A/N: I was so excited to write this chapter! I really hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter 24: Ain't No Rest for the Wicked
Carry on, my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Dean Winchester's head slammed down on his desk. He jerked awake and shook his head in an attempt to stay conscious.
"Dean, Bobby won't be here for a while, just go take a nap," Mia called from across the room.
Sam, Dean, and Mia were currently working out of a broken-down cabin attempting to figure out how to track down Lilith, the demon holding Dean's deal, and kill her. So far nothing had come up, but Bobby had called with good news and was on his way. Sam, however, wanted to summon Ruby as he believed she could help them track down Lilith, but Dean was adamantly against speaking to her for any reason.
Dean rubbed his tired eyes, "I can't sleep, I've only got a few hours left."
"What's the point of staying awake? You keep falling asleep as it is. Why not take a quick nap? We'll wake you when there's news or if we find anything," Mia offered.
"Mia's right, Dean," Sam countered, "You haven't slept in days and you're going to need all the energy you can get when we go up against Lilith."
Dean, who was extremely fatigued, yawned. He didn't want to argue with his brother and Mia anymore. He reluctantly agreed and headed into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Mia glanced up at Sam who was also combing through a book on demons. He seemed deep in thought as he flipped through the pages not focusing on the words. His eyes looked up and met hers.
"Can I help you?" He joked with a weak smile.
Mia sighed, "I just really hope Bobby hauls ass and gets here soon. I can't sit still."
His smile faded and he shifted his weight in his seat, "Yeah, I can't stand this waiting around. I'm tempted to call Ruby, but I promised Dean I wouldn't."
"Do you think she'd actually tell you where Lilith is? They're both demons, what if she's just trying to purposefully get us all killed?" Mia asked in a worried tone.
"If she's trying to get us all killed then why not do it herself? From the day she showed up she's done nothing but help us, she helped Bobby create more bullets for the Colt, she's saved me countless times on cases and Dean. Not to mention, she's the one that gave us Lilith's name in the first place and told me she could help save Dean," Sam responded coolly.
Mia clutched at her necklace, "I guess that's true, I didn't realize how much she's done to help over the last year."
Sam nodded and returned to his book silently.
Mia stared at the ground in embarrassment. It was clear that Sam was very defensive about Ruby. She understood the demon had been helpful to the boys in past cases but as she'd never met the Ruby herself, she had a hard time blindly trusting her and her motivations seemed confusing. Why was she invested in saving Dean?
"I'm gonna check in on Bobby, see what his ETA is now," Sam announced, he stood up and headed outside of the cabin to make the call.
Mia heard a thud and then cursing from the bedroom where Dean was resting and decided to go check on him. She knocked on the door, "Dean? Are you okay?"
The door opened and Dean gave the young woman an exhausted expression, "I told you, I can't sleep!"
"What happened? Did you fall out of bed?" Mia asked checking the room for the source of the noise.
"Kind of," Dean replied sheepishly.
"What do you mean, kind of?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
"Are you having uncontrollable wet dreams?" Mia joked.
"UGH! I wish that was my problem."
Mia gave him a sympathetic look when it finally clicked for her, "You're having nightmares, aren't you?"
He gazed at her sadly, "I can't hide anything from you, huh?"
She reached out and squeezed his hand. Dean sighed and sat back down on the bed, Mia sat down next to him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered.
He shook his head. They sat in silence for a while, Mia had no idea what to say to Dean in this moment. She could imagine the kinds of nightmares he was having, about being torn to shreds by hell hounds, dragged to hell. Mia shook the thoughts from her head and looked over at Dean whose eyes were fighting to stay open.
"Why don't you try to rest your eyes, I'll stand guard for you," Mia suggested.
Dean lay back in the bed and closed his eyes while Mia adjusted her position so she was sitting up beside him. She studied his face and realized with a heavy heart she might forget his features someday. The heavy, dark circles under his eyes, his long lashes, and the freckles on his cheeks. Mia sank down next to him and lay her head on the pillow beside him. She cared for him deeply, and wondered if he wasn't doomed would they have been able to explore a relationship? Probably not, maybe he cared for her but not in that way, right?
Dean opened his green eyes and Mia's stomach fluttered. He noticed that she was now lying down next to him, "You tired too? You should get some sleep yourself."
Mia rolled her eyes, "I'll sleep tomorrow."
Dean checked his watch and showed her it was just past 2 a.m. "It is tomorrow."
"I don't want it to be tomorrow already," Mia told him in a hushed tone and he gave her a sad nod in agreement.
There was the sound of the front door opening and Sam's voice softly called for Mia. She moved to get up but Dean grabbed onto her arm, "Hey, please don't go. Not just yet."
His eyes pleaded for her to stay with him and she wordlessly agreed and climbed back onto the bed. His body relaxed and he lay back down. He didn't want to say anything but having Mia near him was helping keep away the horrific visions that were creeping into his head. He felt Mia relax into the bed and watched her curl up with her eyes closed. He'd been right, she was just as exhausted as he was. Mia always needed twice the amount of sleep he and Sam got but this week she'd been running on fumes.
Soon enough, she was fast asleep. He smiled at her sleeping form, she was very beautiful like this with the moonlight coming through the window to illuminate her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful he wanted to curl himself around her and fall asleep in a jumble but he resisted and instead reached out to stroke her hair. It was amazing how in less than two years, this girl had integrated herself into his family circle. At first, he wanted nothing to do with her and now he considered her one of the people he cared about the most in the world. Dean continued to watch her sleep then was interrupted by the sound of talking emanating from the vents. Someone was having a conversation in the basement, someone who he'd banked on showing their face tonight.
Dean sat up, he moved to wake Mia but decided against it, she looked far too peaceful. He'd deal with things on his own.
In the basement, Sam, who was fed up waiting for Bobby, had taken advantage of being alone to summon Ruby and ask for her help in tracking down Lilith.
"Sure, I know where she is," Ruby began to circle Sam, "she's on a little vacation, so she's perfectly vulnerable. In fact, if you use those hex bags I gave you, she won't even be able to detect you coming."
"That's perfect," Sam sighed in relief, "Could we use your knife? It would give us a huge help."
"No," Ruby shook her head, "but I can offer you an even greater weapon."
Sam cocked his head.
"Your little gift from the yellow-eyed demon," Ruby reminded.
"It died with him," Sam responded firmly.
"No, no. It's not gone, it's just dormant. You don't only have the power to see the future, Sam. I can teach you ways to defeat demons without shedding any blood. You can destroy demons like Lilith."
Before Sam could respond Dean walked into the room and glared at Ruby, "So what does that make you? Our slutty little Yoda?"
Ruby stiffened seeing Dean.
"Yeah, I knew you'd show, because I knew Sam was too antsy to talk to you again," Dean continued angrily, "whatever you're trying to sell him, he's not buying."
"Your brother has incredible powers, why are you so afraid of letting him use them?" Ruby countered.
Dean turned to face his brother, "Don't listen to her crap, Sam. She's tricking you into becoming her little antichrist."
"That isn't true, I just want to see Lilith destroyed," the demon insisted.
"Why?" Dean asked curiously.
"I've told you why," Ruby answered flatly.
He snorted, "Right because you were human once and liked long walks on the beach."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "I'm done playing nice, I'm giving you help here. You want Lilith's location, I have it. You want a way to save yourself, this is it! Don't let your own self-hatred get in your brother's way, you spineless dick."
Dean punched her in the mouth and Ruby retaliated by kicking him back and then knocking over Sam who tried to intervene. Dean backed her into a corner and grinned when Ruby realized she was trapped. Dean had drawn a devil's trap on the ceiling earlier in anticipation of Sam's move.
"Fine! If you wanna be like that then fuck you. I'm not giving you any help, forget knowing where Lilith is or even thinking about using my-" She stopped when she noticed Dean flashing Ruby a wave with her demon-killing blade.
"Like I said, I knew you'd come," Dean smirked.
Mia opened her eyes and sat up. She was furious at herself for falling asleep, she was supposed to be watching over Dean! She glanced over and noticed the bed was empty and hopped out of it. She raced into the main room to find the boys in a deep conversation.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Dean grinned but Mia noticed there were tears in both his and Sam's eyes. It was clear she'd interrupted an emotional conversation between the brothers.
"What'd I miss?" She joked.
Sam smiled weakly, "You missed Ruby, I called her for reinforcements and we got her knife." He flashed the weapon at her.
"That was kind of Ruby," Mia replied in surprise.
Dean chuckled, "Yeah, let's just say she wouldn't go down without a fight."
The sound of screaming echoed up from the basement and Mia jumped.
"Don't worry, she's trapped down there, she's as harmless as a caged shark," Dean reassured.
Bobby walked through the front door carrying a map and an odd contraption.
"Clear the table," he announced instead of greeting the three hunters.
Mia, Sam, and Dean quickly obeyed his instruction and cleared the kitchen table of all of their candles, books, notepads, weapons, and papers.
Bobby laid out the map and placed the tripod contraption on top of the center of it.
"Is that a crystal ball?" Mia asked, noting the bizarre shape on the top of the tripod.
"Yes," Bobby answered flatly, "Now, honey I love ya but I need you to shut your piehole."
Mia raised her eyebrows in surprise at Bobby's curtness, she glanced up at Dean who was choking back laughter.
Bobby began chanting an incantation in Latin, and as he spoke a pendulum from the tripod began to swing over the map of North America. When Bobby stopped chanting the pendulum dropped onto the middle of the map.
"She's in New Harmony, Indiana," Bobby grinned happily.
"How did you do that?" Dean asked.
"You just need the name of the demon, the rest covers itself. The best part is I can even get us the street name," He answered giddily.
"Alright, let's go," Sam decreed but Dean held out a hand to stop him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's just slow down for a second," Dean exclaimed.
His brother groaned loudly, "What now?"
"We have no idea what Lilith's got waiting for us, she could have an entire army ready for us, for all we know."
"But Dean, we have the knife, Ruby said she won't see us coming if we've got those hex bags with us, and she told me that Lilith's on vacation, her guard is down," Sam interjected.
"When was Ruby here?" Bobby asked.
"She's still here, long story," Dean replied to Bobby then turned to Sam, "It doesn't matter, the point is that just because I'm going to die, doesn't mean you have to die too."
"What are you talking about? Are you intending to go just the two of you? Do Mia and I look like ditchable prom dates to you?" Bobby countered angrily at Dean, "Family don't end with blood, boy."
Dean looked at each of their faces and his voice broke, "I couldn't stand to lose any of you, especially if it was my fault."
"Well, we can't stand the thought of losing you, especially if there was something we could do about it," Mia countered, "So we're coming too."
Before Dean had another chance to protest, Mia started packing her bag and Sam followed suit. The four of them packed up and headed to the cars.
Mia rode with Bobby, she had felt bad earlier about interrupting Sam and Dean during their emotional conversation and wanted them to have some time by themselves. Bobby wasn't feeling too talkative and Mia knew he was terrified they wouldn't make it in time. After several hours of quiet, Mia turned in her seat to stretch her back and noticed something shiny in the backseat.
She smiled to herself, "You brought my water guns."
"Of course," Bobby said, "It's a brilliant weapon idea. I filled up a bunch of super soakers, I just hope it's enough to help."
Mia sighed. She really hoped so too.
Up ahead, they noticed a cop pull over the Impala and an officer got out.
"Shit," Bobby cursed, "this is just what we need." He slowed the car to a stop behind the cop car.
The cop walked over to Dean's window and after a couple of seconds, Dean emerged, beat the cop up, and stabbed him with a knife.
Bobby and Mia ran from the car to Dean.
"What the hell was that?" Mia exclaimed in disbelief.
"Dean just killed a demon!" Sam yelled.
Dean looked at Bobby fearfully, "I saw his face, under this one, it was terrible. I've been seeing weird shit for the past few days but this was the first one that didn't fade."
"Makes sense, you're getting closer to Hell so you can see its citizens," Bobby nodded.
"At least that will be helpful when we're looking for Lilith," Mia offered.
"Yeah, great my hellbound soul is good for something," Dean shot back.
The four of them stashed the cop car in a ditch and got back on the road. Mia checked her watch, they had only hours left at this point.
Once they arrived, Sam grabbed his binoculars to peer into the houses on the street Bobby had given them.
"That's her!" Dean whispered urgently, "That little girl in the dress, that's Lilith! Her face is… awful."
"Evidentally going on vacation for demons is tormenting a family as a little kid," Mia noted the parents terrified expressions as they sang Happy Birthday to her.
Sam ignored her comment and started towards the house but Dean stopped him, "Wait, wait, you don't think it's that easy, look around."
"Ambitious mailman working nights and Mr. Rogers over there," Dean gestured to the house next door, "they're in on it. Not to mention who else on this block."
Mia glanced at the front yard of the house and noticed built-in sprinklers, she remembered the holy water guns in Bobby's car.
"They have a sprinkler system," Mia noted, "if someone was to say, poison the water, there'd be no way for demons to get inside or outside."
Bobby's face lit up, "That's brilliant! I'm on it."
He reached into his duffel to pull out a rosary and checked the map to locate the closest pump house. Before he took off he hugged the three hunters, "Be careful," he told them, but his eyes stayed on Dean.
"Hey, Bobby," Dean called before his guardian turned away, "no matter what happens tonight, thanks for everything."
Bobby shot him a weak smile before heading out.
"In the meantime, we just have to outrun Postman Pat," Mia told the boys.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Dean shrugged bandishing Ruby's knife.
The three of them snuck through the trees toward the postal van. Dean and Sam crept behind the mail truck while the demon sorted his bag at the front of the truck. They managed to creep up close enough to him but the demon was alerted by Sam snapping a twig under his feet and the demon turned his head to investigate the sound.
"You've got mail!" Mia, who was nearby, whisper-shouted at the demon. He whirled around in response to the noise she'd made but before he could reach her, Dean slit his throat while Sam held the demon steady. He crumpled to the floor.
"Nice distraction," Dean complimented, genuinely impressed by her quick-thinking.
Mia beamed, "Nice throat-slitting."
They smiled at each other for a moment before Sam pulled them from their warm thoughts, "Hey guys! Can we make eyes at each other later, we still need to get into the house."
They stashed the body under the car and hid behind it to see if any demons had been alerted. The street remained silent.
"Come on, Bobby," Mia willed, staring at the house and wishing the sprinklers would turn on.
A moment later there was a small noise and then all of the sprinklers on the street were off at full pressure.
"Let's go!" Sam cried and the three of them sprinted from behind the mail truck towards the house.
A hoard of demons emerged behind them and chased them down the street. Once they set foot on the walkway they heard the sound of shrieking and flesh sizzling as the demons were burned by the holy water. They retreated.
"Yes!" Dean cheered.
They made it to the front covered porch and Sam attempted to pick the lock.
"Hello, Dean," a female voice uttered.
Ruby emerged from the side of the wraparound porch.
"What? How did you get here? How did you get through the holy water?" Dean exclaimed.
"I've been waiting here for a while," She admitted. Her eyes took in Mia's frozen form beside Dean, "we haven't met, I'm Ruby."
"Mia," The hunter responded in disbelief.
"Charmed," Ruby replied sarcastically, "Listen, I want my knife back."
"No chance," Sam replied as he continued to work on the lock.
"Look, I gave you a way to actually save your brother and you shot me down, now I'm here to keep you from dying too, don't be a hero," She groaned.
"We're on Lilith's doorstep," Dean interjected, "we're fine, we don't need your help."
"And how many alarms did you set off in that process? Lilith probably already knows you're here," Ruby hissed in annoyance.
The door finally opened and the four of them entered the house. They stumbled upon the father of the little girl, Dean covered his mouth so he wouldn't scream.
"Listen, we're here to help. We know something's wrong with your daughter, where is she?" Dean asked softly. He removed his hand so the man could respond.
"My daughter isn't my daughter anymore," he whispered sadly, "she's upstairs in her room."
"Good, now go down into the basement, take some salt, and line the doorway," Dean instructed him.
"Not without my wife," the man argued.
Dean knocked him out, "We don't have time for this, I'll put Romeo in the basement." He threw the man over his shoulder and headed down the stairs.
"Mia," Sam spoke softly, "go with him and keep him safe, I'm going to kill Lilith."
Mia nodded and headed after Dean while Sam headed up the stairs with Ruby.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked when he realized Mia was following him.
"I've got your back," She responded.
He chuckled and deposited the man on the basement floor, "You always have, haven't you."
Mia fished the salt from her bag and lined the lower doorway and headed up the stairs with Dean to line the upper doorway, "And I always will, we're going to get you out of this deal." She promised as she worked. For once, Mia actually had hope. She believed they would be able to save Dean.
Dean just smiled at her adoringly. Once she'd finished salting the doorway he grabbed her hand and sprinted up the stairs with her in tow.
They reached the bedroom and found the little girl fast asleep on her mother in her little pink bed. Sam stood over them wielding Ruby's knife about to plunge it into the little girl's chest. Dean took one look at the little girl and sprinted to catch Sam's hand before it dropped.
"It's not her," Dean said to Sam, "She must've escaped.
Dean and Mia escorted the hysterical little girl and her mother into the basement and told them to keep the door closed no matter what they heard. When they emerged from the basement, they overheard Sam and Ruby speaking.
"You win, whatever you want me to do, I'll do it, please," Sam begged Ruby.
"I told you, it's too late for that, we needed time to prep."
Dean stepped between the two of them, "Sam, you're not doing anything she tells you. You're not using your powers, she's just trying to control you!"
"I can't let them drag you to hell, Dean," Sam cried.
"Yes, you can," Dean said calmly.
"Dean-" Mia started but he held up his hand to silence her.
"I'm sorry it has to be like this, that I have to leave you guys like this," Dean teared up.
"Sammy, take care of my wheels, don't forget what Dad taught you, and what I taught you," He said to Sam.
He turned, "Mia, you've become like a sister to Sam, and me. Keep fighting the good fight, and watch out for Sammy for me."
Mia stifled back tears and threw herself at him. He wrapped his arms around her and planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. As he held her in his arms all felt right with the world for a brief moment and he considered telling her how much of a comfort she'd been this last year. He mulled over the thought that he might have feelings for her that went beyond familial. However, he knew it was pointless, there was no need to confess his feelings when there was nothing good to come out of it.
The grandfather clock in the front room struck midnight. Dean released Mia who wiped her tears and stepped back to squeeze Sam's arm. Dean gave them a small smile with tears pouring down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry Dean, truly I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," Ruby said sadly.
The air was filled with the sound of dogs howling and barking. Dean turned pale and pointed in the corner of the living room, "Hellhounds."
The four of them leapt into action sprinting into the home's office and slamming the doors shut behind them. Mia pulled out a sack of goofer dust and lined the doorway with it while everyone else leaned against the door to keep it shut against the clawing canines.
Once the door and windows were lined they heaved a sigh of relief.
Ruby turned to Sam, "Give me my knife, I can buy you guys some time to escape."
Sam frowned, wondering why Ruby would offer to sacrifice herself but decided to hand over the knife.
Dean's head snapped up, "Sam! That's not Ruby!"
Sam and Mia were suddenly thrown against the wall and held in place. They both struggled against the hold. Dean attempted to run to them but was thrown on top of the dining room table and pinned down.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Mia shrieked.
"Oh sweetie, can't you guess?" the demon cackled. Her eyes turned white instead of the usual black.
"Lilith," Dean gritted his teeth, "I should have noticed but all you demons look the same."
She smirked and walked over to Sam, "I've been so excited to meet you," she forced her lips on his in a deep kiss and Sam struggled to move his head away.
"Hey!" Mia shouted, "Pick on someone your own size!"
Lilith released Sam and sighed in irritation. She rounded on Mia, "You know, Azazel told me you were something special but I think he was just an idiot."
Mia raised her eyebrows, "Did he say that before or after we sent his ass back to the seven circles?"
Lilith chuckled darkly, "You're amusing, I'll give him that."
"Please," Sam interrupted, "We'll do anything you want, just let my brother go."
"Silly goose, you need to have something I want to make a bargain and I don't really see anything worthwhile here."
Dean cursed against her invisible restraints on the table and Lilith grinned, "Oh that's right, time to collect."
She walked over to the door and cleared the goofer dust before opening it wide, "Sic 'em, boys."
The invisible hellhounds bounded into the room and immediately attacked Dean who screamed in pain. He fell to the floor.
Mia and Sam screamed in utter desperation as they fought as hard as they could against Lilith's hold.
Dean continued to cry out in pain as the hellhounds ripped into his flesh and tore into him.
"STOP IT PLEASE!" Mia screamed and begged harder than she ever had in her entire life. Her eyes were blurry from her tears and her arms hurt from struggling. She'd never felt more helpless.
Dean suddenly stopped screaming as a massive pool of blood emerged from his chest. He coughed and wheezed instead, choking on his own blood.
Lilith turned to face Sam and Mia, "And as for you two," She waved her hand and a huge white light emanated from it.
Sam and Mia both moved to shield their eyes. At that moment, Mia heard a loud CRACK that sounded like glass shattering and then nothing. When she opened her eyes, she and Sam were on the floor, untouched by whatever Lilith had thrown at them.
Lilith herself looked completely shocked. She stared at Mia in disbelief.
"No, that's impossible," She exclaimed to herself, "He couldn't have been right!"
Mia had no idea what Lilith was yelling about but she felt an intense fury building up inside of her, she was bloodthirsty and realized for whatever reason, she was free of Lilith's restraints.
The young hunter stood up and started at Lilith who held out her hand again and cried, "Get back!"
Mia felt her anger engulf her and an energy flew threw her entire body making her feel like she'd been electrified. She no longer felt in control of her actions. Her hands pushed in front of her and in response, Lilith was thrown across the room and slammed against the opposite wall with enough force to shatter the wall.
"What are you!?" Lilith screamed.
"I'm the grim reaper, bitch," Mia hissed, as somehow repeatedly slammed Lilith against the wall until it was practically in shambles.
Lilith continued to scream. Sam, who was completely in shock that he too had survived Lilith's demon blast paused to watch Mia. He had no idea how she was doing any of this either.
"Sam, the knife!" Mia called.
He quickly grabbed it from the floor and ran across the room to plunge it into Lilith's chest but she opened her mouth and out flew the smoky demonic substance that told the two of them that demon Lilith had escaped, again.
"DAMMIT!" Mia cursed.
Sam stared at his friend and gasped in shock. Mia's eyes were glowing blue, just like Dean had said that time she almost died.
Before Sam could say anything to Mia, the sprinklers turned off and they were surrounded by demons on every front. Sam and Mia stood back to back, they had no idea how they were going to survive this. They were practically sitting ducks.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise, it shook the entire room, breaking glass, and causing Sam to cover his ears and close his eyes. Mia winced at the noise but kept her eyes and ears open. The demons outside cowered in defense and then fled from their host bodies in massive clouds of smoke.
"Come with me if you want to live," A male voice joked.
Mia whipped around to see a mysterious-looking man standing beside her. There was no explanation for his entry into the house and the loud noises didn't seem to bother him at all. He grinned at Mia, "Actually, you don't really have a choice, you're coming with me."
He grabbed her hands and she felt a tugging sensation. She tried to yell for Sam but was gone before she could finish saying his name.
Once Mia and the stranger vanished, the loud, bone-breaking noise disappeared. Sam opened his eyes and released his ears to be greeted with the sound of silence. His eyes searched the room for Mia but instead, they fell on his brother, who was dead in a pool of his own blood. Sam began to sob, he crawled over to Dean and scooped him into his arms.
He cried and held onto his big brother, he'd been so naive in hoping this day wouldn't come. What he'd give to go back and try to save Dean another way. His eyes filled with tears as he rocked back and forth. Mia had vanished into thin air and his brother was dead, Sam realized at that moment he was completely alone.
A/N: AHHH! How'd you guys like that cliffhanger? I really hope you're enjoying the story so far and I promise to update again soon! I try to post a new chapter every Monday. Might be a 1-2 week hiatus potentially because I'll be traveling but don't worry you'll get more chapters soon as we start season 4! If you're still reading THANK YOU! If you leave a review I will love you forever and I hope you find 20$ on the street and never have to wait in line for food ever!
Next Chapter: Dean returns from hell to discover several surprises waiting for him...