I haven't found anything. Dean having any luck?" asked Alex.

She rolled her eyes at the man who was sitting at the end of the bar, looking over at her. He licked his lips as she glanced at him and she turned away from him.

"Nope, not when I talked to him five minutes ago. If you come back dry, just circle back around to the motel. I'll be there soon," instructed Sam.

"Will do. Should I grab dinner? I'm pretty sure it's my turn to buy anyway."

"Yeah, go ahead. You know what Dean wants. Extra bacon on his."

"Yep, got it. I'm on my way out now. See you later, Sammy," said Alex.

"Be careful, little sister."

Alex smiled and hung up her cell phone. She took one last glance around before sighing and heading outside to walk back to the motel and grab some dinner along the way.

Dean took a seat at the bar that he was scoping out and flagged down the bartender.

"One Budweiser please."

The bartender nodded and grabbed the beer from the fridge behind him. As he wiped it down and began opening it, Dean looked at him.

"You wouldn't happen to know of a poker game happening in the back here, would you?"

Dean's eyes were hopeful, but the bartender glared at him. He set the bottle of beer down in front of him.

"This is a bar, not a casino," answered the bartender.

Dean nodded and fished around in the pocket of his leather jacket.

"Well, my friend Ben here told me that you would know."

The bartender leaned forward, his voice stern as he spoke to Dean.

"Listen, pal. I don't know any Ben and I don't know nothing about no game."

"Are you sure? Because Ben sure seems to know you."

Dean subtly slid the $100 bill across the bar top. The bartender glanced at Dean and then down at the large bill. He looked around and then grabbed the cash, pocketing it. He then spoke quietly and out of the side of his mouth.

"Around back, take the elevator down."

Dean nodded and headed for the back of the bar. He slowly opened the back door and stepped outside, finding himself in a dark alleyway. He began slowly walking toward the elevator that was a few feet down the alley. As he got close enough to reach out and open the door, it slammed open. Dean looked taken aback as Bobby came cruising out of the door.

"Bobby. What the hell are you doing here?" asked Dean.

Bobby scoffed.

"Planting fucking daisies, what does it look like I'm doing? I came in on this case," answered Bobby.

"And you beat me here?"

"Well, apparently brains trump legs these days."

Bobby began wheeling past Dean in his wheelchair and Dean followed him.

"So you found the poker game?" asked Dean.

"Yes."

"Did you stop it?"

Bobby didn't answer so Dean asked again.

"Bobby?"

Bobby finally stopped and wheeled around to face Dean.

"Not exactly," he finally answered.

"What did you do, Bobby?" whispered Dean.

Bobby sighed loudly.

"I played, alright?"

Dean's eyebrows rose.

"And?"

"I lost."

Dean cursed under his breath, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Bobby? You played some damn he-witch?"

"Don't you take that tone with me, boy. They're my years and I can do whatever the hell I want to do with them!" yelled Bobby.

"How many did you lose, Bobby, huh?"

Bobby hesitated, breathing heavily as he looked up into Dean's angry face. He sighed and looked down at the asphalt ground as he answered.

"25," he whispered.

Dean stared at him, watching the age begin to take over his face. He clenched his jaw with anger and then pointed at Bobby.

"We're not done," threatened Dean.

He turned around and walked back into the bar, looking for the witch.

Dean saw a man talking to a couple over at the right corner of the bar. He walked towards the three of them, hearing the Irish accent in the man's voice. He tapped the man on the shoulder and he whirled around.

"Excuse me, folks. I need to talk to this man."

The Irish man looked at him strangely, but then Dean subtly directed the man's attention to the gun on his hip. The man took it in and then glanced back up at Dean, smiling and nodding.

"Oh, right, of course. Good to see you, lad."

He excused himself from the couple and followed Dean to an empty table in the corner of the large bar. He sat down across from Dean.

"Look, I don't know what you think it is that I did to your girlfriend, wife, sister, whoever, but I just want you to know that my feelings were real."

Dean scoffed.

"That isn't my problem, man. Or witch. You see, you owe my friend some years."

The man nodded in understanding.

"Oh, so that's what this is. Well, I'm sorry, but he lost. Fair and square."

"Well, then un-lose him."

Dean smirked and cocked his gun under the tabletop so that the Irish man would hear it click. The Irish man didn't even flinch.

"Oh, go ahead and shoot me if it makes you feel any better. I could use a good tickle. But if you want some years, great. Play me for 'em."

Dean clenched his teeth.

"Fine," he ground out.

"Dean, no," said Bobby, his voice only a whisper now.

Dean turned to look at him behind him.

"They're my years and I can do what I want with them," responded Dean.

Bobby shook his head and began coughing profusely. He held a hand to his chest as he coughed painfully.

"C'mon, let's do this," said Dean, looking back at the man.

The man raised his eyebrows.

"You understand the terms, I presume?" he asked Dean.

Dean nodded slightly. The man smiled and stuck a toothpick in between his teeth.

"Follow me, gentlemen."

Alex bit her lip as she sat on the edge of the bed. She glanced over at the Wendy's bag on the table. Dean's food was now cold and had been sitting there for a while. Sam sighed, set down his laptop computer, and leaned forward, gently touching a thumb to Alex's bottom lip so that she would stop biting it. Alex sighed and released her lip.

"Sammy, Dean's not back yet. Where the hell is he?" asked Alex.

Sam just shrugged.

"I have no clue. I wish I knew. You don't think he found the poker game, do you?" asked Sam, looking at his twin sister.

Alex looked back at him, fear for Dean written all over her face.

"Sammy, something's not right. I can feel it in my heart," whispered Alex.

Sam sighed and closed his laptop. He set it down on the nightstand beside him and Alex climbed up higher on the bed, resting her head on Sam's shoulder. She cuddled into his side. Sam stroked her hair slowly and gently.

"He'll be fine, Alex. I promise."

Sam leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Alex nodded against his shoulder and closed her eyes, falling asleep within minutes.

An hour and a half later, both Sam and Alex jolted awake to the sound of the door being unlocked. They jumped out of their bed and each of them grabbed their gun, aiming it at the front door. An old man stood in the doorway and he looked alarmed as he saw Sam and Alex with guns pointing at his head.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Sam.

"Dude, relax, it's me," said the old man.

Alex's eyes grew wide as she lowered her gun to her side. Sam lowered his slowly.

"Dean?" he whispered.

The old man stepped into the room, closing the motel room door behind him and looking sheepishly down at the carpeted floor.

"Hi," he said.

"What the hell happened?" asked Sam.

"I… You know, found the poker game," answered Dean.

"You… Dean, I thought you said you were good at poker!" yelled Alex.

"I am! Shut up," said Dean.

He sat down at the small table in the room, sighing.

"So you two were just gonna shoot an old man, huh?"

"We didn't know what you were! You look like-"

"An old chick from the Titanic, I know."

Alex chuckled while Sam just looked confused.

"Well, I was gonna say Emperor Palpatine," said Sam.

The door banged open once again, but this time it was Bobby wheeling himself into their motel room.

"I see that you two have now met John McCain over there," said Bobby, rolling his eyes as he nodded his head toward Dean.

"Yes. Do either one of you want to tell Sam and I here the full story of what actually happened?" asked Alex.

She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, looking stern. Dean sighed.

"Bobby's an idiot, that's what happened," said Dean.

"Hey, nobody asked you to play, dumbass," replied Bobby.

"Well, I couldn't just let you die!"

"And for damn sure nobody asked you to lose!"

Alex and Sam chuckled at the two of them arguing.

"It's like Grumpy Old Men," said Sam, laughing.

"Shut up, Sam!" yelled both Bobby and Dean.

Sam's smile faded as Alex laughed even harder.

"What the hell were you thinking, anyway? He's a witch! He's been playing poker forever, you know," said Dean, turning back to yell at Bobby.

Bobby sighed.

"You just won't get it."

"Yeah, I get it, Bobby. You saw the chance to turn the hands of that clock back and get out of the damn chair. Pretty tempting, I would say. I can imagine-"

"No, you can't," said Bobby.

"You know what? You're right, I've never been paralyzed. But I have been to Hell and every archangel there was wanting me to drop the damn soap! Look at me, my junk's rustier than yours!"

"Eww, that's so gross, Dean," said Alex.

Dean shrugged.

"Whatever. Let's talk about solving this small issue, shall we, fellas?" asked Alex.

She walked over to the table and pulled out a chair, sitting in it backwards. Sam, Dean, and Bobby sat down at the table as well, Bobby rolling his chair up to it.

"Now, it's gotta be something with those damn poker chips," explained Bobby, looking between Alex and Sam.

Dean held up a finger.

"I slid them across the table and then Patrick did his little number. After that, you prettied up in a hurry, Bobby."

"Well, what do you all think then? You think he's using some king of magic chips or something?" asked Sam, looking between Dean and Bobby.

"Definitely," answered Bobby, nodding.

"Bobby, do you remember what he chanted?" asked Dean.

"Yep, every word."

"Alright then. Let's find out where the guy stashes his chips," said Alex.

"Then steal me 50 of 'em," said Dean, winking at Alex.

She rolled her eyes. A knock sounded on the door then. Dean jumped up to open it. A pretty young Latina woman was standing on the other side of the door, her cart of cleaning supplies right beside her. She smiled warmly at Dean as he opened the door. Dean smirked as he took her in and leaned against the doorframe.

"Ready for housekeeping, sir?" asked the maid.

"Oh, I was born ready," replied Dean.

The woman chuckled.

"Oh, you're just like my grandfather. He hits on anything that moves too. You're adorable," she said.

"And dangerous!" yelled Dean, watching as she walked into their hotel room.

She laughed even harder while Sam smirked from his seat, holding in his laugh. Alex and Bobby laughed silently. Dean sighed.

"Can we please just go now?" he asked the three of them.

Bobby sighed as they walked into the apartment complex where Patrick lived, having discreetly followed him home. The elevator had an "Out of Order" sign on it.

"Well, I'm out," said Bobby, sighing.

Sam and Alex looked at him sadly, but headed for the stairs, Dean following them. Sam and Alex jogged up the stairs while Dean quickly fell behind their pace. He huffed and puffed as he slowly walked up the stairs behind his siblings.

"Dean," said Alex.

She pointed to the sign beside the door, indicating that this was only the second flight of stairs they had climbed. He rolled his eyes while Alex and Sam continued on. They reached Room 3701, Sam quickly picking the lock to let them all inside Patrick's apartment. Dean shut the door behind him and began inspecting the large apartment with Sam and Alex. Dean smirked as he opened an armoire and saw a safe located behind a hollow wall.

"Sam, Alex, over here," he called out to his siblings.

Sam and Alex walked over to him. Dean smirked as he began turning the dial on the safe.

"Dime store model. Piece of cake."

As Dean turned the dial, his vision would fade in and out, becoming blurry and then returning to normal again and again. Sam rolled his eyes while Alex let out an exhale of impatience.

"Jesus, this is pathetic. Here, watch out," said Sam, taking over the lock for Dean.

Dean was pushed out of the way by Sam and he gave him a dirty look. Sam had the safe open in less than 30 seconds and he shrugged as he looked back at Dean. The safe had all of the magic coins in it.

"You know, I could've done that," said Dean.

Sam said nothing, but began pulling coins out of the safe and putting them into his bag. Not one of them saw a woman appear out of nowhere.

"What are you doing?" she asked them.

All three of the siblings whirled around to face her. Dean looked at her, very confused.

"Aren't you the chick from the bar?" he asked her.

"I'm a lot more than that," she replied.

She twisted her hand into a fist and all three of them groaned in pain. Patrick came running up to her then, pushing her hand down gently, allowing the three of them to stand up straight once again.

"No, it's alright, sweetheart, it's alright. These three are harmless."

Patrick crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at the three of them.

"You three want chips? You can take them all. They're just chips. This may come as a shock, but the magic does not lie in some pile of poker chips. It's in the 900 year old witch. Now, you three want some years? Score them the old fashioned way. Texas Hold 'Em," explained Patrick.

He stuck another toothpick into his mouth, just as he had when he had begun to make a deal with Dean during the first game of poker that Dean had played.

"Fine. Let's do this," said Dean.

Patrick smirked and pulled a playing card out of his pocket. He held it up to Dean.

"What card am I holding up?"

Dean looked at it, squinting, but then looked down at the ground sheepishly.

"That's exactly what I thought. If your eyesight's that bad, what about your memory? I'm no murderer," said Patrick.

He stuck the card back into his pocket and then pointed behind Dean at Sam.

"Now, you on the other hand…"

Dean turned back to face his brother.

"No, Sam," he whispered, warning him.

"Dean," warned Sam.

"What, is Sam not much of a player?" asked Patrick.

Dean glared back at him. Patrick stepped back, his hands up in surrender.

"Well, alright then. You all are free to go. Have a good rest of your life, Dean. Well, whatever's left of it. But Sam, I can't let you leave without a bit of a parting gift."

Patrick clapped his hands together slowly three times.

"What are you doing?" asked Sam.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," hinted Patrick.

He winked at Alex as he shut the door on the three of them. As they walked downstairs, Sam began rearranging his junk, messing with it every few steps.

"Sam, I believe that he-witch just gave you the clap," said Dean.

Alex's eyes widened and Sam looked shocked as Dean chuckled.

The next morning, Alex wheeled Bobby up the hill that led them from their motel room to the parking lot. Sam stopped and turned to face all of them when they reached the top of the hill.

"You know, I still think I should play him," said Sam.

"Sam, no, you're not good enough. I'm better, Bobby's way better, and we both lost," explained Dean.

"Exactly," said Bobby.

"So, what, so I don't get a say in this at all anymore?" asked Sam.

"Sammy, when you get to be our age-" began Dean.

"You're fucking 30 years old, Dean. Look, I've watched you hustle plenty of poker," said Sam.

"Just knowing the game isn't enough, Sam. It's not about playing the cards," began Bobby.

"It's about playing the other guy, I know all of this," argued Sam.

"Well, hooray for you. All I'm saying is I've played this guy. I know his style, I can take him."

"No, Bobby," said Dean, shaking his head.

"You don't have enough years in the bank," said Alex, smiling at him gently.

"I've got plenty."

"No, you'll die if you lose, Bobby," argued Sam.

"So what if I do, huh? What exactly am I living for, huh? The damn apocalypse? Watching all my friends and good men die while I sit in this chair? I'm old and I'm broke down and I ca…"

Bobby trailed off as his emotions got the better of him. Alex's eyes filled with tears watching him.

"I'm no longer a hunter. I'm absolutely useless and if I wasn't such a coward, I would've taken my own life a long time ago."

Alex let out a soft sob and turned away from him, walking away from her family to cry.

"Bobby, you are not playing again. I'm not… letting you do that. There has to be another way out of this and I'm going to find it, I will," promised Sam.

He walked away from Dean and Bobby and headed towards Alex.

Dean unlocked the motel room door, almost tripping over Bobby and his wheelchair as Bobby stopped in the middle of the room. The woman from Patrick's apartment was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, holding out a piece of paper to the two of them.

"Here. Take this. It will help you," she offered.

Dean looked at her warily, but Bobby wheeled himself over to her. He took the piece of paper from her hands.

"What is this?" he asked her, beginning to look over it.

"The most powerful reversal spell you've ever laid your eyes upon."

"And it reverses what exactly?" asked Dean.

"Patrick's work. All of it."

"Lady, you're saying that I could finally be normal again?" asked Dean, hopeful now.

"You, along with everyone else whom he's ever played. Whoever is still alive, I mean."

"And why in the hell should we trust you?" asked Dean, crossing his arms over his chest to try and look tough.

"Trust me or don't trust me, I really don't care. This spell is real."

"If it zaps everyone, don't that include your man?" asked Bobby.

She nodded.

"And me too."

"Lady, this doesn't add up. Why would you want that?" asked Bobby.

"I have my reasons. You all better do it quick because we are leaving town tomorrow."

She stood up, brushing past the both of them to leave their room.

Alex walked into the back room of the bar where Patrick played his poker games. She watched as an older man collected his winning chips and stood up, leaving the room. Alex looked back at him, her eyebrows pulled together with confusion.

"Well, that was awful nice of you," she commented.

"I'm a nice guy. So, what can I do for you, baby doll?" asked Patrick, smirking at her.

Alex rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"First of all, you can never call me that again."

She walked over to the table and sat down, watching Patrick shuffle the cards. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked him in the eye.

"Deal the cards."

Patrick's mouth turned up at the corner.

"Well, I was really hoping Sam would show up, but you are much better to look at than him."

Patrick shuffled the deck one more time and then passed Alex her cards. She looked them over, never giving anything away.

"You know, I like you Alex, I really do. You're intelligent, you've got a good heart. I have good old fashioned intuition," said Patrick.

"Right. Let's just play, alright?" asked Alex.

"We are playing, sweetheart."

Patrick set down his drink in the middle of the table, right by the deck of cards. He smirked over at her once again.

"Do your big brothers know you're here?"

Alex said nothing, but instead grabbed five poker chips.

"Bet five," she said, throwing the chips on the pile in the middle and looking Patrick right in the eye.

"Didn't think so."

Patrick grabbed a large handful of chips and set them down next to Alex's.

"I raise. So, here you are, right? Trying to clean up Dean and Bobby's mess and they still want to group you with all the kids, right? You and Sam, always the young ones."

Alex grabbed a couple of chips and began twirling them around in between her fingers as she thought about her next move.

"You're not a kid anymore, Alex. But then again, maybe you are. You're in over your head here, darling. You can keep making these moves, playing it cautious, but I'm still gonna kick your ass into the nearest nursing home," said Patrick.

"So does this armchair psychology routine usually work for you?"

Alex winked at him and licked her lips, causing Patrick to lose his grin from her unexpected move.

"Oh, why don't you tell me, beautiful. You're the one who's losing right now."

Alex's grin faded and Patrick chuckled again, gaining the upper hand and shuffling the cards once again. Alex watched as the woman from Patrick's apartment came into the room, kissing Patrick on the lips gently. Patrick smirked back at Alex, setting his toothpick down on the table.

"How about a little break?" he suggested to Alex.

Alex burst through the doors that led into the back alleyway. Dean and Sam were out there waiting for her.

"Alex, what the hell are you doing?" yelled Sam.

"How's it going in there?" asked Dean.

"How do you think it's going? What about you all, do you have everything you need?" asked Alex.

Dean sighed.

"Well, we still need a little he-witch DNA," said Sam.

Alex smirked and handed Sam the toothpick that Patrick had been chewing on during their poker game.

"He was chewing it. Now, please hurry up you guys."

Sam took the toothpick and headed away with Dean.

"Just keep him distracted. And Alex, please don't lose," begged Dean.

Alex nodded and headed back inside to her poker game while Sam and Dean took off to complete the reversal spell with Bobby.

Patrick slid chips over to Alex once he had sat back down again. The woman from his apartment was now standing behind him. As Alex dragged the chips over to her side, Patrick pulled a toothpick from his jacket pocket.

"Question. Is this what you meant to give your brothers?" he asked her.

Alex looked serious while Patrick smirked once again.

"The one you gave them never even touched my lips. It won't do you any good."

Patrick threw his toothpick into Alex's lap.

"I don't like cheating, Alex."

He clenched his fist and Alex grabbed her throat, gasping for air.

"Patrick, stop it. Let her go!" yelled the woman, grabbing Patrick's clenched fist.

"She tried to kill us!" yelled Patrick.

"I did that, I gave them the spell."

Patrick stopped what he was doing and looked over at her.

"What? Why… Why would you ever do that?"

He stood up, placing his hands on her face gently, almost reverently.

"You know why. You know."

She fingered the locket on her chest, which Patrick glanced at before sitting down again.

"Keep. Playing," he said to Alex.

After a few minutes, Patrick smirked. He threw his cards onto the table face down.

"I fold," he said.

Alex said nothing, but pulled the chips toward her.

"You had a pair of ladies, I'm guessing," said Patrick.

Alex threw down her cards face up, a 3 of diamonds and a 5 of clubs. Patrick nodded.

"Nice bluff. If we had time, I could make a great player out of you."

"Oh, I've got time," smirked Alex.

"Yes, maybe. But I can't say the same for Dean. Your oldest brother will be dead soon. And when I say soon, I mean minutes," threatened Patrick.

Alex stood up quickly, but Patrick clenched his fist once again and forced her to sit back down.

"The game's over when I say it's over. Now, place your bet."

The game went quickly, as Alex bid right away. Patrick placed cards down on the table.

"So when it's about your brothers, your brain just flies right out of the window, doesn't it? Good to know," said Patrick.

"You can go to Hell, fucker," said Alex.

She glanced down at her chips and then pushed them all into the pile in the middle of the table.

"I'm all in."

"I wouldn't do that, Alex."

"I can't leave until it's over, fine. It's over. Now where is Dean?" asked Alex.

"Look, there's poker and then there's just suicide," said Patrick.

"Just play your God damn hand," begged Alex.

Patrick pushed all of his chips into the pile as well. He began dealing the cards and then just stared at Alex for a couple of minutes. When he finally placed his hand down, Alex saw that it was a pair of Aces.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. Aces full," said Patrick.

Alex let out a breath she didn't realize that she had actually been holding. She looked over at the woman from Patrick's apartment, who was crying.

"You're actually crying right now? For a witch who's so nice, that's actually kind of creepy. But it's alright."

Alex turned back to look at Patrick now, nodding.

"It was a great hand."

Patrick leaned forward to collect his chips, but then Alex spoke up.

"Just not as great as four 4's."

She flipped her hand over and Patrick looked at it, smirking. He leaned back in his chair.

"Well played. You know, that whole going out of your head bit was excellent. There's certainly more to you than meets the eye."

Patrick raised his glass to her.

"Cash these in for Dean, please," said Alex.

Patrick nodded.

"With pleasure," said Patrick.

The next day, Bobby was talking to Alex about how she had beaten Patrick.

"So no tricks. You actually beat the guy?" asked Bobby, smirking over at her.

Alex threw up her hands, shrugging. She chuckled lightly.

"I'm just lucky, I guess."

Bobby chuckled and Alex leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

"I'm gonna help Sam and Dean get your car loaded up, alright?" said Alex.

Bobby nodded and Alex headed outside to where her brothers currently stood, loading up Bobby's van. She stopped in the doorway, turning back to look at him.

"Hey, Bobby?"

Bobby looked up, acknowledging her.

"You're not useless, alright? You're still a hunter and you always will be. Hearing you say things like that yesterday broke my heart. You're like a father to me. I couldn't bear it if I lost you. Besides, who's gonna give me away when I marry Kellan?"

Alex winked at Bobby then and Bobby smiled brightly back at her, chuckling. She headed outside and Bobby watched as Sam pulled Alex in for a hug once she reached the van. Dean smiled at the two of them and Bobby smiled at their interaction.

Dean slammed the fridge door closed, the bright yellow color of the fridge nearly blinding him as he looked at it. He whirled around to face the table, where a large sandwich was sitting on a plate. He smirked and the audience clapped while also laughing at him.

"I'm gonna need a bigger mouth," said Dean, staring at the sandwich.

The audience laughed and then Sam opened the door to the motel room, Alex walking in first followed by her twin brother. The audience clapped for them and Alex sat down at the table while Sam stood behind her chair.

"Hey there, Sam, Alex. What's happening?" asked Dean.

"Oh, nothing. Just the end of the world," said Sam, placing his hands on his hips.

The audience laughed and Alex glanced at the sandwich on the table. She looked up at Dean, her eyebrows raised.

"You're gonna need a bigger mouth," she said.

"Say, Dean, have you done any research yet?" asked Sam.

Dean looked away from him and instead stared down at the floor. When he looked back up at Sam, he nodded, smiling.

"Oh yeah! All kinds of research and all night too," answered Dean.

"Really?" asked Sam, his tone very sarcastic.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and a beautiful young woman walked out, wearing nothing but lingerie. The audience whistled and cat-called to her as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Oh, Dean?" she called out.

Dean's eyes widened as he turned to look back at her. Sam and Alex stared at Dean.

"We have some more research to do," said the almost naked woman, winking at him.

Dean turned back to face his siblings, who had both crossed their arms over their chest and were staring at Dean disapprovingly.

"Dean," reprimanded Alex, shaking her head at her oldest brother.

"Son of a bitch," said Dean, facing the audience.

The studio audience laughed on cue.

*WELLINGTON, OHIO- TWO DAYS EARLIER*

Alex rolled her eyes as she walked out of the bathroom and saw Dean watching some stupid soap opera on TV. The characters on the show were making out heavily as they rode in the elevator, one of them a nurse and the other a doctor. Dean's eyes were completely glued to the TV screen as Alex plopped herself down next to him on his bed.

"What are you two watching?" asked Sam, rolling up his sleeves and glancing at the TV screen as well.

"Ah, some hospital show. Dr. Sexy, M.D. I actually think that it's based on a book," answered Dean, his eyes never leaving the TV as he answered Sam's question.

Sam chuckled while Alex rolled her eyes once again.

"Dean, when did you hit menopause?" asked Sam.

"It's called channel surfing," said Dean, getting up from his seat on his bed.

"Whatever. You two losers ready?" asked Alex.

She stood up as well and smoothed down the wrinkles in her dress. Dean turned off the TV while Sam put his suit jacket on.

"Are you ready?" asked Sam.

Alex brushed past him, heading for the car.

"I guess that's a yes, then," said Dean, shrugging.

Sam smirked and followed Dean and Alex out to the Impala.

"So, explain this to me again. The FBI is here because why?" asked the officer at the front desk of the police station.

"Well, it might have something to do with one of your locals getting his head ripped off," said Dean.

"Bill Randolph died from a bear attack," said the police officer.

"How sure are you that it was really a bear?" asked Sam.

"What else would it be?"

"Well, whatever it was, it chased Mr. Randolph through the woods, smashed through his front door, followed him up the stairs, and then killed him in his bedroom. Now, is that really common behavior for a bear to do all of that?" asked Alex, raising her eyebrows at the man.

The police officer just smiled at her.

"Well now, I guess it depends on how damn pissed off that bear was. Look, the Randolphs live all the way up in that high country."

"Okay, but what about Mrs. Randolph? The file says she witness the whole thing," said Sam.

"Why yes, she did. And my heart goes out to that poor woman."

"And just to clarify here, she said that it was a bear who killed her husband?" asked Alex.

The police officer hesitated here, looking between the three siblings. He sighed deeply before answering.

"Cathie Randolph went through one hell of a trauma. She's just really confused right now."

All three Winchester siblings looked at the man.

"But what did she say exactly?" asked Dean.

The police officer sighed once more, but motioned them forward.

"Follow me," he said.

"No, it must have been a bear. I mean, what else could it have been?" said Mrs. Randolph, laughing slightly.

Sam, Alex, and Dean were sitting across the silver table from her in the interview room of the police station. Sam leaned forward onto the table as Mrs. Randolph looked down at her hands, sighing sadly into her lap.

"Mrs. Randolph. What did you think it was?" asked Sam.

"Um… No, I remember clearly now, it was, um, definitely a bear."

"Ma'am, we're sure it was, but you see, it helps us to hear every angle there is possible, so, please, just tell us what you thought you saw," suggested Dean.

"Well, it's impossible, but I could've sworn I saw… The Incredible Hulk."

Mrs. Randolph looked down at her lap once again, her mouth quirking up into a small smirk. Sam cleared his throat before speaking.

"The Incredible Hulk," he stated once again.

Mrs. Randolph looked up and over at him.

"See, I told you, it's simply just crazy."

"Bana or Norton?" asked Dean, smirking at Mrs. Randolph.

She shook her head quickly.

"Oh no, those movies were simply terrible. It was the TV Hulk," she replied.

Dean's eyebrows rose.

"Lou Ferrigno?" he asked her.

"Yes," she said.

"Spiky haired Lou Ferrigno?" clarified Dean once more.

Mrs. Randolph nodded quickly.

"Yes!"

"Huh," said Dean.

He looked at Alex and Sam, who also both had their eyebrows raised.

"Oh gosh, you three think I'm crazy, right?" cried Mrs. Randolph.

"Oh no, not at all! Um, no, it's just… Would there be any reason at all why Lou Ferrigno, The Incredible Hulk, would have a grudge against your husband?" asked Alex, smiling warmly over at Mrs. Randolph.

Mrs. Randolph's eyebrows furrowed together with confusion.

"No," she answered.

Dean looked up from the laptop screen as Sam walked in the motel room door. Alex came out of the bathroom, fluffing her hair out with her fingers. She had just finished straightening it, making it perfect. She was wearing a pair of her own athletic shorts, but she had on one of Sam's old Stanford sweatshirts.

"So did you find anything?" asked Dean.

Sam chuckled, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, um, I saw the house and there is a giant, eight foot wide hole where the front door used to be. It's almost like, um…"

"A Hulk sized hole," filled in Dean.

Sam cocked his head to the side, nodding slightly.

"Yeah, it's possible. Maybe. What do you got?" asked Sam.

Dean looked back down at his computer screen.

"Well, it turns out that Bill Randolph actually had quite the little temper. Um, he's got two counts of spousal battery, bar brawls, and quite a few court ordered anger management sessions. You might go so far as to say that you wouldn't like him when he's angry," finished Dean.

Alex scoffed as she walked over to the table where Dean was sitting, sitting down next to him.

"So this is a hothead getting killed by TV's greatest hothead? It kind of sounds like just desserts, doesn't it?" asked Sam.

Dean nodded with agreement.

"It's all starting to make sense now," said Sam.

"How exactly is it starting to make sense?" asked Dean, looking up at his little brother.

"Well, I found something else at the crime scene."

Sam began digging around in the right pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a group of three or four candy bar wrappers and threw them down onto the table.

"Candy wrappers. Lots of 'em."

Dean grabbed one of them while Sam walked farther into the room, taking off his jacket.

"Just desserts. Sweet tooth. Screwing with people just before you kill 'em. We're dealing with a motherfucking trickster, aren't we?" asked Alex, standing up from her seat at the table.

Sam nodded slowly.

"Yep, it sure seems that way, at least."

"Good. I've wanted to kill that bastard since Mystery Spot," said Dean, still inspecting one of the candy bar wrappers.

Sam turned to face him.

"Are you sure?" he asked him.

"Yeah, I'm definitely sure."

"No, I mean, are you sure that you want to kill him?"

"Well, that son of a bitch didn't think twice about killing me off about a thousand times."

"No, I know, Dean, but I'm just saying."

"Sammy, what the hell are you trying to say? I'm even confused and I understand you better than anyone else," said Alex, plopping herself down onto one of the tow beds in their motel room.

"If you don't want to kill him, what, Sam?" asked Dean.

Sam sighed.

"Talk to him?" he suggested.

"What?" asked Dean and Alex, in unison.

"Look, think about this, guys. He's one of the most powerful creatures that we've ever met and dealt with. Maybe we can use him," suggested Sam.

"For what, Sam?" asked Dean.

Sam sighed.

"Okay, so, the trickster's like the Hugh Hefner type, right? I mean, wine, women, song. Maybe he just doesn't want his party to end. I mean, maybe he hates this angels and demons stuff just as much as we do. Hell, maybe he'll even help us out here."

"You're serious?"

"Yeah!"

"You want us to ally with the trickster? A bloody, violent monster and you want to be Facebook friends with him? Nice one, Sammy," said Dean, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The world is going to end, Dean. All I'm saying is that it's at least worth a shot, that's all. And then if that doesn't work, we'll kill him, alright?" proposed Sam.

Dean scoffed.

"How are we even going to find the guy anyway?"

"Well, he never takes just one victim, right? He'll show up," said Sam, nodding.

Dean nodded and headed back to the table, getting ready to complete some more research. Alex sighed and fell back onto the bed she shared with Sam. She watched as Sam took off his flannel shirt, revealing the white undershirt he wore underneath all of his clothes. He began digging through his large pile of clothes, searching for something.

"Hey, have you guys seen my favorite Stanford hoodie? You know, the red one with my name on the..."

Sam trailed off as he looked up, seeing Alex wearing his favorite sweatshirt. Alex tried to get up discretely, but Sam saw her moving. He had longer legs so he caught up to her in no time, grabbing her around the waist as she reached the table, picking her up and then putting her back down directly in front of him.

"Alex, you know that's my favorite sweatshirt. Give it back. Come on," said Sam.

He held out his hands and Alex sighed. She shook her head.

"Alex, I'm warning you. I'll tickle you," threatened Sam.

Alex glared at her twin brother.

"You wouldn't dare."

Suddenly Sam lunged forward, grabbing Alex by the arm and pulling her into his side. His hands went to her hips, tickling her relentlessly. Alex laughed as she struggled to get away, but Sam had her in too tight of a hold.

"Alright, alright, I'll take it off!" yelled Alex.

Sam let her go from his hold and she begrudgingly pulled the sweatshirt off and handed it to Sam, her bottom lip sticking out as she sat down at the table with Dean. Dean smirked over at her while chuckling.

"You had it coming. You know you steal his favorite clothes all the time when he's not around because they're comfortable," said Dean.

"I know, but he tickled me. He knows I hate that," whined Alex, running her fingers through her hair.

"Sorry, Lex. Sammy just knows how to push all of your buttons."

Alex glared at Dean, who smirked.

About an hour later, Sam, Dean, and Alex climbed out of the Impala at the old paper mill in town. They had heard a weird call on their police radio, which had led them to the old abandoned paper mill.

"There was a murder here and yet there are no police cars, nobody around. How does that look to you too?" asked Dean.

"Really shitty," replied Alex, looking around the place.

Dean unlocked the trunk and pulled it open, handing a flashlight and a sharp wooden stake to each of his siblings before grabbing his own pair and then slamming the trunk closed. They walked closer to the old mill and Dean pulled open the metal door in front of them. They all hustled inside, but were suddenly very confused when they found themselves in a hospital, all of them wearing scrubs and white lab coats. The three siblings looked down at themselves, frowning.

"What the hell is going on?" whispered Dean.

Sam and Alex shrugged. Two nurses walked by them then, glancing longingly at the boys.

"Doctor," they both said.

"Doctor?" asked Sam.

Dean reached back, grabbing the door handle of the door they had just come through. He pulled it open, revealing a supply closet where a couple was heavily making out. He shut the door quickly. Slowly, the three of them walked forward, only to be stopped after a few steps by a woman walking up to Sam and slapping him across the face.

"Ow!" yelled Sam, looking down at the woman.

"Seriously," she said.

"What?" asked Sam.

"Seriously? You are brilliant, you know that? And a damn coward. You're a brilliant coward."

"Um, what are you even talking about?" asked Sam.

Instead of replying, the woman slapped him across the face once again.

"As if you don't know," she answered.

She stormed off down the hall and Alex looked at Dean, a look of shock on her face.

"I don't fucking believe this," she said.

"What?" asked both Sam and Dean.

"That was Dr. Piccolo," she explained.

"Who?" asked Sam, but Dean looked at his little sister, his eyes wide.

"Dr. Ellen Piccolo, the sexy yet earnest doctor at Seattle Mercy Hospital," said Dean.

He walked forward a couple of steps until the three siblings were standing in front of the front desk, the sign behind it telling them what hospital they were currently in.

"Dean, Alex. What in the hell are you guys even talking about?" asked Sam.

"The doctor getups. The sexy interns, the 'seriouslys.' It all makes sense now!" yelled Dean.

"What makes sense? What's going on?" asked Sam, his eyebrows raised.

"Sam, we're in Dr. Sexy, M.D," explained Alex.

Sam's eyebrows pulled together with confusion as he watched three nurses brush by the three of them.

"What the hell?" asked Dean, walking with his siblings down one corridor of the hospital.

"I don't know," whispered Sam.

"No, but seriously, what the hell?" repeated Dean.

Alex sighed.

"We don't know, Dean!"

"Just one theory, any theory," said Dean.

"Um, the trickster trapped us in TV land," said Sam.

Dean stared at him.

"That's really your theory? How stupid," said Dean.

"Well, Alex is the one who said that we're on freaking Dr. Sexy, M.D."

"Yeah, because we are, dumbasses!" yelled Alex, throwing her hands up in the air with frustration.

"Yeah, but TV land is TV land with lights and actors and cameras. I mean, this looks really real," said Dean.

"No, it can't be," whispered Sam.

He put a hand to Dean's chest, stopping him from walking any further. Alex stopped as well.

"How can this possibly be real, Dean?" asked Sam.

"Look, I have no clue, alright?"

They all watched as a pretty young Asian woman walked out of the doctor's lounge, acknowledging the three of them with a nod. Dean smiled after her.

"But there goes Dr. Wang, the brilliant but arrogant heart surgeon."

"And there's Johnny Drake," said Alex, nodding to the man sitting on a hospital bed in the hallway.

"Oh yeah, he's not even alive, but he's just a ghost in the mind of…"

Dean trailed off as a woman approached Johnny, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Of her," finished Dean.

"So, this show has ghosts? Why?" asked Sam.

"I don't know. It is compelling," said Alex, glancing back at Johnny and the doctor for a split second.

"I thought you and Dean weren't fans," said Sam.

"We're not."

Sam gave them a skeptical look.

"We're not!" said Alex.

Rolling her eyes, she looked down the hallway in which they had just emerged from. Her eyes grew bigger and she smacked Dean's arm, causing him to look in the same direction as her.

"Oh, God. It's him," whispered Alex.

"Who?" asked Sam, looking extremely confused now.

Dean and Alex turned to face Sam now.

"It's him, it's Dr. Sexy," answered Dean, his eyes wide.

Dr. Sexy stopped beside them, standing in between Sam and Dean.

"Doctor. Would you like to give me one very great reason for why you defied my direct orders and didn't go through with the experimental face plant on Mrs. Beale?" asked Dr. Sexy, looking directly at Dean now.

"One reason?" asked Dean.

Dr. Sexy nodded imperceptibly.

"Um, sure," said Dean.

He cleared his throat and looked down at the floor, noticing that Dr. Sexy was wearing white Reeboks. He slammed Dr. Sexy into the nearest wall behind him, holding him there.

"You're not Dr. Sexy," said Dean.

"You're crazy," said Dr. Sexy.

"Really? Because I swore that part of what makes Dr. Sexy sexy is the fact that he always wears cowboy boots. Not tennis shoes."

"Yeah, you're not a fan," said Sam, his eyebrows raised and his tone very much sarcastic.

"It's a guilty pleasure," said Dean, his eyes drifting over to where Sam stood to speak to him.

"Call security," said Dr. Sexy.

Dean smirked.

"Yep, go ahead, pal. But you see, we know what you are."

Suddenly, all of the people in the hallway were motionless. Dean, Alex, and Sam looked around and the trickster turned into himself, smirking at Dean.

"You three are getting much better at this!" he said.

"Get us the hell out of here," said Alex, glaring at the trickster.

"Or what?"

The trickster grabbed Dean's arm, bringing it away from his throat.

"That was you on the police scanner, right? And this is a trick," stated Sam.

The trickster just rolled his eyes.

"Hello, I'm a freaking trickster here? Come on, I heard you three were in town so how could I resist?"

"Where the hell are we?" asked Dean, still holding onto his injured arm.

"You like this? It's all homemade. My own sets, my own actors. Call it my own little idiot box."

"So how do we get out of this hell hole?" asked Sam.

"That, my friend, is the $64 question."

"Whatever. We just… We really need to talk to you, alright? We need your help," explained Alex.

"Hmm. Let me guess. You three idiots broke the whole entire world and now you three want me to help sweep up your whole mess," said the trickster.

"Please. Just give us five minutes," pleaded Sam.

"Hear us out," said Alex.

"I'll tell you what. You three survive the next 24 hours and then we'll talk."

"Survive what?" asked Dean.

"The game!"

"What game?"

"Well, you're in it right now, actually."

"So how do we play?" asked Dean.

The trickster cocked his head to the side as if he was actually thinking about his answer.

"You're playing it."

Dean sighed heavily.

"What are the damn rules?"

The trickster said nothing, but instead wiggled his eyebrows twice while smirking. He then disappeared in a flash, causing everything and everyone to being moving once again.

"God damn it, that son of a bitch," whispered Dean, looking around for the trickster.

"Dr. Sexy? Dr. Sexy?" asked a pretty blonde nurse, looking around for the infamous doctor.

After the nurse had walked by, Dean threw up his hands in frustration while Alex shook her head, placing her head into her palm.

"Oh, and by the way, talking with monsters? That was one hell of a plan you had there, Sammy," said Dean.

Sam rolled his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Just… What do we do now?" asked Sam.

"You know what I'm doing? Leaving," said Dean.

The three of them rounded a corner and Sam quickly stepped back as Dr. Piccolo tried to slap him once again. He raised his eyebrows and held up his hands.

"Lady, what the hell?" asked Sam.

"You are a brilliant, brilliant-"

"Yeah, coward, you already said that one. But you see, I have some news for you. I'm not even a doctor," said Sam.

Dr. Piccolo gasped and shook her head. Some slow song began playing and Alex threw up her hands.

"Don't say that. You are the finest cerebrovascular neurosurgeon that I have ever met and I have met plenty. So that girl died on your table, but it wasn't your fault. Sometimes people just die."

"I have no clue what you're saying to me," responded Sam.

"You're so afraid," whispered Dr. Piccolo, shaking her head slightly.

"You're afraid to operate again and you're afraid to love."

Dean and Alex both rolled their eyes as Dr. Piccolo brushed past the three of them. She began sobbing as she walked away and Alex and Dean turned to Sam then. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, we're getting the hell out of here," said Sam.

They all began walking forward again and made it three steps when a man stopped them this time.

"Hey, Doctor?" he asked, his attention on Dean.

"Yes?" asked Dean, turning towards the man.

"My wife needs that face transplant," he said, his voice filled with sadness.

"Okay. You know what, pal? None of this is real and your wife needs absolutely nothing, alright?"

The man just stared at the three of them.

"Okay? Great," said Dean.

He stormed off down the hallway, Alex and Sam following him.

"Hey, Doctor," called out the man once again.

Before they could turn around, a gunshot rang out, the man shooting Dean in the back. Alex's eyes widened as Dean fell to his knees with pain, blood beginning to pour from his wound.

"Real. This is 100% real," said Dean.

"No, no, no. No, no, no!" yelled Sam, looking around for help.

Alex fell to her knees in front of Dean, holding her hand to the gunshot wound on his back. She pulled her hand away and it was soaked with blood.

"Hey! We need a doctor!" yelled Sam.

As Dean looked down at the floor, the lights began flickering and he heard what sounded like a bunch of people clapping. He blinked, but the noise only grew louder and when he blinked again, he found himself standing in a weird contraption, Sam standing in the same contraption right next to him. Their feet were stuck on a stand. A Japanese man came through the door behind them and greeted the audience. He pulled out a set of cards from his jacket and looked over at Sam first.

"Sam Winchester," said the man.

Sam looked at him and then the man asked him a question in Japanese. A timer began counting down from 20 after the man finished reading the question.

"What? Um…"

Sam looked over to Dean.

"What am I supposed to say? And where the hell is Alex?"

"What, you think I know the answer?" replied Dean.

"Um, I don't understand Japanese," said Sam, looking to the man once again.

The man repeated the same question, still speaking Japanese.

"Is he fucking with me? I can't speak Japanese!" yelled Sam.

The timer ran out then and everyone groaned. The man read the answer to the question, which was "Ruby."

"I'm sorry, Sam Winchester," said the Japanese man.

"You're sorry? Sorry for what?" asked Sam, concern lacing his tone as he looked over to Dean.

Dean just shrugged and the man shook his head sadly. Suddenly, a beam came up and hit Sam directly in the crotch. Sam groaned in pain, grabbing his groin. Dean looked pained and the audience cheered.

"Whoa, Nutcracker!" yelled the Japanese man, who was presumably the host of the game show that Sam and Dean were now participating in.

Sam was still bent over with pain as the game show went to a quick commercial break.

"Sam? Are you alright?" asked Dean.

Sam gave him a look and Dean winced. He looked down at the contraption that he was currently standing on and realized that he was the next contestant. Suddenly, a banging came from the blue doors located behind Sam and Dean.

"Oh, geez, now what?" asked Dean.

He turned around as much as he could and watched as the blue doors slid open, revealing Castiel and Alex. They walked onto the stage, Sam sighing with relief as he saw Alex.

"Cas?" asked Dean.

"Is this another trick?" asked Sam.

"It's me. Um, what are you two doing here?" asked Castiel, looking between the two brothers.

"Us, what are you doing here?" asked Dean.

"Looking for you, you all have been missing for days. I found Alex and now we've found you," explained Castiel.

"So get us the hell out of here then!" yelled Sam.

Castiel nodded and walked forward. As he held out a hand to touch both Sam and Dean's foreheads at the same time, Castiel suddenly disappeared. Alex was left standing on the stage with her brothers.

"Cas?" asked Dean, looking around for the angel.

"No, no, no, no. Mr. Trickster doesn't like pretty boy angels," explained the game show host, shaking his finger at them.

The host smiled at Alex and showed her to a front row seat in the audience. Once he was back on stage, he looked over at Dean, pulling out another card.

"Dean Winchester."

The host read the question and then the timer started once again, counting down from 20. Dean's eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows.

"What do I do? I'm not getting hit in the nuts," said Dean, his voice full of panic and worry.

"Um, just… Wait. I played a doctor," said Sam, his face suddenly dawning with comprehension.

"What?"

"In Dr. Sexy, I played a doctor. I played the role that the trickster wanted me to play. Maybe we just have to go along with it!"

"Go along with what, exactly?" asked Dean.

"With the freaking game! We're on a game show, right? So just answer the damn question, Dean!"

"In Japanese?"

"Yeah!"

"I don't know any damn Japanese!"

"Fucking try!" yelled Sam.

"Damn it," said Dean.

Just as the clock hit zero, Dean slammed his palm down onto the buzzer in front of him. Everyone looked at him expectantly, Alex biting her lip so hard that she drew blood. Dean answered the question in Japanese, getting it right. The game show host threw his question cards high up into the air and declared Dean the champion of The Nutcracker.

"How did you do that?" asked Sam, disbelief lacing his tone.

Dean scoffed.

"I have no clue."

Sam nodded.

"So that's it. We all play our roles and we survive."

"Yep, but we play our roles for how long?" asked Dean, raising his eyebrows.

"That's a really good question," answered Sam.

As the crowd cheered and Dean continued waving to all of them, Alex sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again only a split second later, she found herself on a motel room set, Dean cursing as she and Sam shook their heads at him.

"Son of a bitch!" cursed Dean.

The studio audience laughed on their cue. Sam removed his arms from across his chest and strode over to the woman standing in the bathroom doorway. She was only wearing sexy lingerie and a pair of hot pink high heels. Sam placed a hand on the small of her back and began leading her towards the door, the audience laughing and whistling as Sam led her out the motel room door.

"I'm truly very sorry, but we've got some work to do," explained Sam.

"But we did do work," complained the woman, looking confused.

As she passed by Dean, she winked and smirked.

"In depth work," she commented.

Dean just shrugged while Alex rolled her eyes, throwing her head down into her arms that were resting on the kitchen table in front of her where she sat. The audience laughed once again and then Sam pushed the girl gently out the door, slamming it closed behind her. He turned around to face his siblings once she was gone.

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" whispered Dean, speaking out of the corner of his mouth to his siblings.

Sam carefully walked towards Dean, the studio audience cheering him on as he walked farther onto the set.

"I don't know. Maybe forever? We might die in here," remarked Sam, causing the audience to laugh once more.

"How is that even funny?" asked Dean.

The audience laughed again.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Alex stood up from her chair at the table, whirling around to face whoever had stormed through the front door, but it was only Castiel. He has a large scratch on his nose, another one by his left eyebrow, and a third scratch underneath his lips. The audience groaned and applauded at his arrival.

"Are you alright?" asked Dean.

"We don't have much time," explained Castiel, walking around the kitchen table to get to the three siblings.

"What happened?" asked Alex, giving Castiel a look over.

Castiel just sighed.

"I got out."

"From where?" asked Dean, ignoring the audience completely now.

"Listen to me. Something is not right and this thing is much more powerful than it should be."

"The trickster?" asked Alex.

"If it is a trickster."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Castiel was flung into the wall behind him by an invisible force. The trickster sailed into the room then, bounding through the front door happily, a smirk on his face. Castiel stood up, a piece of silver duct tape now covering his mouth so that he could no longer speak to the three siblings. The trickster slammed the door closed once he was fully in the room.

"Hi, Castiel."

Castiel looked at the siblings, but then with a flick of his hand, the trickster caused Castiel to disappear.

"Where did you just send him?" asked Dean.

"Relax, he'll live… Possibly."

"Alright, you know what? I'm done with this bullshit, okay? We get it," said Dean, standing directly in front of the trickster now.

"Yeah? Get what, hotshot?" asked the trickster, still smirking.

"Playing our roles, right? That's your game?"

"No, that's only half the game."

"Then what's the other half?" asked Sam.

"Play your roles… out there," explained the trickster, motioning towards the audience.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" asked Dean, his tone now very threatening.

"Lucifer and Michael," whispered Alex, her face turning pale.

Sam and Dean turned to look at her and the trickster smirked once again. He pointed to Alex.

"Bingo, sister! Play your roles."

Sam scoffed.

"So you want us to just say yes to those motherfuckers?"

"Hell yes!"

"If we do that then the world will end," explained Sam.

"Yep, but that's certainly not my fault, now, is it? I mean, who popped Lucifer out of Hell, hmm? You started it! And now, it can't be stopped so let's just get this all over with."

"Which side are you on, Heaven or Hell's?" asked Dean, staring the trickster down.

"I'm not on either side."

"Yeah, right. Which one is it?" asked Dean once again.

The trickster just scoffed and smirked, chuckling. He stepped closer to Dean.

"You listen to me, you arrogant prick. I don't work for either one of those sons of bitches, believe me."

"Hmm. You're somebody's bitch," remarked Dean.

The trickster reached out and grabbed Dean by the collar, slamming him against the closed front door.

"Don't you ever presume to know what the hell I am, alright?"

He took one hand off of Dean, but still held him against the door using his other hand. He used his now free hand to point over at Alex and Sam.

"Now, you three listen to me because here's what's going to happen next. You're going to suck it up, accept your large responsibilities, and play the roles that destiny has chosen for you."

"And if we don't?" asked Sam.

The trickster chuckled, looking over at Sam.

"Then you'll stay here in TV land. Forever," he threatened the three of them.

He smirked and snapped his fingers once more. Dean and Alex were transported into a different motel room.

"Where the hell is Sam?" asked Alex, looking around them.

"I have no idea," said Dean.

He shrugged on his favorite leather jacket, following Alex outside into the sunlight. Alex dialed Sam's phone number, but it went straight to Sam's voicemail. She sighed and hung up, climbing into the Impala with Dean.

"Where the hell did he go?" asked Dean.

"Dean?" called out Sam's voice.

"Sam?" asked Dean.

"Where are you?" asked Alex, looking around the car and even looking out the windows as well.

"I don't know," replied Sam.

Alex suddenly froze as she heard Sam's voice once again and she looked over at Dean. Together, they looked at the Impala's radio and saw that whenever Sam spoke, it came from there.

"Oh, crap," said Sam.

"What kind of trick is this?" asked Alex.

"I don't know, but I'm starting to think that this guy isn't even a trickster. I mean, we all heard Cas when he said this thing was too powerful to be just a trickster," said Sam.

"Yeah, and did you see the way he looked at Cas? It was almost like he knew him already," said Alex, biting her lip, hard.

"Think about how pissed off he got when we brought up Michael and Lucifer," continued Dean.

Alex nodded and then she groaned, throwing her head back with frustration.

"Fuck! I think I know what we're dealing with," she said.

She gave Dean directions to the nearest wildlife park where they could pull over. Once they arrived, she climbed out of the car with Dean, standing in front of the Impala.

"Alex, are you sure that this is even going to work?" asked Sam, who was still Dean's precious Impala.

"Well, no, but I have no other ideas. Hit it, Dean."

Dean sighed deeply, but nodded. Alex crossed her arms over her chest and waited, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth once again.

"Alright, you son of a bitch! We'll do it!" yelled Dean, throwing up his hands with frustration.

"Should I honk or something?" asked Sam.

Alex giggled at Sam's remark, but her smile faded when the trickster finally reappeared. He whistled as he took in Sam as the Impala.

"Wow, Sam. Check out those rims on you, whoo!"

"Bite me, asshole," remarked Sam.

"Okay, you three. Ready to go quietly?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast. Nobody's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs," said Dean, pointing to his Impala.

"What's the difference anyway? Satan's going to ride his ass one way or another," smirked the trickster, shrugging his shoulders.

Dean and Alex stepped closer to him, glaring at him. After a few short seconds, he finally rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, turning Sam back into himself. Sam stepped out from the backseat of the Impala, closing the door gently, all while glaring at the trickster. He walked over to join his siblings where they stood in front of the trickster.

"So are we all happy now?" asked the trickster, smirking at all three of them once again.

"No, just tell me one thing. Why didn't any of the stakes kill you when we staked you before today?" asked Dean.

"I mean, I am the trickster."

"But maybe you're actually not the trickster," said Alex, cocking her head to the side as if she was appraising him.

The trickster looked at the three siblings, his grin fading. Sam held up a small silver lighter and threw it down onto the gravel in front of the trickster. A circle of flames shot up, trapping the trickster. He glanced around at the circle of flames around him and then turned back around to face the three siblings, looking slightly confused and stunned.

"Maybe you've always been an angel," said Alex.

The trickster began laughing hysterically.

"A what?"

"I'll tell you what then. You just jump right on out of that holy fire there and we'll call it our little mistake," offered Dean.

Sam and Alex both glared at the trickster, Alex crossing her arms over her chest. The trickster chuckled once more, but then suddenly he stopped laughing and his face became very serious. He glared at the three of them and they were suddenly all back in the warehouse where this had all begun a few days prior. The unknown angel clapped his hands together slowly as he stood in the circle of flames.

"Well played, children. Well played. Where did you all get the holy oil?"

"The trunk of my car," answered Dean.

"So where'd I screw it all up?"

"You really didn't. But no one gets the jump on Castiel like you did," answered Sam.

"Mostly it was the way you talked about Armageddon. But I've had my suspicions for some while," finished Alex.

"Meaning?" asked the angel, cocking his head to the side to look over at Alex curiously.

"Well, call it personal experience, but no one gets that angry about something unless they're talking about their own damn family," she explained further.

The unknown angel nodded slightly with acknowledgement.

"So which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?" asked Sam, still glaring at the angel.

"Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel."

"Gabriel? The archangel?" asked Sam.

The angel smirked sarcastically.

"Guilty."

"Well, okay, Gabriel. How does an archangel become a trickster then?" asked Dean.

Gabriel sighed, but turned to face him.

"Let's just call it all my own private witness protection program. I skipped right on out of Heaven, had myself a nice little face transplant, and then carved out my own little corner of the world until you three screwed it all up," said Gabriel, pointing at the three of them accusingly.

"And what did Daddy say when you ran off into the world?" asked Dean, his tone hostile and sarcastic.

"Daddy doesn't say anything about anything."

"Then what happened? Why'd you ditch it?" asked Sam.

"Well, can you blame him? I mean, all of his brothers are heavyweight douchebags," remarked Dean.

Gabriel whirled around to glare at him.

"Shut your mouth. You know absolutely nothing about any of my family. I love my Father and my brothers, but watching them all turn on one another? I couldn't bear it, any of it, alright? So I left that place and now, of course, it's happening all over again, in exactly the same way as before."

"Then help us stop it, damn it!" yelled Alex, running a hand through her blonde hair with frustration and anger.

"It can't be stopped."

"So you want to see the end of the world? Literally?" asked Dean, angry now.

"I want all of this to be over! I have to sit back and watch all of my own family and brothers kill each other all thanks to you three right here! Heaven and Hell, I honestly couldn't care less who wins. I just want all of this to finally be over," yelled Gabriel, glancing between the three siblings as he yelled.

"But it doesn't ever have to be like that. There has to be some way or another to pull the damn plug on all of this!" yelled Sam.

Gabriel glanced at him and then threw his head back in laughter.

"Aww, you three clearly do not know my family at all. What all of you call the apocalypse… I used to call that Sunday dinner! And that's why there's no stopping any of this because this is no longer about a war. It never was about a war. It's about a family that loved each other, but then betrayed each other. You think you all would easily be able to relate!"

"What are you even talking about?" asked Sam, looking thoroughly confused now.

Gabriel looked between the three of them, but all three of the Winchester siblings looked thoroughly confused. Gabriel smirked, letting out a high-pitched, long whistle as he glanced between the three siblings.

"Why do you think that you and Dean are the vessels, Sam, huh? Think about it for a little while! Michael, the big brother who's always loyal to an absent father. And then there's Lucifer, the little brother who is always rebellious of Daddy's plan. You were born for this, boys. It's your destiny, it was always you! As it is in Heaven, so it must be on Earth. One brother has to kill the other," said Gabriel.

"So what the hell are you saying here?" asked Dean.

"Why do you think I've always taken such an interest in you three, huh? Because from the moment Dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew that it was always all going to end with you. Always. The only person who was never a part of the plan was Alex here."

Gabriel turned to look at her, smiling sarcastically.

"You escaped all of this, sweetheart. You were a miracle baby, completely unplanned. Hell, you were supposed to escape this life before any of this even began."

"What are you talking about?" whispered Alex, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"You were supposed to have a baby with Kellan! You were supposed to get out so that these two wouldn't have to worry about you during the apocalypse! But of course, the fear and stress of Sam and Dean fighting constantly took its toll on you. They were always yelling at each other, always bickering about that damn demon, Ruby and it was just too much on you. The fear that your family would be torn apart became too much for you to handle, resulting in your miscarriage. You were supposed to have a baby boy, you know," finished Gabriel.

"No, no, no. This isn't real, this cannot be real," cried Alex, her tears finally spilling over onto her face.

Gabriel nodded sadly.

"Oh, it is, darlin'. That miscarriage threw a wrench into our plans and you never saw Kellan after that to get pregnant again before all of this began. So, here you are today, right now."

Alex broke down into sobs, Sam pulling her into his chest and stroking her hair. Dean looked at his younger siblings and then looked back at Gabriel.

"No," he stated firmly.

Gabriel looked over at him so Dean shook his head.

"None of that's going to happen, it's not going to end with us," finished Dean.

"I'm sorry, but it is," said Gabriel, his tone harsh as he glared over at Dean.

Gabriel looked at the three of them, Alex's face still buried into Sam's chest as she continued crying. He sighed sadly and deeply.

"I wish this were a TV show, I really do. But unfortunately, this is all real life. And it's going to end bloody for all of us, I can assure you all of that. That's just how the cookie crumbles, how it's gotta be. So, now what do we do? Stare at each other for all of eternity?"

"Well first, you're going to bring Castiel back from wherever you have him stashed," said Dean.

Gabriel sighed, but snapped his fingers. Castiel appeared behind Dean, breathing heavily as he glared at Gabriel. Dean turned back to face him.

"Cas, are you alright?" he asked him.

"I'm fine," answered Castiel.

Dean turned back to face Gabriel then.

"Alright, we're out of here," said Dean.

They all began heading for the door, Alex still clinging to Sam's side as they walked away from Gabriel, all of their backs now turned to him.

"Hey, guys? Wait, so now what, huh? Are you all just gonna leave me here forever?" yelled Gabriel.

They all turned back around to face him when they had reached the front door of the warehouse.

"No. We're not because we don't screw with people in the way that you do. And just for the record, this isn't about some prize fight between your brothers or some damn destiny that can't be stopped! This is all about you being too afraid to stand up to your damn family!" yelled Dean.

He whirled back around and punched the glass that housed the fire alarm. He pulled the lever down and they all looked up to watch as the sprinklers suddenly burst to life above their heads. As water poured down all over them, Gabriel turned his attention back onto Dean.

"Don't say I never did anything for you," yelled Dean.

He walked outside, Castiel following him. Sam picked up Alex, carrying her in his arms. They could all still hear the fire alarms blaring outside of the warehouse.

"All of that stuff he was spouting off in there, do you think that he was telling the truth?" asked Dean, walking over to his Impala with Sam holding Alex in his arms.

Sam sighed deeply before answering.

"Well, I certainly think that he believes in it."

"So what do we do now?" asked Dean.

Sam shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing. Right about now, I can only wish that I was back on a TV show."

"Yeah, me too," replied Sam.

He glanced down at Alex, who had fallen asleep in his arms, having cried herself o sleep. He smiled and gently leaned down, kissing her on the forehead. Dean watched their moment, sighing as he realized how much Alex was really hurting. Castiel opened the passenger side door for Sam and Sam climbed into the backseat with Alex still sleeping in his arms. Castiel closed the door behind Sam and watched as Dean climbed into the driver's seat, starting the car and pulling away. Once they had rounded the corner and were out of sight, Castiel also disappeared from outside of the warehouse.

A few days later, Dean pulled the car into a parking spot at The Pineview Hotel, jumping out of the car with Sam and Alex. As he quickly glanced at all of the other cars in the parking lot, he stopped short, cocking his head to the side with confusion. All of the cars in the parking lot looked almost exactly like his own Impala.

"Dean. Come on," urged Sam.

Dean shook his head and followed his siblings around to the front of the hotel. There they saw Carver Edlund, the prophet of the Lord who wrote books about them. He was pacing in front of the concrete steps of the hotel, his head down as he looked at his feet.

"Chuck! There you are," said Alex.

Chuck looked at the three siblings curiously.

"Guys?" he asked the three of them.

"What's going on here?" asked Dean, placing his hands on his hips, looking very serious.

"Um, nothing. You know, just, um… kind of… hanging," muttered Chuck, making his last word almost inaudible.

He glanced back at the hotel and then looked back to the three siblings, squinting as the sunlight hit his eyes.

"What are you three doing here anyway?" he asked them.

"You told us to come," said Dean.

Chuck shook his head quickly.

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you did, you texted me. This address, life or death situation, is any of this even ringing a bell?" asked Sam.

"No, I-I didn't send you a text," said Chuck, shaking his head once more.

"We drove all fucking night!" yelled Dean.

"I'm-I'm sorry! I don't understand what could've…"

Chuck trailed off then. He looked up towards the sky, sighed deeply, and rolled his eyes.

"Oh no," he whispered.

"What?" yelled Alex.

But before Chuck had the chance to answer, a shriek sounded from the top of the steps. They all looked over to see Becky, the girl who is obsessed with Chuck's books and writes her own fan fiction about the Winchester siblings, smiling widely as she spotted the three of them.

"Sam! You made it!" she yelled.

She quickly clambered down the stone stairs, stopping directly in front of Sam.

"Oh, um, Becky. Right?" asked Sam.

Becky's smile faded.

"Oh. You remembered," she whispered, almost reverently.

Dean rolled his eyes and groaned while Alex looked away, chuckling into her palms.

"You've been thinking about me," continued Becky, her whisper sounding almost sensuous now.

She batted her eyelashes at Sam.

"I…" began Sam, trailing off, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, it's okay. I can't get you out of my head either."

Alex let out a full-blown laugh at Becky's last comment to Sam. Sam looked at her behind Dean's back and stuck up his middle finger, flipping her off as he glared at her.

"Um, Becky, did you take my phone?" asked Chuck, looking away from the siblings and instead looking at Becky now.

Becky turned to face him.

"I just borrowed it. From your pants."

Chuck sighed deeply and looked down at the ground.

"Becky."

"What? They're all going to want to see it," she replied, looking back at the siblings and grinning widely.

"See what?" they all asked in unison, their faces falling.

"Oh my God, I love it when they all talk at the same time!"

Becky began squealing once again and Chuck gave her a quick smile as she turned to smile at him.

"Hey, Chuck, come on, man, it's almost show time!" called out a large man, who was now beckoning all of them inside from the top of the steps.

Becky shrieked, gave one last, longing look at Sam, and then bounded up the stairs, not waiting for any one of them. Chuck faced the siblings, shaking his head apologetically.

"Look, guys, I am sorry. For everything. Ugh."

The siblings exchanged confused glances with one another, but followed after Chuck, Becky following behind all of them. The doorman held the door open for them and they walked into the hotel. A man holding a beer in his hand saw them walk in and chuckled, pointing at Dean.

"Hey, Dean, looking good!" he said, laughing again as he walked past them to join a table in the lobby.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Dean.

The man whirled around and looked back at them, confused.

"I'm Dean too. Duh."

The man walked away from the three of them then and Dean faced his siblings, who shrugged at his confused expression. Dean caught sight of something over Sam's shoulder and his face fell, turning into panic and then fear. Alex and Sam turned around and Alex pressed herself into Sam's back as they saw a man pass by them dressed as the evil scarecrow they had killed back in Indiana a year or two beforehand. The man stopped in front of them.

"Uh-oh. It's the Winchester siblings. I'm in trouble now. Have fun, you three," encouraged the man.

He jokingly waved his hook at Sam, who leaned away from him. Becky chuckled from her spot behind the three of them.

"What the hell?" whispered Dean.

He glanced around and saw people sitting all around the tables in the lobby. One woman was dressed up as Bloody Mary, fake blood dripping from her eyes and down her face. Another man was dressed up as an evil clown. People had in fake contacts to make their eyes black like a demon's would be and merchandise such as cups and more books were being sold at select tables.

"Becky. What the hell is this?" asked Alex.

"It's awesome! A Supernatural convention. The first ever," answered Becky, smiling widely.

Sam, Dean, and Alex looked at each other.

"C'mon, we're missing the greeting!" said Becky.

She pushed her way in front of the three of them and led them to an area where a small stage was set up. A banner on the back of the stage said, "First Annual Supernatural Convention!" in big block letters. The man who had led them into the hotel was now standing on the stage, greeting everyone.

"Hello, and welcome to the first annual Supernatural Convention! Um, at 3:45 PM in the Magnolia Room, we have the panel, Frightened Little Boy: The Secret Life of Dean. And at 4:30, there's the homoerotic subtext of Supernatural."

Dean and Sam both raised their eyebrows, while Alex held in a loud laugh.

"Oh! And of course, the big hunt starts at 7:00 PM sharp."

Everyone in the room clapped and whopped loudly, Becky amongst them. The man in charge held up his hand for silence.

"Okay, let's all relax because now, right now, I would like to introduce the man himself. The creator and the writer of the Supernatural books, the one and only Carver Edlund!"

There was raucous applause and cheering from the large crowd of fans as Chuck took the stage slowly and shyly. He acknowledged the applause and cheers with a slight nod of his head as he stepped up to the one and only microphone. Before he began talking, he cleared his throat and took a rather large gulp from his bottled water, almost chugging the entire thing right then and there.

"Okay. Um, so I guess we'll start off with… Questions?"

Almost every hand in the entire room shot up into the air. Chuck looked alarmed, but pointed to one fellow on his left-hand side.

"You?"

The man stood straight up, looking positively delighted that he had been selected to ask Carver the first question.

"Hey, Mr. Edlund! Um, I'm a big fan. Okay, I was just wondering, um, where'd you come up with Sam, Alex, and Dean in the first place?" he asked Chuck.

Chuck looked startled for a moment, glancing back at the real Winchester siblings who were standing in the very back of the room.

"Oh, um, I, uh… It just… came to me," answered Chuck very awkwardly.

He smiled at the fan and then more hands shot up into the air once again.

"Okay, um… Yeah, the, um, Hook Man," said Chuck.

The hands went down once again and the man stood up to ask his question.

"Um, yeah, vhy in every fight scene are the siblings having their gun or knife knocked away by the bad guy? Vhy don't they keep it on some kind of bungee?" asked the man, his thick foreign accent making it very hard to understand him as he spoke.

"Yeah, I-I-I really don't know," stuttered Chuck.

"Yeah, follow-up, why can't they see that Ruby be evil? I mean, she is clearly manipulating Sam into some kind of… moral lapse. It's obvious, nein?" asked the same man.

Sam scoffed, Becky looked pissed off, Alex looked irritated, and Dean looked offended at this man's comment.

"Hey! If you don't like the books then don't read them, alright?" yelled Becky, storming over to yell at the man.

The man looked alarmed and quickly sat back down at the sight of Becky.

"Okay, alright, um, next question, please," said Chuck.

Hands shot straight up into the air once again and Carver pointed to a kid in the third row back on his left. The kid stood up with his hands in his pockets.

"Um, yeah, at the end of the last book, Dean goes to Hell, so, what happens next?"

Carver took a deep breath, sighing with relief at this question and smiling at the young man.

"Oh, there lies an announcement, actually. Um, you're all going to find out. Um, thanks to a very wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're going to start publishing again," announced Carver.

Everyone in the room burst from their chairs and cheered with excitement. The Winchester siblings looked shocked and angry.

After the announcement, Chuck sidled out of the auditorium quickly so as to avoid the siblings. They found him about 10 minutes later, sitting down and having a drink with Becky.

"Oh, hi, Sam!" yelled Becky, positively beaming as he approached her.

"Excuse us, but haven't you noticed that our plates are all kind of full? Finding the Colt, hunting the devil. We don't have time for this bullshit!" yelled Dean, positively fuming at Chuck.

Chuck scoffed at him.

"Hey, I didn't call you!"

"He means the books, Chuck, the books. Why are you publishing more of them?" asked Alex.

"Um, for food and shelter?"

"Who gave you the rights to our life story?" asked Dean, leaning down closer to yell at Chuck.

"An archangel! And I didn't want it, I still don't really want it!"

"Well, the deal's off, alright? No more books because our lives are not for public consumption," said Sam.

Chuck sighed and looked over at Becky.

"Um, Becky? Would you excuse all of us for just one moment?" asked Chuck.

Becky nodded immediately and Chuck stood up, leading the Winchester siblings to another room.

"Do you all even know what I do for a living?" asked Chuck.

Sam sighed.

"Yeah, Chuck. We know," he answered him.

"Then could you please tell me? Because I sure don't know. I'm not a good writer. I've got no marketable skills, I'm not some hero who can just hit the road every single day and fight monsters, alright? And until this world ends, I've got to live, okay? And these Supernatural books are all I've got! What else do you want me to do?" pleaded Chuck.

As he looked sadly at the siblings, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from a little far off in the next room. The siblings' senses went on extremely high alert and they quickly brushed past Chuck, heading toward the sound of the scream.

"No, wait!" called out Chuck.

The three of them raced out of the room and up the staircase in the next room. A young maid was at the top of the stairs and Sam helped her up as they reached the landing at the top of the stairs.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked her.

"Well, I think so," she answered.

"What happened?" asked Dean.

"I saw a ghost!" said the woman, her eyes wide.

"A ghost? Ma'am, could you tell us what it looked like?" asked a man, pushing into the real Winchester siblings as him and a bunch of other fans crowded around the woman and the siblings.

"Hey, why don't you leave all of this to the grown-ups, pal?" asked Dean.

He turned back to face the woman then.

"A woman. She was in an old-fashioned dress, really old, like a school marm or something."

"Did she say something to you?" asked another fan, pushing his way up to the front of the large crowd who was currently gathered around the woman.

The woman smiled and gave a shout of excitement. Alex cocked her head to the side with great confusion.

"Alright, gather close, everyone! For a tale of terrifying terror. I saw a ghost…"

Alex scoffed and threw up her hands. She brushed past the woman who was talking and Sam and Dean followed behind her, realizing that it was all fake. They stood in the corner of the hallway, the woman's voice trailing off as they walked away. Becky met them in the corner, her smile as wide as ever.

"Whoo, the LARPing has started!"

"The-? What is that again?" asked Dean, his eyebrows pulling together with confusion now.

"Live action role playing," answered Alex, sounding very bored.

"It's a game. The convention puts it on," answered Becky.

She held out a piece of paper to all of them. Sam grabbed it from her hands, looked at it, and rolled his eye. He placed one hand on one hip while he held the paper with his free hand, looking angry.

"'Dad's Journal: Dear Sam, Alex, and Dean- This hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a $50 gift card to Sizzler. Love, Dad.'"

"You three are so gonna win," said Becky, chuckling at herself.

Alex nodded and headed back down the stairs, following the large group of people who were already on the hunt. Sam and Dean followed her reluctantly. They listened as the manager of the hotel droned on about the supposed 'ghost.' Dean looked at his siblings.

"This cannot get any weirder," whispered Alex, picking at her fingernails.

They listened as two men acted out a scene from one of the books.

"Dad said that I may have to kill you," said the one dressed up as Dean.

"Kill me? What the hell does that even mean?" asked the other one, who was, naturally, dressed up as Sam.

"I don't know," replied the one dressed up as Dean.

The two actors walked off and Alex chuckled, looking at her two brothers.

"I need a drink," said Sam and Dean, in unison together.

Alex chuckled and followed them over to the bar. Dean asked the bartender for three tequila shots and he obliged, setting them down in front of each of them.

"Ready?" asked Alex, looking at her brothers.

They both nodded and the three of them threw back their shots quickly, no limes or salt to ease the burn. Alex smiled at the bartender and he poured her another shot. She threw it back just as a man walked into the room, yelling.

"No, I'm not joking, I saw it. A real-life ghost," he yelled.

Sam grabbed Alex's arm and they walked over to where the man was standing. Dried blood was located right below his left ear and more was located at the corner of his temple.

"You saw something?" asked Sam.

The man whirled around to face him, seething.

"Look, this isn't part of the game, jerk."

The man looked at his friend behind him.

"Tim, I'm getting out of here and you should probably do the same."

He brushed past the three siblings and stormed towards the front doors of the hotel.

"Alex, wait," called out his friend, Tim.

Dean smirked and nudged Alex.

"Hey, you have a fan there, Lex. He even has your same name and everything."

"Shut the hell up, Dean. What do you think about what he said about a real ghost being here?" asked Alex, glancing between her older brothers.

"Well, I don't think that that guy's good enough to be acting," said Sam.

Alex nodded with agreement and the three of them set off for the front desk.

"Excuse us, would you mind if we ask you a few questions?" asked Dean.

The man looked up at the three of them, sighed, rolled his eyes, and looked back down at his paperwork directly in front of him.

"Look, folks, I don't have time to play this little Star Wars game or whatever this whole thing is. Go ask that man in the ascot over there," answered the desk clerk, using his pencil to point over at the manager.

"Actually, we, uh, really want to talk to you," retorted Dean, slipping the older gentleman a $50 bill across the desk.

The man chuckled and looked up from his paperwork.

"Oh, so you three are really into this?"

"You have no idea," said Sam, smiling sarcastically at the desk clerk.

The man smiled and grabbed the $50, slipping it into his pants pocket.

"So what do you all want to know?" he asked the three of them.

"All of the stuff they're saying: the place being haunted, Leticia Gore. Any truth to it? To any of it?" asked Alex.

The older man sighed and leaned forward on his desk, getting closer to the three of them.

"Well, we generally don't like to publicize this to any normal people, but yes. In 1909, this place was called the Gore Orphanage. Mrs. Gore killed four little boys with one butcher knife and then offed herself all in the same day."

"And is tonight really the anniversary of all of this, her death?" asked Dean.

The older man nodded.

"Yep. This year's convention folks wanted a lot of authenticity."

"Huh," scoffed Dean.

He looked to his siblings.

"Have there ever been any sightings of her?" asked Sam.

"Um, over the years, yes. A few maids have quit, saying they heard the boys or even saw them. The janitor even claimed to have seen Mrs. Gore once," answered the desk clerk.

"Where did Mrs. Gore kill all of the children?" asked Alex.

"Look, I don't want all of you stomping all over this joint here. A lot of this place is off-limits to nerds like you three."

Dean slid another $50 out of his wallet and across the table to the desk clerk. The desk clerk pocketed it once again and continued on, leaning closer to them so that he could only whisper and not have to yell. He spoke out of the side of his mouth very clearly.

"The attic," he whispered.

The three siblings nodded, Alex winking at him in thanks before heading for the attic. Once upstairs, Sam pulled the door down, pulling out the ladder that led them up to the dusty old attic. Sam and Dean smirked at Alex, who just rolled her eyes.

"Ladies first," said Dean.

Alex flipped him off, but climbed up the ladder first, emerging into the attic and making a face of disgust. She coughed as she took in all of the dust and turned on her small flashlight. Sam and Dean joined her quickly and Sam got out the EMF. It began making a lot of noise immediately and he looked up at Dean and Alex.

"The EMF's going nuts," whispered Sam.

"Great. Now we've got a real ghost and a bunch of people pretending to be us poking at it," said Dean.

"None of this ends well," said Sam.

Alex nodded and continued forward in the attic, shining her flashlight everywhere and into every corner. She barely listened as her brothers spoke to one another.

"Well, it serves them all right," said Dean.

"Dean."

"Well, I'm just saying," said Dean, raising his eyebrows.

Sam sighed and continued on into the attic, following Alex. Dean took the other side of the attic. Alex blew a piece of hair out of her face and felt Sam walk up beside her in the dark when suddenly a small voice rang out from behind them.

"My mommy loves me," said a little boy.

Sam and Alex whirled around to see a young boy sitting in the corner, his hands on top of his head and his knees pulled up to his chest. He looked up at the two of them.

"I said, my mommy loves me," repeated the little boy, just as Dean found his siblings.

Alex nodded at the little boy, her face sad.

"I'm sure she does, sweetheart," whispered Alex, her voice cracking.

"My mommy loves me this much!"

The boy leaned forward and removed his hands from his head, revealing a ghastly head wound with blood still pouring from it. Alex yelped and turned into Sam's chest while Sam and Dean stared at the small child. He suddenly disappeared like all ghosts do and Sam sighed. He gently placed his hands on the side of Alex's face and looked into her eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, concern lacing his features.

Alex nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I'm alright. It just took me by surprise, that's all."

Sam nodded and kissed Alex's forehead. He pushed her gently in front of him as they made their way out of the attic, Dean leading them out.

Back in the bar area, Alex and Dean sat in two armchairs while Sam was on the phone. They watched as Sam approached them and sat down across from Dean.

"So that was a man from the County Historical Society," began Sam.

"And?" asked Alex.

"So apparently, not only did Leticia Gore butcher four boys, but one of them was her own son."

Dean's eyebrows rose.

"Her own son?" he asked Sam, who nodded.

"Yeah. According to the police at the time, she scalped the poor child."

"Oh, that's it, I'm gonna deep-fry this bitch, extra crispy," said Dean.

"Did the dude say where she was buried?" asked Alex.

"He doesn't know," answered Sam.

"Of course he doesn't know," muttered Alex under her breath, sitting back in her own armchair.

"Check it out. There's an orphanage, there's the carriage house, and right there, the cemetery," said a man, sitting at a bar table behind Sam.

The three siblings looked over at the two men sitting there, poring over a map. Dean nodded and the three of them stood up quickly, walking over to the two men. Sam grabbed the map from off of the table, but the man dressed up as Dean snatched it back from him quickly.

"It's real, at least a century old. And it says right there that there's a cemetery on the grounds," said Sam, looking between his siblings.

Dean looked at the man holding the map close to his chest.

"Where'd you even get that map from?" he asked.

"It's called a game, pal."

Dean chuckled sarcastically.

"Just give me the map, Chuckles."

"Dean don't listen to nobody," said the man, pulling back his leather jacket to reveal a water gun tucked into his waistband.

The real Dean rolled his eyes and threw back his head. He grabbed his own gun and the real Sam turned to face his brother.

"Dean," scolded Sam, raising his eyebrows.

"What? They're freaking annoying," said Dean, putting his gun back into his waistband.

"Look, guys. We all want to find the bones, right? We just thought it would go a lot faster if we all worked together," said Sam.

The two men exchanged a quick glance. The one pretending to be Sam cleared his throat and then looked back at the three siblings.

"We, um, we get the Sizzler gift card," he said.

"Fine," agreed Dean.

"And we get to be Sam and Dean," said the other one.

"Fine," agreed Dean once again.

"Let's go, gentlemen. We don't have all day and Alex wants to salt some bitch's bones tonight," said Alex.

She brushed past her real brothers and led the way out of the hotel, the fake Sam and Dean following after her immediately. Dean and Sam followed reluctantly behind the two nerds. The man pretending to be Dean nudged his partner and pointed to Alex walking ahead of them. He nearly salivated at the sliver of tan skin that was showing where Alex's white crop top didn't quite meet the top of her jeans. The real Dean smacked him in the back of the head and glared as the man looked back at him.

"That's my sister up there. You better watch yourselves," warned the real Dean.

The two men nodded and took the lead, leaving Alex to stand in between her brothers. They all stopped at the Impala to grab supplies and then they all took off for the cemetery, Sam and Dean rolling their eyes as the two men pretended to be them. Finally, Dean stopped them.

"What's wrong?" asked the man posing as Dean.

"Listen to me, you're not Dean and he's not Sam. Why in the hell would you choose to be these guys?" yelled Dean.

"Well, because we're fans. Like you," answered the taller one, the one who was posing as Sam.

"No. I am not a fan, okay? We are not fans. In fact, I think that the Winchester story sucks. It's not fun, it's not entertaining, it is a river of bullshit that would send most normal people howling to the nuthouse! So you two, listen to me. Their pain is not for your amusement. I mean, do you think that they enjoy being treated like, like circus freaks?"

"Um, I don't think that they actually care considering that they're fictional characters," said the man posing as Dean.

"Oh, they care, alright. Believe me, they care an awful lot," finished Dean.

He angrily brushed past the two men and walked on, shaking his head. Alex looked at Sam, her bottom lip in between her teeth nervously. Sam nodded imperceptibly at her so Alex released her bottom lip from in between her teeth, gave Sam a kiss on the cheek, and then hurried after her older brother. The two men looked to Sam for an explanation.

"He, um… He takes this story very seriously," answered Sam.

He settled his duffel bag onto his back more securely and then headed forward, the two men looking after him for a few seconds and then following after all three of them.

After a little bit more of a walk, they finally reached the cemetery. They all began searching for the right grave marker, each one of them shining a flashlight onto the headstones as they walked by them. Sam was the one to find Leticia Gore's grave while Alex and Dean spotted the four children.

"Found the four boys," called out Dean, looking over his shoulder at Sam.

"And here's Leticia Gore," called back Sam.

Alex giggled at the other two men, who were bent over, close to the ground. Dean cleared his throat and the two men whirled around to face him.

"Um, what are you all doing?" asked Dean.

"Looking for bones. Duh, genius," answered the man posing as Dean.

Dean raised his eyebrows, but then just shrugged. Alex gave one last laugh and then walked over to join Sam, pulling up her hair into a long, blonde ponytail.

"Okay, generally, bones are located in the ground," said Dean.

He glanced back over at the two men, who were both now drooling over the sight of Alex. As she put up her hair, her shirt had ridden up, revealing her toned and tanned stomach along with her purple belly button jewelry. Dean glared at the two men and whistled loudly, bringing their attention back over to him once again.

"We know that. We're just looking…"

The man trailed off as he saw Sam remove a shovel from his duffel bag, handing it over to Alex.

"Wait, are you three serious?"

"Deadly," said Dean, grabbing his own shovel.

"We're not really digging up any graves, you all. We're just playing a game, so…"

The man posing as Sam chuckled uncomfortably and scratched the back of his neck, looking away.

"Oh, trust us. You two wanna win the game, right?" asked Dean.

Without waiting for an answer, Dean began shoveling first. He and his siblings took turns until they finally reached the bottom of the grave. As Dean threw down his shovel onto the earthy ground, a sudden wind began howling. Leaves began to blow around the cemetery and it got much colder. Alex stepped closer to Sam, looking around for any kind of sign of danger. Dean finally pried the coffin lid open to reveal Leticia Gore's skeletal body. The man posing as Dean gagged as he took in the sight of the dead body.

"You just dug up a real grave," whispered the man posing as Sam, looking very alarmed all of a sudden.

"Um, yeah," answered Dean.

The two men looked between the three siblings.

"You three are nuts," whispered the man posing as Dean.

"But I thought you guys said that you wanted to be hunters!" exclaimed Sam.

"Hunters aren't real, man. This isn't real," said the fake Dean, beginning to walk away with his friend.

"You guys have seriously…"

The fake Sam trailed off, his eyes widening as he stared over at the real Sam.

"What?" asked Sam, rolling his eyes.

Sam looked to his left and his eyes widened as Leticia Gore's ghost stood beside him.

"Naughty, naughty, naughty," she rasped out, striking Sam across the face, causing him to fly across the cemetery.

The fake Sam and Dean yelled and screamed as they ran from the cemetery as fast as humanly possible. Alex stood still for a split second before she quickly grabbed the salt from her bag, tossing it over to Dean, who was still standing in the dug up grave. He caught it effortlessly and began pouring it all over the bones of Leticia Gore. She then grabbed the oil and a silver lighter, rushing over to Dean. Leticia's ghost was now sinking her nails into the chests of the two fans. They screamed in horror and pain. Alex poured the oil onto the dead body and then Dean climbed out of the grave. Alex threw her silver lighter onto the bones and they instantly burst into flames. The ghost of Leticia Gore disappeared instantly, vanishing in a plume of flames and smoke. The two men worked on catching their breath while Sam pulled himself up from the sodden ground.

"Was that real enough for you yet?" asked Dean.

The two men looked at him, their eyes wide and frightened.

Back at the hotel, Dean slapped a couple of bills down onto the table that the fake Sam and Dean were currently sitting at, downing whiskey shots like crazy.

"This round's on us, boys," said Dean.

He began to walk away, but then the fake Dean spoke to him.

"How did you three know to do all of that stuff?" he asked the three of them.

"We, um… We read all of the books," shrugged Sam.

Alex and Dean nodded and they turned to walk away once again. They approached Chuck on their way out.

"Hey, Chuck. Good luck on your Supernatural books. And, um, fuck you very much," said Dean, raising his eyebrows.

Chuck gulped audibly and the three siblings headed for the front door. As Alex reached out to pull the door open, she found it locked. Sam and Dean pushed her aside and tried to open the doors, but they were unsuccessful as well.

"Well, that's not normal," said Alex.

She walked over to the window and tried to open that as well, but nothing worked. She watched as Sam walked back to her and Dean, coming from the top floor.

"Every single exit's locked. Almost like-" began Sam.

"Something's keeping us in?" answered Dean.

Sam nodded and Alex cursed under her breath.

"Yeah, this is bad," whispered Sam, sighing deeply.

"Oh, gee, do you think so, Sammy?" asked Dean, speaking very sarcastically.

Suddenly, a loud, shrill scream rang out. The siblings rushed to the sound of the noise and saw the woman who was dressed up as Leticia Gore walking backwards from a room. Dean stopped her and she looked up at him, panic rising in her facial features.

"Don't go in there," she warned the three of them.

"Get downstairs, okay? Go. Go!" yelled Dean.

The girl obeyed, rushing down the stairs to the lobby. The siblings walked forward into the room that she had just vacated and Alex let out a small gasp when she saw the ghost of a little boy sitting in the corner, his head wound visible.

"Why'd you do that? Why did you send my mommy away?" asked the little boy.

"You know what, kid, a little gratitude might be nice every once in a while, especially considering what she did to you," said Dean, glaring at the small child and pointing to the boy's head wound.

Sam cleared his throat and Dean threw up his hands with frustration.

"My mommy didn't do this to me," whispered the little boy.

"What?" asked Sam, cocking his head to the side with confusion now.

"Then who did do this to you?" asked Alex, staring at the little boy sadly.

The kid flickered once and then vanished suddenly. The three siblings sighed and then looked at each other. They left the room, wracking their brains on who could've hurt the little boy when they heard a man scream from down the hall. They quickly ran toward the sound of the scream, but were too late: The man who had been dressed up as the Hook Man was on the floor, dead, a large part of his scalp missing.

"Fucking hell," whispered Alex.

They walked into the auditorium quietly, Alex gently closing the door behind her. She watched as her twin brother walked up onto the stage, interrupting Chuck and whispering into his ear what was happening.

"Holy crap!" yelled Chuck.

The crowd began whispering at his exclamation and Sam grabbed the top of the microphone, covering it up with the palm of his left hand.

"Listen to me, Chuck. You have to keep everyone safe in here," whispered Sam.

"For how long?" asked Chuck.

"For however long this whole thing takes."

"Well, how the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Sam looked out, surveying the crowd quickly before turning back to Chuck and speaking through his gritted teeth.

"I don't know, man. Please, just do it. We all need this one thing from you right now."

Sam patted Chuck on the shoulder, nodded at the crowd for acknowledgement, and then headed off of the stage. Dean led the rest of the employees and a few stragglers into the auditorium from the lobby and then he and Alex began salting down all of the doors. Once they were finished, they met in a circle at the back of the auditorium, whispering to one another.

"Okay, new theory," whispered Sam.

"So, alright. Let's say those other three orphan boys were playing Cowboys and Indians and they… scalped Leticia's son and then killed him," offered Dean.

"Alright, so then Mom catches them all in the act, flips out, and then slices and dices them all and then herself?" finished Alex.

Sam scoffed.

"Well if that's true, then it means we've got three bloodthirsty brats in this damn building," said Sam.

"Yeah, and Leticia was the only one keeping them under control," chimed in Dean.

"Until we took her out. Real smooth move on our part," said Alex.

"Alright, so we go back to the cemetery and torch all of the kids' bones," said Dean.

Sam stared directly into his older brother's face.

"Um, how do we do that exactly, Dean? We're trapped in here. I mean, we don't even have our guns. The ghosts are running this joint and they're only scared of one thing!" whisper-yelled Sam.

Dean stopped, his face brightening as he smirked widely.

"Exactly."

He turned to look at Alex, who groaned and ran a hand over her face.

"C'mon, Lex, you know you'll be safe," encouraged Dean.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, I'll do it," said Alex.

She walked over to the woman dressed up as Leticia Gore, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away so that they could switch clothes.

Alex's heart began racing as she walked into a sitting room of the hotel located on the second floor.

"I really don't want to do this," whispered Alex, biting her bottom lip so much that it began bleeding.

Dean leaned his head into the room from the hallway.

"Alex, I'm right here, baby girl. I've got your back, alright? You know that," whispered Dean.

Alex nodded and took in a deep breath. She faced the room then and closed her eyes for a split second before opening them once again.

"Boys? Boys, come here this instant!" she yelled into the quiet and still room.

Nothing happened for a full minute so Alex tried once again.

"You all come when I call you. Do you understand me?" she yelled into the still empty room.

As she looked around after her second attempt at calling the boys, she gasped quietly to herself when she heard one speak.

"Mrs. Gore?"

She whirled around to face the three of them.

"Listen to me, boys. You three have been very, very naughty. Now, you open all of those doors. Open the doors right now!"

The three of them flickered for one instant and Alex licked her dry lips.

"You three have been very naughty. Do you understand me? Naughty, naughty, naughty," said Alex.

The boys all looked down at the floor, ashamed. As soon as they looked down at the floor, a cell phone chimed from out in the hallway. Dean cursed, rushing to silence his cell phone. Alex looked frightened and began to panic as the boys all looked up at her, angry and confused. The boys' glares were murderous and evil as they stared up at her. Dean walked into the room, an iron fireplace poker held tightly in his hands.

"Get behind me," whispered Dean, a furious glare on his face as he stared down the three little boys.

Alex nodded and smoothly slid behind him as the boys slowly began advancing on her and Dean. Two of the boys threw Dean to the floor, leaving Alex alone with the third boy. As he advanced toward her, Alex held up her arms to shield herself, but Sam rushed into the room, grabbing the fireplace poker from where it had fallen out of Dean's grasp. He swung at the boy, causing him to disappear. He then turned around and swung the fireplace poker through the other two boys advancing on Dean. Once they were all gone, he helped Dean and Alex stand up.

"Thanks," said Dean.

"No problem," said Sam.

Sam was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown across the room.

"Sam!" yelled Alex and Dean.

Two of the little boys appeared again, one grabbing Sam by the hair and holding a knife up to his scalp. The other little boy threw Dean down to the ground and climbed on top of him, his face now inches from Dean's. Alex's face grew pale.

"Where's the other little boy?" asked Alex.

She watched in horror as the two boys got closer and closer to scalping both Sam and Dean. She heard screams from downstairs and knew that the third little boy was down there.

"God, please let Chuck handle it," she whispered to herself.

Alex ran to grab the iron fireplace poker and as she went to swing at the boy holding onto Sam's scalp, he suddenly disappeared with a bright burst of flames and smoke. The boy on top of Dean vanished second and the screams from below disappeared as the third and final boy also suddenly vanished. Alex sighed with relief and slid down to the floor using the wall behind her, catching her breath along with her siblings.

The very next morning, Dean walked down the concrete steps with the fake Sam and Dean that they had all sort of befriended while there.

"You know, I do have to hand it to you two fellas. You saved our asses last night, burning the bones and all of that. Thanks, um… Hell, I don't even know your names," said Dean, chuckling.

"Oh. Well, I'm Barnes," said the tall one who had been posing as Sam.

"And I'm Damian," said the one who had been posing as Dean.

"What's your name?" asked Barnes.

Dean's smile faltered momentarily at this question.

"Dean. The real Dean," he answered honestly.

The two men looked at him for a brief lapse of time and then erupted into laughter.

"Yeah, right! Me too," said Damian, slugging him jokingly in the shoulder.

Dean smirked along with them.

"Well, anyway, thanks for saving our lives last night. Really."

Damian and Barnes nodded and Dean walked away from them.

"You're wrong, you know," said Damian.

Dean turned back around, his eyebrows pulled together with confusion.

"I'm sorry?"

"About Supernatural. No offense, but I'm not exactly sure that you honestly understand what the whole story's about," continued Damian.

"Is that so?" asked Dean, cocking his head to the side and smirking slightly.

"Alright, look. In real life, Barnes here sells stereo equipment and I fix copiers. Our lives suck. But to be Sam and Dean, to be a part of the Winchester family, to wake up every morning and save the world, to have a brother or a sister that would die for you… Well, who wouldn't want that?" asked Damian.

"Maybe you've got a point there. You know, you two don't make a bad team yourselves. Where did you two meet anyway?" asked Dean, glancing up at the two of them.

"Oh, well, we met online in a Supernatural chat room," said Barnes.

"That's nice. Make friends that way."

Dean smiled, nodded at the two of them, and then walked away, unsure of what to say next.

Alex chuckled as she sat on the trunk of their car, listening as Becky and Chuck spoke to Sam.

"Listen, Sam, I'm not going to lie, we had undeniable chemistry. But it can no longer go on. Chuck and I, we found each other. My yin to his proud yang. And, well, the heart wants what the heart wants. I am so, so sorry. Will you be alright?" asked Becky, looking up at him pityingly.

Sam looked at her and took in a deep breath, letting it out with a deep sigh.

"Honestly, I don't know. I'll just have to… find a way to keep living, I guess," said Sam.

Becky beamed as her smile grew wider. She turned to Chuck next to her and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Okay then. Oh, and Chuck? I guess it's okay with us if you want to go ahead and publish more books," said Sam.

Chuck smiled.

"Wow. Really?"

"No, not really. We have guns and we'll find you," threatened Sam.

Chuck's smile faded then, but he nodded quickly. Becky looked extremely disappointed standing beside him.

"Right, okay, no more books," agreed Chuck.

Sam nodded and began walking away, heading toward Alex. He turned back around when he heard Becky calling for him. She met him halfway.

"Remember that girl Bella, who stole the Colt from you? Well, she said she gave it to Lilith, remember?"

"Um, yeah," asked Sam, sounding confused and wondering where all of this was going.

"Well, you know she lied, right? She never really gave it to Lilith?"

"Wait, what?" asked Sam, looking from Becky to Chuck.

"Didn't you read the book? There was this one scene where Bella gave the Colt to this demon named Crowley, Lilith's right hand man. And I think her lover too, probably," answered Becky.

"Crowley? Becky, tell me everything," said Sam.

Alex slipped from her seat on the back of the trunk as Dean approached his car with Sam right next to him.

"Well, you two will never believe this, but I think that I have a lead on the Colt," said Sam.

"What?" asked Alex.

"Long story. Tell you all on the way?" suggested Sam.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked Dean.

He unlocked the Impala and Sam let Alex climb inside the car first before he took his usual spot in the passenger seat.

"So Sam. Are you sure you're going to be able to live without Becky?" asked Alex, laughing loudly.

Sam gave her a nasty look and faced forward.

"Fuck off."

Alex smiled and leaned forward, kissing Sam's cheek lovingly.

"I'm only kidding. You know I love you. Her obsession with you was pretty freaking hilarious though," said Alex.

Dean nodded with agreement and Sam skulked in the front passenger seat. Alex gently patted Sam's cheek twice and then sat back in the backseat.

Alex stood next to Sam as they leaned against the Impala, Dean standing on the driver's side on the phone with Castiel.

"Even as we speak, the deal between Crowley and another man is… going down," said Castiel.

"Going down?" asked Dean incredulously.

He shook his head and then sighed.

"Just don't lose him, Cas."

"I won't," responded Castiel.

He hung up and followed Crowley for a solid fifteen minutes. Crowley entered a house on the edge of town and Castiel sighed as he realized that he couldn't get inside. He called Dean.

"It's layered with all sorts of magic. I can't get in," said Castiel as Dean answered his phone call.

"That's alright, we'll take it from here, Cas," responded Dean.

Later that night, Alex was dressed up in a slinky black dress, her hair pulled back into an elegant bun and nude high heels on her feet. She walked up to the black gates outside of the mansion that Crowley was currently residing in and pressed a button on the intercom.

"Hello?" called out a male voice through the intercom.

"Um, hi, my car broke down and I need some help," pleaded Alex.

"We'll be right down," said the man again.

A few seconds later, the black gates swung open and Alex slowly walked forward onto the property. Two muscular men came strolling across the grass toward her. The blonde man smirked at her.

"Well hey there, pretty lady. Get yourself on in here."

Alex smiled.

"I just need to make a call."

"You don't need to call anyone, baby. We're the only help you'll ever need," responded the blonde one, briefly glancing back at his companion.

"You know, I think I'm just gonna go wait by my car."

Alex turned and began walking away, but the man's eyes turned black and he grabbed her roughly on the shoulder, turning her back around to face him.

"We said, get your ass in here," he threatened.

Alex's face became serious and she punched him in the face. Sam and Dean came up behind the two men and Sam stabbed the brown haired man in the neck with the demon-killing knife. Alex had the blonde man on his knees and Sam ran over, stabbing him in the neck as well.

"Nice work, little sis," said Dean.

Alex nodded.

"Thanks. Shall we?" she asked.

Sam and Dean nodded, Dean handing Alex her backpack of weapons. She threw it onto her back and followed her brothers up Crowley's driveway. They silently entered the house after cutting the power, standing in the darkened foyer. Once they saw Crowley approaching them, Sam spoke up first.

"So. It's Crowley, right?"

Crowley smirked sinisterly.

"So the Winchester siblings finally found me. Took you three long enough."

He began walking towards the three of them, but stopped as he reached a very expensive looking rug on the floor. He bent down and flipped a corner up, revealing a Devil's Trap drawn onto it. He straightened back up and looked at the three of them.

"Do you have any clue how much this rug costs?"

Suddenly, three men appeared, grabbing the Winchester siblings from behind and holding them by the arms, not allowing them to escape. Crowley held up the Colt in his hands.

"So this is what it's all about, huh?" he asked.

He aimed the gun in the general direction of the siblings, but shot the demons holding them instead. The three Winchester siblings looked stunned.

"We need to talk. Privately," said Crowley.

He began walking into another room, so the siblings reluctantly followed him. They entered into an office and study room.

"What the hell is this?" asked Dean, his tone angry.

"Do you know how deep I could've buried this thing? There's no reason that you, or anyone else for that matter, should know that this even exists at all. Except that I just told you," said Crowley, smirking.

"You told us?" asked Sam.

"You know, rumors, innuendo, sent out through the damn grapevine."

"Why?" asked Sam.

"Why tell us anything?" asked Alex, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I want you to take this thing to Lucifer and empty it into his skull."

"Uh-huh. Okay, and why, exactly, would you want the devil himself dead?" asked Dean, raising his eyebrows.

"It's called survival. Look, Lucifer isn't a demon, remember? He's an angel, an angel famous for his hatred for humankind. To him, you're all just bags of puss. So if that's how he feels about you, how do you think he feels about us?" asked Crowley, taking a drink from his whiskey.

"But he created you," said Alex.

"To him we're just servants. If Lucifer manages to exterminate humankind, we're next. So, help me. Huh? Let's all go back to simpler and better times, back to when we could all follow our natures. So what do you say? What if I give you this thing and you all go kill the devil?"

Crowley sat on the edge of his desk and held the Colt out to Sam. Sam briefly glanced at Alex and Dean, but then he stepped forward slightly and took the Colt from Crowley's hands.

"Great," said Crowley, smirking as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

"Now you wouldn't happen to know where the devil is, by chance, would you?" asked Sam.

"His buddies tell me that he has an appointment in Carthage, Missouri on Thursday," answered Crowley.

"Great. Thanks," said Sam, looking down at the powerful gun in his hands.

"Oh! You'll probably need some more ammunition."

Crowley walked around his desk, opening the middle drawer and searching for the bullets he needed.

"Um, excuse me for asking, but aren't you kind of signing your own death warrant here? I mean, what happens to you if we go up against the devil and lose?" asked Dean.

Crowley sighed and stopped looking for bullets for a minute.

"Number one, he's going to wipe us all out anyway. Two, after you all leave here, I go on an extended vacation to all points nowhere. And three, how about you don't miss, alright?"

Crowley yelled this last part at Dean, his face very red and a vein popping out in his neck. He tossed Dean a package of bullets for the Colt and then suddenly disappeared from the room. Alex sighed deeply as she looked at her brothers.

A few hours later, Dean pulled the Impala up to Bobby's house. Alex scrambled out of the car and ran toward the entrance. She flung open the door and ran inside, Kellan meeting her in the middle of the living room and picking her up, spinning her around in his arms. He buried his face into her neck.

"God, I've missed you so much, babe," he whispered into her neck.

"Me too," said Alex.

She pulled his face up and kissed him deeply. Joe and Ellen chuckled as they sat down with Castiel at the kitchen table. Dean and Sam entered the house, Dean glaring at Alex and Kellan. Without removing her lips from Kellan's, Alex flipped Dean off as he walked past her, Sam laughing as he followed Dean into Bobby's office.

"So this has got to be a trap, right?" asked Sam.

He and Dean were sitting in the office, Dean sitting at the desk and Sam sitting in front of it, each holding a beer. Dean smirked sarcastically.

"Sam Winchester, having trust issues with a demon. Well, better late than never."

"And thank you again for your continued support."

They clinked their bottles together and Sam chuckled as he took a long draw from his drink.

"You know, trap or no trap, if we've got a snowballs chance, we've gotta take it," said Dean, looking at his brother.

Sam just shrugged.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Besides, I'm not really sure that this is a trap. Check it out."

Dean slid a few papers across the desk over to Sam.

"I mean, Carthage is lit up like a damn Christmas tree with Revelation omens. And, look at this. There's been six missing persons reported in town since this Sunday. I think that the devil really is there."

Sam looked at all of the papers for a brief moment and then took in a deep breath.

"Okay."

"But Sammy, you can't come with."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"Dean."

"Listen, I go against Satan and screw the pooch? Okay, that we can take. But if you're there, then we are handing the devil's vessel right over to him and that's definitely not smart."

"Since when have we ever done anything smart?"

"I'm serious, Sam."

"So am I. I mean, haven't we learned a damn thing here? If we're gonna do this, we're all gonna do it together."

Sam stared at Dean until Dean finally sighed. He picked up his beer bottle and took a drink from it.

"Okay. But it's a stupid freaking idea."

Sam smirked and Dean did as well.

Back in the kitchen, Alex was sitting on the counter while Kellan stood in between her legs. He had his hands on her hips and she had her arms draped around his shoulders. He kissed her lips and then began kissing down her neck. Alex sighed, closing her eyes as Kellan smirked against her neck.

"Alright, everyone in here!" yelled Bobby.

Kellan sighed and straightened up, helping Alex off of the countertop. They walked into the office, groaning as they saw Bobby setting up a camera.

"Oh, c'mon, Bobby, no one wants to get their picture taken," groaned Ellen.

"I'm gonna need something to remember your sorry asses by," said Bobby, wheeling himself over to join the group.

"Well, it's always great to have an optimist in the group," joked Ellen.

Everyone chuckled except for Castiel.

"Bobby's right. Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on Earth."

Everyone's smile faded and Alex tucked herself into Kellan's side. The flash went off only a few seconds later, everyone looking somber in the black and white picture.

A few hours later, Alex and Kellan were the only ones left awake. Sam and Dean had just headed upstairs, each one of them kissing Alex's forehead before they left. They patted Kellan on the shoulder and Alex watched them walk upstairs to their separate rooms. Kellan pulled Alex up from the couch and pulled her into him.

"Come on, baby. Let's go get some sleep."

Kellan held her hand as he led Alex into the guest bedroom on the first floor. Alex sat on the edge of the bed as Kellan shut the door. He walked over to her and Alex sat up onto her knees, reaching eye-level with Kellan.

"I love you, Kellan."

Kellan smirked, his blue eyes twinkling.

"I love you too, Alex."

Alex kissed him, Kellan moaning into her mouth. Alex reached down to the hem of his shirt and pulled it up, removing it from Kellan's body. They separated to remove Alex's shirt and Kellan groaned as he saw the black, lacy bra that Alex was wearing.

"You're so fucking beautiful," whispered Kellan.

Alex smiled gently and pushed Kellan down onto the bed. She climbed on top of him, straddling him. Kellan pulled her lips down to meet his and thrust his tongue into her mouth. As their tongues danced together, Alex ground down onto Kellan, causing their mouths to break apart as Kellan groaned with pleasure. He rolled them over, causing Alex to giggle at the sudden movement. Kellan kissed down her neck, pausing at her chest to remove her bra. Once he was done with that, he continued kissing down her body, kissing her stomach and her hipbones, Alex gasping with pleasure and running her hands through her blonde hair. Kellan unzipped Alex's jeans and pulled them off, leaving her in only her panties. Once that was done, Alex pulled on Kellan's pants. Kellan chuckled.

"Someone's impatient tonight," said Kellan, chuckling.

Alex grabbed his chin, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"Kellan, baby, please make love to me. Right now," whispered Alex.

Kellan gulped and nodded. He removed Alex's panties and his own boxers. He positioned himself in between Alex's legs, rolling a condom on. Kellan kissed Alex deeply as he entered her. Alex gasped and wrapped her legs around Kellan's waist.

"Kellan, I love you so much. Don't ever forget that," whispered Alex, kissing him.

"I won't, baby. I love you too."

Kellan licked and sucked at Alex's neck, definitely leaving marks as he bit down on her skin.

"Fuck, I'm so close. Faster, baby," begged Alex.

Kellan obliged and minutes later, Alex let out a loud cry as she came, Kellan joining her seconds later. They kissed and then Kellan pulled out of her, rolling over onto his side of the bed and removing the condom. He pulled her into his chest and Alex sighed with contentment as they both fell asleep instantly.

The next morning, Alex sat in the backseat of the Impala as Dean drove into the seemingly abandoned town of Carthage, Missouri. Both Sam and Dean had their phones in one hand, holding them out the window.

"You getting a signal?" asked Sam.

"No, nothing. Nice and creepy," answered Dean.

He waved to the car behind him, which Ellen was driving. She pulled up next to the Impala as Dean parked his car on the curb.

"The place seem a little bit empty to you?" asked Ellen.

"You all stay here and see if you can find anyone. We'll go check out the PD," said Dean.

Ellen nodded and pulled over onto the curb while Dean drove farther into Carthage.

"Station's empty," said Dean, as Ellen, Joe, and Kellan drove up to meet them a few minutes later.

"So is everything else," replied Joe.

Ellen sighed.

"Have you all seen Cas?"

The Winchesters looked confused.

"What? He was with you," said Alex.

"Nope. He went after the reapers," answered Ellen.

Dean's eyebrows rose.

"Reapers?"

"He saw reapers? Where?" asked Sam.

"Well, kind of… everywhere," said Kellan, leaning out his window to speak to them.

The siblings exchanged glances.

"Well, let's get all of our stuff and start looking for him then," said Dean.

Ellen nodded and parked the car on the curb, Joe and Kellan getting out with her. They all grabbed their weapons and headed down the street with Alex, Sam, and Dean.

"We've been in town 20 minutes and we've already lost the angel up our sleeve," said Dean.

"Do you think that Lucifer already got him?" asked Sam.

Dean shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know what else to think."

They rounded a street corner when a voice sounded out behind them.

"There you are."

The six of them whirled around and faced Meg, who was smirking.

"Meg," said Sam.

Meg shook her head, still smirking.

"You all shouldn't have come here."

"Yeah? Well, I can say the same thing for you," said Dean.

He walked closer to her and coked the Colt, aiming it directly at her forehead.

"Ah, but I didn't come here alone, Dean-O."

Meg nodded to her left and the puddle beside her rippled, as if an invisible pet were standing in it. A growl rang out and Dean's eyes widened as he realized that hell hounds were now surrounding all of them.

"Hell hounds," remarked Dean, still aiming the Colt at Meg.

"Yeah, Dean. Your favorite. Come on now. My father wants to see you."

"I think we'll pass. Thanks anyway," yelled Alex.

Meg just shrugged.

"It's your call. You can make this easy or you can make it really, really difficult," said Meg.

The growls from the hell hounds continued and Dean looked back at Ellen, who nodded imperceptibly. He looked back at Meg then.

"And when have you known us to ever make a single thing around here easy, huh?" asked Dean.

Meg shook her head, still smirking. Dean aimed the gun to her left and shot at the hell hound, killing it.

"Run!" yelled Sam.

All six of them took off running, the invisible hell hounds chasing after them while Meg just laughed loudly. As Sam, Alex, Ellen, and Kellan reached the sidewalk, Dean was knocked down by a hell hound. Joe whirled around, his eyes wide.

"Dean!" he yelled.

"Joe, stay back!" yelled Dean.

Joe didn't listen and instead began shooting at the hell hounds using his shotgun. He hit one, causing it to whine and retreat. As Joe turned around, a hell hound jumped on him, ripping into his side. Joe screamed in pain. They all began shooting at the hell hounds as Dean raced over to Joe, helping him stand and pulling one of Joe's arms around his shoulder. Dean ran with Joe to the nearest store, a small hardware store. He and Joe walked inside first, Alex, Ellen, Kellan, and finally, Sam, following them inside. Blood from Joe's wound splattered onto the floor as Ellen rushed over to her son. Sam wound a metal chain around the doors of the store while Dean grabbed the rock salt, tossing a bag to Kellan. They cut open the large bags of rock salt using their pocket knives and spread them around the doors and windows.

"We need some help over here!" called out Ellen.

Alex rushed over to Ellen and Joe. Blood was pouring out of Joe's wound. Sam, Kellan, and Dean joined the other three. Ellen looked at all of them. Dean and Sam exchanged a look while Ellen let out a shaky breath. Alex found some large gauze pads and an ACE bandage down one of the aisles and helped Ellen place them over Joe's large, gaping wound.

"You're gonna be alright, okay? You're gonna be alright," said Ellen.

Alex walked over to Sam and Dean as Dean fiddled around with an older radio on one of the shelves in the hardware store.

"How's he holding up?" asked Dean.

Alex sighed, her eyes filling up with tears. Dean and Sam said nothing, but just looked at her sadly.

"The salt lines are holding up," said Sam.

"We're safe for now," said Dean, still working on the radio.

"Yeah, safe or trapped like rats," said Sam.

Dean stopped what he was doing and looked over at his little brother.

"Hey, you heard what Meg said. Her father's here. This is our one shot, Sammy, and we've got to take it, no matter what."

Without waiting for a reply, Dean turned back to the radio, turning it on.

"Ah, here we go," said Dean.

"Can I have some more help here please?" called out Ellen.

Sam and Alex walked back over to where Ellen and Kellan sat beside Joe. They listened as Dean used the radio to get in touch with Bobby. Sam pulled Alex into his side and kissed her temple as they walked over to help Ellen with Joe.

Alex glanced at Joe as Dean spoke to her and Sam a little while later.

"So now we know where the devil's gonna be and we know when. We have the Colt," explained Dean, relaying what Bobby had told him to his siblings.

Sam sighed deeply.

"Yeah. I mean, we just have to get past eight or so hell hounds and get to the farm by midnight," said Sam.

"Yeah, and that's after we get those three out of town," said Dean, nodding his head towards Ellen, Joe, and Kellan.

"It won't be easy," whispered Alex.

"I'll see what we've got," said Sam.

As he stepped away to look for a stretcher, Joe called out.

"Just stop. All three of you, stop. Can we, um, be realistic about this, please?"

The three Winchester siblings walked forward towards Joe and his family. Once they were close, Joe spoke again.

"I can't move my legs. I can't be moved. My guts are being held in by an ACE bandage. We've gotta… We've gotta get our priorities straight here. So number one, I'm not going anywhere."

"Joseph Andrew, stop talking like that," said Ellen.

Joe looked over at his mother.

"Mom. I can't fight. I can't walk. But I could do something. We've got propane, wiring, rock salt. Iron nails, everything we need," explained Joe.

"Everything we need?" asked Alex, sounding confused.

"To build a bomb, Alex."

Realization dawned on everyone then and Alex reached out for Kellan, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers.

"No. Joe, no," said Dean.

"You got another plan? You got any other plan? Those are hell hounds out there, Dean. They've got all of our scents and those sons of bitches will never stop coming after all of you. We let the dogs in, you all hit the roof, make a break for the building next over, and I can wait here with my finger on the button. Rip those damn mutts a new one. Or at least get you a couple of minutes head start, anyway."

"No, I… I won't let you," said Ellen, her eyes filling up with tears as she looked at her only son.

"Mom, this is why we're here, right?"

Ellen shook her head as tears fell down her face.

"If I could get us a shot on the devil… We have to take it," said Joe.

"No!" cried Ellen, looking at the Winchesters and Kellan.

Dean looked over at Ellen sadly.

"That's not-"

"Mom, this might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. You might wanna take it," said Joe, smiling at his mom as his voice cracked and tears filled up his own eyes.

Ellen began sobbing uncontrollably. She looked at her son, who gave her a sad, watery smile of his own. Ellen sniffed and wiped away her tears.

"Well, you heard him. Let's get to work," said Ellen.

Sam and Dean took off, gathering the items that were needed to create the actual bombs in their entirety while Ellen and Joe worked on creating a trigger to set off all of the bombs at once. Alex watched as Kellan helped his pseudo family. Once all of the bombs were in place, Sam bent down and patted Joe's shoulder gently. Dean handed the wires to Joe, who attached them to the trigger in his bloody hands.

"Okay, this is it," said Dean.

Joe nodded and looked up at him, smiling sadly. Dean gave him a sad smile.

"I'll see you on the other side, man. Probably sooner rather than later," joked Dean.

Joe smirked and handed Dean his shotgun.

"Make it later, buddy."

Dean nodded and placed the trigger into Joe's open palm. He stepped away and Alex knelt down next to Joe, Kellan having already said his goodbyes to his best friend. Alex gave Joe a watery smile, tears spilling down her cheeks and face.

"Thanks for taking care of Kellan for me. He means the world to me," whispered Alex.

"No problem. If I couldn't be with you, I'm glad it was Kellan," replied Joe.

Alex smiled, but her tears fell more rapidly now. Kellan began crying as well as he stood beside Ellen, holding her close.

"You know, I always had the biggest crush on you. I thought you should know that. But you and Kellan, you guys just make sense together. You're perfect for each other, soul mates. Make sure that when you start having kids, you name one of them after me," said Joe.

Alex let out a cry, but also slightly laughed gently.

"Will do, Joe."

She leaned forward and closed her eyes as she placed a kiss on his forehead. As she pulled back to look into his face one more time, she sighed and leaned forward once again, holding his face in her hands and placing a small kiss on his lips. She pulled away after a few seconds, gave him one more smile, and then grabbed Kellan, pulling him over to where her brothers stood, and standing with Sam and Dean as Ellen knelt down next to one and only son. Joe began crying as he looked at his mother, who shook her head imperceptibly.

"Mom, no," said Joe.

Ellen smiled weakly at her child.

"Someone's gotta let them in. And like you said, you're not moving. You've got me, Joe. And you're very right. This is important, but I will not leave you here alone," said Ellen, crying once again.

"Dean," whispered Sam.

"You can leave now," said Ellen.

"Ellen," warned Dean.

"I said leave."

Sam led the way, Alex following right behind him. Kellan walked over to Ellen, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"I love you, Mom. You have always been my mom and Joe has always been my brother. I can't leave you two here," said Kellan.

"Kellan, you have to. You have a whole life ahead of you with that beautiful girl right over there."

Ellen pointed over to Alex, who smiled gently while crying.

"I'm sorry that I won't get to see you get married or have gorgeous, adorable babies. But I need to be with Joe," cried Ellen, looking up at her son's best friend.

Kellan nodded and with tears in his eyes, walked back over to Alex, taking her hand.

"And Dean?" called out Ellen.

Dean turned back around to face her.

"Kick its ass for me. Don't you dare miss."

Dean nodded sadly and followed the other three out of the hardware store through the back doors. They climbed up a rusty old fire escape and onto a balcony, heading for the next building over. As they climbed down from the balcony, they entered into an alleyway. A couple of seconds after Dean had stepped into the alleyway, a loud blast sounded from behind all of them. They all whirled around to see the hardware store burst into flames. They stared at it for a few seconds, Kellan shaking. Alex pulled him by the hand to get him to move, but he wouldn't budge.

"Baby, we have to move. Kellan, we have to leave, now," urged Alex.

Kellan looked at her, the sound of her voice breaking him from his stupor. He nodded and ran after Sam and Dean with Alex. Once they had reached the Impala, Alex and Kellan stopped, Dean and Sam looking at them.

"Guys, Kellan needs me right now. Please let me take him somewhere safe," begged Alex.

Dean nodded and dug his car keys out of his pocket. He tossed them to his little sister while Alex tossed him the car keys to Ellen's vehicle, which Kellan had the keys to.

"Please don't be angry with me," pleaded Alex, biting her lip as she looked into Sam and Dean's faces.

Dean sighed sadly and pulled Alex into his chest. He kissed her temple and closed his eyes as he did so.

"Baby girl, I'm not mad at you. You'll be safer this way and that's all that matters to me. Take care of Kellan and we'll come meet you when we're finished here, alright? Keep your cell phone on you. You too, Kellan," said Dean.

Both Kellan and Alex nodded. Sam hugged Alex then and kissed her forehead gently.

"I love you, little sister."

"I love you more, big brother."

Sam smiled gently and he and Dean watched as Alex ushered Kellan into the Impala and drove off, out of Carthage.

Dean and Sam hid in the trees as they watched Lucifer shoveling dirt into a rather large hole up on the farm ground. A group of seemingly immobile townspeople surrounded him. Dean and Sam pushed through the tree line and walked forward towards Lucifer.

"Hey!" yelled Sam.

He trudged forward and the townspeople turned to look at him as he brushed past all of them. Lucifer turned to look at Sam, dropping his shovel as he turned around to face Sam.

"You wanted to see me?" asked Sam, anger lacing his tone.

Lucifer smiled and pointed to Sam's weapon.

"Now, Sam, you won't need that gun here. You know I'd never hurt you. Not really, anyway."

Sam looked furious and the devil's smile faded as Dean snuck up behind him, placing the Colt to the side of the devil's head.

"Yeah? Well, I'd hurt you," said Dean, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

The devil turned his head slowly to look at Dean now.

"So suck it."

Dean cocked the gun and fired, hitting the devil straight in the skull. Lucifer fell to the ground like a rag doll, a bullet hole in his head. Dean looked to Sam, who was breathing very heavily, almost as much as Dean. Dean glanced back at the devil. Suddenly, the devil gasped for breath and rolled over onto his back instead of his side.

"Ow!" he whined.

He took in a couple of deep breaths and then stood up straight, holding his head with one hand as he looked at Dean, pointing to the Colt with his free hand.

"Where did you get that?"

Dean was too shocked to speak, so the devil raised a hand and Dean was flung into a tree some eight yards away from where he was currently standing. He fell to the ground, unconscious. Lucifer turned back to Sam then, healing the wound directly in his forehead from the bullet.

"Now, where were we? Don't feel too bad, Sam. There's only five things in all of creation that that gun can't kill and I just happen to be one of them. But if you would just give me one minute, I'm almost done here."

The devil picked up his shovel and began shoveling dirt back into the large hole once again. Sam rushed over to Dean, checking to make sure that he was still alive. The devil paused in his digging, leaning his arms on the top of his shovel.

"You know, I don't suppose you would just say yes right here and now? End this whole tiresome discussion. That's crazy, right?"

Sam stood up straight from his kneeling position, glaring at the devil.

"It's never going to happen!" yelled Sam.

The devil resumed his shoveling as he spoke back to Sam.

"Oh, I don't know, Sam. I think that it will. I think that it will happen soon, in fact. Within six months. And I think that it will happen… in Detroit."

"You listen to me, you son of a bitch. I'm going to kill you myself, do you understand me? I'm going to rip your heart out!"

"Oh, that's really good, Sammy. You keep fanning that fire in your belly. All that pent-up rage… I'm really gonna need it."

Lucifer continued shoveling the pile of dirt beside him back into the large hole in front of him while Sam looked around at all of the seemingly frozen townspeople.

"What did you do? What did you do to this small town?" asked Sam.

"Oh, I was actually very generous with this whole entire town. One demon for every able-bodied man."

"And for the rest of them?"

Lucifer stopped shoveling the hole once again and smirked, chuckling as he pointed into the large hole in front of him.

"Oh, they're in there."

Sam looked horrified at this revelation. Lucifer looked back down into the hole.

"I know, it's horrible, but these Horsemen are so demanding. So it was women and children first. I know what you must think of me, Sam. But I have to do this. You of all people should understand where I'm coming from right now."

Sam cocked his head to the side, looking taken aback by the devil's statement.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked the devil.

The devil threw down his shovel in frustration.

"I was a son. A brother, like you, the younger brother. And I had an older brother whom I loved very much. I idolized him, in fact. And then one day, I went to him and I begged him to stand with me. And Michael…"

Lucifer took in a large, deep breath.

"Michael turned on me. He called me a freak. A monster. And then he beat me down. All because I was so different. Because I had a mind of my own. Tell me something, Sam. Does any part of this story sound familiar?"

Sam just stared at the devil, his jaw clenched and his face hardened. His eyebrows were pulled together as his face was scrunched up with anger. The devil just shrugged once Sam never responded.

"Well, anyway, you'll have to excuse me because midnight is now calling. And I have a ritual to finish here."

Lucifer pointed to Sam, smirking.

"Don't go anywhere. Not that you would if you could."

Lucifer turned back to the large hole that he had dug up and raised his hands over it, his palms facing downward into the hole. He began chanting in Latin as Sam knelt down next to his still unconscious brother. He glanced at Dean to make sure that he was alright and then looked over at the devil, watching him, his eyes wide. As Lucifer turned to the possessed townspeople and began speaking to them, Dean awoke with a grunt, pushing himself up into a sitting position and breathing heavily. As the townspeople finished repeating what the devil had spoken to them only moments before, they began to fall down, dead, one by one. The devil looked over at Sam and Dean. Sam's eyes were wide with panic. The devil just shrugged.

"What?" he asked them.

He looked back out at the townspeople who had just all dropped dead.

"They're just demons," said Lucifer.

He turned back to the large hole in front of him and raised his hands over it, palms downward, just as he had done beforehand. The ground began to rumble ominously, but when Sam looked over at Dean, Castiel was now there. He held a finger to his lips as he knelt down next to both of them, indicating for them to stay quiet. He grabbed both of them and then took them away from the farmland. When Lucifer looked over with a smirk, they were all gone.

Back at Bobby's house, the news was playing on the small TV in the living room, providing background noise. Bobby was holding the picture he had taken only days before in his right hand, just staring down at it sadly. He wheeled himself over to the fireplace and threw the black and white picture into the fireplace, the Winchester siblings and Kellan watching as the picture burned in the bright orange and yellow flames. Alex held back a sob as she stood between Kellan and Sam. She had one arm around Kellan's waist and her other arm was resting on Kellan's chest, her hand resting directly over his heart as she clutched at his black t-shirt. Kellan reverently kissed the very top of her head, holding her close as he grieved for his only family.