Chapter 12: Writers are Nuts

Dean's recovery went slowly. Andy was having a hard time leaving his side. He hadn't been this hurt since he was in the hospital after the semi had ploughed into the impala. Bobby and Dyson brought up a recliner for Andy to sleep in so she could stay with Dean at night. He tried to protest.

"No way, you need to get a real sleep," Dean said, barely above a whisper. Andy shook her head.

"No way sweetheart. I'm keeping an eye on you, and as much as I want to, crawling in bed with you like this is not worth the risk."

Dean rolled his eyes at her and grumbled a little, but he dropped it. It ended up being a good thing.

Andy had been dead asleep when something startled her to full waking. She sat up and looked right to Dean. It was dark and it took a moment for her to process what she was seeing. Dean's face was scrunched up with pain and he was moving restlessly. Then Andy heard what had woken her. Dean whimpered. She was out of her chair in a second and at his side.

"Dean, baby what is it?"

He didn't answer. His eyes were shut tight. His breathing was erratic.

"Stop…"

One word. One ragged, tortured word escaped his lips. Andy knew he was dreaming then.

"Oh Dean," she murmured and touched his cheek and leaned in to press a kiss to his head. When her lips touched his skin she sighed. He was feverish. It wasn't all that surprising. That much physical trauma in a short amount of time could easily lead to an elevated temperature.

"Wake up baby, it's just a dream," Andy said as she pressed kisses to both of Dean's cheeks as well. Hoping to wake him from his nightmare as gently as possible. His eyes flew open and found hers. "It's ok Dean. Just you and me here."

"Fuck, Andy…" He tried to clear his throat and winced.

"Yea, try not to do that too much ok? It won't help."

Dean nodded and swallowed.

"He's…he's really gone right?"

Andy looked at her boyfriend confusion and concern on her face.

"Who?"

"Alistair…Cas said he was…gone," Dean stammered through the question. Andy ran a soothing hand over his head. He really was pretty warm. Clearly the fever was messing with his head a little. Andy pushed her concern about that fact down for the time being.

"Yea babe, he's gone. Dyson took care of him. He can't hurt anyone anymore," she said. Dean nodded and closed his eyes again.

"Good…that's good."

"Go back to sleep Dean, we're all safe."

Dean hummed a little and settled back into his pillows.

The spiked fever that first night was a bit concerning, but Andy kept a close eye on it and there didn't seem to be any signs of infection which was encouraging. Andy had decided she would do a bit more to help Dean's healing. The damage to his windpipe and the head trauma were her priority, but Dean wouldn't let her do more than a few minutes a day. She tried to convince him that it was fine. She would be fine, but the one time she pushed a little harder and gave a little more Dean was on her.

Dean had fallen asleep while she was healing him. She hadn't really intended to go against Dean's wishes, but she felt fine, and Dean needed as much as she could give. She cut off the flow of energy when he woke up. She kissed his hand and stood. Unfortunately, her head spun, and she swayed slightly and sat heavily back into her chair.

"Andy!" he rasped out instinctively reaching out to her to try and steady her.

"I'm ok Dean," she said. It wasn't even that bad. She was just a little lightheaded. She reached out to him and placed a hand on his. He sighed explosively.

"Andy, you can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Hurting yourself for me," Dean said as he gripped her hand back.

"I'm not Dean, I promise," she said. Dean leveled a look at her that was full of sardonic disbelief.

"Andy…" Dean grumbled, "you know I appreciate it, but I will not let you touch me until I am better if you don't slow down."

Andy glared at her boyfriend. He glared back. Andy caught the care behind that look. She saw the fear and the frustration and relented.

"Ok," she said sitting back down on the bed. "I get it Dean. I'll dial it back a bit."

Dean relaxed and sunk back into his pillows. "But that means you have to do your part too. You have to take it easy and let yourself heal as well."

Dean sighed again but nodded.

"Ok, I guess I can do that."

Dean kept his promise, so Andy did as well. It took a while, but Dean was back on his feet after a couple of weeks and itching to get back on the road. Andy tried to talk to Dean, or Bobby, or Dyson every day about Sam and the demon blood. No matter how hard she tried, or how much she worked to skirt around the issue she could never get the words out. It was like the moment she started her teeth locked together, her throat stopped working, and she couldn't get a single sound out. She talked to Bobby, told him if Dean ever started whining about destiny, or some crap like that to give him a swift kick in the teeth. She told Dyson that if Sam ever seemed to be going off the rails, or keeping too many secrets to keep a very close eye on him. She tried to tell Dean not to trust the angels, even Castiel. It became so frustrating that she gave up.

Dean started scoping for cases eventually. They started out slowly. A few hauntings and weird occurrences all around Sioux Falls. After about 3 of the low-level cases Dean found a case that seemed like it might have some angel connections in Washington state. Andy was reluctant to let them go, but Dean convinced her by promising to check in at least once every day. She had a bad feeling about them going on this case, but she knew there was no way she could keep them from it.

For about five days everything was fine. Dean checked in every day like he said. Even if it was just a text, it kept Andy happy. He let her know when they got to the town. They talked for a bit, and Dean grumbled about her fretting. It was all good natured.

"Sweetheart, I'm beat. I think we both should get some shut eye, what do you say?" Dean said stifling a yawn. Andy smiled.

"Alright you, sleep well babe," she said.

The next day Dean didn't call. Andy let it slide. It was the first day on the case and they had probably hit a bar or something to blow off some steam. When he didn't text by the next night Andy texted Dean. Then Sam. No response. She called both of their phones. They both rang out and went to voice mail. She wasn't panicked yet…but she was getting there. Dyson and Bobby both tried to reassure her.

By the end of the week Andy felt like she was falling apart. None of them could get a hold of the boys. Bobby tried praying to Cas even.

Nothing.

Two more days nothing.

One more day and Andy got on her bike and started driving to Washington.

She showed the boys pictures around the town, but no one could tell her if they had seen them. The panic was all consuming.

She cried. Every night.

Dyson started searching out reapers to ask if anyone knew if something had happened. Either they wouldn't answer, or they didn't know anything.

It took three weeks. Three terrifying weeks before Dean finally called.

Dean?! Where have you been? What happened? Fuck I was so scared!

I'm ok, Andy we're ok. It was an angel. Zachariah. He…we didn't know who we were.

What? What does that mean?

Andy, it'll be better to explain in person. We're heading back to Bobby's. Meet you there?

Ok…ok just…just make it home. Please.

We'll see you soon babe.

Ok.

Andy had literally started pacing the front hallway after Dean texted that they were about an hour out from the house. Bobby had tried all of his usual tricks to get her to settle, but nothing was working. He could hear the soft *click tick* of her picking her nails. He sighed and poured another two fingers of bourbon into his glass. He hated seeing his girl like this. The amount of shit she had been through in the past few years would be enough to set anyone back on their ass, but she had come through it all, but not without scars. And that was only the things she had been through in this world. Bobby only knew a fraction of her stories, but he knew enough.

He suddenly noticed that it had gone quiet in the hallway. He was just about to call out to Andy when he heard the door open and her footsteps flying down the stairs. Then he heard the rumble of the Impala's engine pulling into the yard. Bobby sighed with relief. It would do Andy a world of good to just see Dean. He hoped that the boys would stick around for a bit just until she was a bit grounded again.

The story was wild, and it just gave Andy another reason to really not like angels, particularly this Zachariah. He seemed particularly smarmy.

"I would have paid a lot to see you as a high-level corporate stooge babe," Andy said with a teasing smile while she cuddled up with Dean on Bobby's office couch. Dean groaned dramatically.

"Don't remind me," he said.

"Hey, at least you didn't have to wear the stupid yellow shirt. That thing was awful," Sam said with a horrified shudder.

The boys did stick around for a few days. Andy was particularly clingy, but Dean didn't really mind. It helped bring him back to reality. He held her close at night and did his best to be around her as much as he could. He also tried to encourage her to hang out with Sam like they used to. But something seemed to be holding her back in that. Dean wasn't really sure, but there seemed to be some kind of tension between her and Sam at the moment. He made a mental note to ask about it a bit later.

Andy wanted to talk to Sam. The problem was. She couldn't. She wanted to ask about the demon blood and what he thought he was going to gain from it. She wanted to know what Ruby was really telling him and if he trusted her as much as it seemed like he did. But none of the questions would come out of her mouth. It frustrated her so much that she found herself avoiding Sam because she didn't know how to talk to him. It hurt, because the truth was, Sam was her best friend. Platonically at least. She missed their easy talks and their banter. True, sometimes over meals it felt normal, but she hadn't really been able to have a real conversation with him for a while. Eventually, she resolved just to ask him if he was doing ok and if he wanted to talk about anything. So she cornered him while Dean was out helping Bobby with a tune up one afternoon.

"Hey Sam, got a minute?"

"Sure," Sam said hesitantly.

"Feel like we haven't really had a chance to catch up in a while,"

"Yeah…me too."

"How are you doing with all this angel crap? Anything on your mind?" she asked, doing her best to keep her face neutral. Sam shifted a little.

"I'm fine, I guess," he said with a shrug. "I mean…it's all pretty wild and I'm not really a fan of them messing with us to try and teach us some 'lesson' or something."

Andy nodded.

"Yea, I'm kinda with Dean on the 'angels are dicks' theme."

Sam smiled slightly at her.

"How are you doing?" he asked, turning the puppy eyes on hard.

"In general, better. Since you guys got back, better. I was a bit…It was a bit rough while you were…you know," she trailed off. Sam reached out to her and put a hand on her knee.

"I'm glad you were here with Bobby," he said.

"Yea, me too. Don't really know what I would have done with out him and Dyson."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. I can't imagine," Sam said. Andy sighed and shrugged.

"It's not the worst thing, but it did suck," Andy agreed. Just then Dean came in, wiping his hands on a rag.

"What are you two conspiring about?" he asked with a cocky grin. Andy smiled at him while she screamed internally as she realized that Sam had managed to completely turn the conversation around on her and she hadn't actually gotten anything out of him.

Two days later the boys caught a case that looked like a haunted comic book store and they were off with renewed promises to check in regularly. Andy resigned herself to the fact that she was probably not going to get anything out of Sam and she was just going to have to live with that.

Another two days later and Dean's evening call came with a rather surprising revelation.

"What do you mean your lives are books?" Andy said into her cell phone utterly confused.

"Exactly what I said. Some guy named Carver Edlund wrote these books that are our lives."

"Well…how is that possible?"

"Don't know, that's what we want to find out."

"Do you want me to come down?"

"No, at least not yet. I'll call you later."

"Ok, be safe."

Andy was curious so she went searching for these books. When she found them she went down to the library and checked a few out. It was a very strange experience not only reading about herself, but also about the stuff she hadn't known. The time before she had reconnected with the boys. What they had been doing while she wasn't around. It wasn't until she was blinded by a vision of a scruffy looking man in a ratty bathrobe, Dean slamming the guy up against a wall, a brief flash of Castiel's stern face, and Lilith and Sam locked in a room together, that Andy made the decision to get there as fast as superhumanly possible.

"Sam tossed his enormous darks into the dryer. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck. About whether he was telling the whole truth." Dean chuckled and kept reading. Sam grumbled and continued doing laundry. Suddenly Dean's voice stopped. Then a quiet "Oh shit."

Sam turned to him. Dean was standing staring at the door to the Laundromat. Andy was standing in the doorway. She walked slowly, deliberately toward the boys. Dean glanced down at the pages to see what was coming. He knew the look on Andy's face wasn't really a good one. She walked right up to Dean and stood staring up at him.

"I should smack you into next week," she said her voice low and threatening. "Both of you!" Sam glanced between them.

"Why?" he asked hesitantly. She took a frustrated breath.

"You," she jabbed a finger into Dean's chest, "nearly died from heart damage, and you," she turned to Sam with the same finger, "don't think to call me?"

Dean exhaled in a rush.

"Seriously! Andy that was four years ago." Dean said.

"I don't care," she shouted throwing her hands up. "I had to find out by reading a book. You should have had the decency to tell me, seeing as only a few days later you find me."

"Andy, I'm sorry. But we hadn't seen you for years," Dean said trying to placate her.

"Sam, you called everyone in John's journal but me. Why?"

"I'm sorry Andy…I…" Sam swallowed and looked between his brother and Andy again "I didn't want to worry you. We didn't know about…you know…your stuff then and I knew you would freak out if you thought Dean was dying and I didn't want to put any more stress on him than he already had." Andy sighed. She saw what Sam meant, and in a way she was grateful.

"Ok," she said with a sigh, "I guess I can accept that. I still don't like it. But I'll take the apology." She turned and grabbed the pages out of Dean's hands. "Now, let's figure out this Chuck stuff shall we?"

It wasn't long after that Chuck called them up. He was shaken about something he had seen; Andy could tell. When she heard him tell the boys about Lilith and Sam, she had a sick feeling that something was very wrong.

"Come on guys. Lilith and me in bed?" Sam said incredulously. "It's just not going to happen."

"Sam…" Andy started, but Dean cut her off.

"How does this psychic thing of your work?" he asked Chuck.

"You mean my process?" Chuck said. Andy rolled her eyes. Writers. Good grief. Then she had a flash…just a blurb of information lancing into her brain. She looked at Chuck. You have got to be kidding. Chuck was not what you might expect out of a prophet. It was hard enough for her being a prophet in this world, and she had been dealing with visions for centuries. She guessed she had to cut Chuck some slack for not knowing what he was. Then she tried to tell the boys. But nothing came out. Andy rolled her eyes again and sighed. When Chuck gave them the newest pages he had written and let them know that Lilith was coming, Andy knew they wouldn't make it out.

Watching Sam and Dean trying not to fight was an interesting experiment. They really sucked at it. While Dean went to park the car, Andy decided to try meditating for a while. She hadn't done it in a long time. When she meditated, her visions usually became clearer, and more in depth. She hoped she could find something that could help them. Even if she couldn't talk about it, maybe there was something she could do. She went for a walk and left Sam hanging out in the room. It took a little while, but when she saw Castiel pop up she decided it was time to have a chat with Chuck. Prophet to Prophet.

As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass.

Andy went back to the motel, which really made her skin crawl. She understood why Dean chose it, but really? What she didn't expect was to meet Chuck outside their room.

"Chuck?" Andy said. Chuck jumped and spun around.

"Oh, hey Andy."

"What are you doing here?" Andy asked, puzzled.

"Uhh, Sam…wanted to talk," Chuck said glancing at the closed motel door.

"He did?" Andy raised her eyebrows. "About what?"

"Just…some things…" Chuck answered still looking nervous and shifty. He started walking away. Andy followed him.

"Like what Chuck?" she asked quietly. Chuck just shrugged. Andy rolled her eyes. She decided just to come out and ask. They had reached his car. She put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He flinched slightly, but she ignored it.

"Do you know?"

"Do I know…"

"Do you know about…" she knew she wouldn't be able to say it. "Sam's problem?"

"The uh…the demon blood thing?"

Andy's eyes widened. Apparently Chuck had speaking privileges. She was slightly jealous.

"Yea that. How much do you know?"

"What do you mean?"

Andy sighed, she really wanted to know if this guy sees what she sees. If he did maybe he could warn the boys.

"I mean, all the crap with Lilith, the seals, all that." Andy was getting frustrated.

"How do you know all of this?" Chuck asked.

"I'm a prophet too idiot," she said exasperatedly. Then looked at Chuck bewildered. "I thought you knew that."

Chuck looked confused.

"You didn't know that?" Andy said cocking an eyebrow at Chuck. He shook his head.

"You have always been a vague character in my head. Kinda fuzzy," he said gesturing at his head.

"So that's why you aren't as good with me in the books. Huh, weird. All well, I'm a prophet, I see stuff too. You have to warn them about Lilith."

"What about her?" Chuck squeaked. "Wait, hold on." He said holding up both hands. "How did you know I was a prophet? That isn't in any of the pages."

Andy was getting frustrated.

"I told you Chuck. I see things too. I get impressions and pieces of information spiked into my brain at random, frustrating moments," Andy growled. "Now, back to Lilith."

Chuck nodded. Then paused.

"What about Lilith?"

"That they have to kill her now or not at all!"

"Why?" Chuck questioned flatly. Andy's eyes popped wide. He doesn't know.

"Fuck, I thought you knew."

"Knew what? This is all very cryptic and it's making me nervous."

"I thought you knew that Lilith can't die…because she's the final seal." Andy gasped slightly from the shock. "I've never been able to say that before. Killing Lilith is what will break Lucifer free. Oh my God. I can say it."

"Hold on what? Lilith is the final seal?"

"Yes! We need to kill her tonight if we can!"

"What how? Why? You just said…"

"If we kill her tonight it's all over. She needs to die at the right time when all the other seals are broken. If we can do it now it can't happen." Andy was excited now. "We need to tell them." Andy pulled out her phone and dialed Dean. He didn't pick up. Andy left him a sharp voicemail to call her back.

"Look, if you see Dean you have to tell him. I'll see if I can let Sam know," Andy said absently trying to call Dean again. Still no answer. She huffed and turned away from Chuck.

"Thanks for talking to Sam. I've been trying but I physically can't get the words out."

"I don't know how much good I did, but…you're welcome I guess," Chuck said and opened his car door.

"See you around," Andy said and headed back to the room.

She had every intention of telling Sam everything. That she knew about the demon blood. That she knew what Lilith wanted from him, and what they needed to do. But when she tried to tell him the plan, the usual block was up and she couldn't get the words out. Sam could tell she wanted to say something and was waiting for it apprehensively, but she had to sigh and give up.

"You hungry?" she final said. Sam was startled but nodded. "Cool, I grab us something. What do you feel like? If you don't mind riding pillion I think I saw one of those build your own salad places around," she said. Sam shook his head.

"No offence Andy but riding with you always give me the heebie-jeebies. What ever you feel like is good."

Andy laughed and punched Sam lightly in the arm.

"Chicken," she said. "I'll be back in a bit kid."

She called Chuck from the restaurant and told him what had happened when she had tried to talk to Sam.

"So, I can talk to you about it, and you can talk to me about it…" Chuck sighed.

"But we can't talk to anyone else," Andy continued.

"Well, this is a problem," Chuck said with a catch of fear in his voice.

"We still need to kill Lilith tonight. Only problem is we don't know how…"

Suddenly Andy was blinded. Dean at the motel praying for help. Cas hinting at him about using Chuck. And something else. Something darker and more sinister than she ever thought possible.

"Shit." Andy sighed, sitting heavily on a nearby chair. "It's not going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

"They're going to use you as bait." She said rubbing her tiered eyes. Chuck's face fell. Andy looked up at him. "Don't worry you have an Arch angel watching over you. You'll be safe. But Lilith is going to go free."

"Why?"

"Because that's what the angels want." There was a long pause.

"What?"

"The angels want the apocalypse. I Just saw it."

When Andy got back to the room, Dean was face to face with Sam. Andy put the food down slowly looking between the two.

"Everything ok boys?" she asked.

Without taking his eyes off Sam, Dean said

"Sam's been using his psychic crap."

Andy approached the pair cautiously.

"Ok…and that is relevant right now because…"

Dean looked sternly at her.

"He's been hiding it from us. And getting stronger!"

"Dean, it's not what you think," Sam started.

"Then what is it Sam? 'Cause I'm at a total loss," Dean said harshly.

The room was eerily quiet for a couple of moments. Then Dean gruffly threw some things into his duffle and started towards the door.

"Are you coming or not?" He asked, looking at Sam. Sam stood quietly for a moment, then shook his head.

"No," he said simply. Dean stared. Then he moved to the door, threw his duffle into the chair next to him and went outside. Andy almost went after him. She turned to Sam.

"Sam," she started.

"Not you too Andy, please." Sam ran his hands through his hair in an aggravated gesture.

"Yes me too Sam. He has a point. You've been cagey as fuck recently," she said as she sat on one of the beds. "I know you think you're doing something right, or what needs to be done…but it's a pretty dark path kid."

Sam stared at her, wide eyed.

"Andy…do you – what do you know?"

There was fear, shame, and a fierceness in Sam's manner. Andy watched them all play over his face.

"I know…a lot. More than Dean…."

Sam took a sharp breath.

What she really wanted to say she couldn't. She wanted to tell Sam that drinking demon blood was not the way to be strong in this fight. That it was as evil as it felt. But those words couldn't come out of her mouth.

"Sammy, you know I love you. All I want is for you to be as safe as possible and as happy as possible. None of the choices that you've been making are doing that right now. But I know I can't stop you. So, all I can do is be there for you. As best as I can. So…I'm here. If you need to talk…or anything."

Sam stood there, not looking at Andy anymore. He was breathing heavily. Andy waited a long time. For Sam to move. For him to say anything. When it became clear that he wasn't going to take Andy up on her offer, she stood, moved slowly to Sam and reached out to him. He recoiled from her, shaking his head. A lump formed in Andy's throat. She swallowed it back as best she could.

"Ok," she said softly, a small catch in her voice. She turned and walked out the door, leaving Sam alone in the room. She came out to see Castiel, face to face with Dean.

"Just so you understand why…I can't help," Castiel said in his low gravely voice.

"Thanks Cas," Dean said in return. The angel glanced over to Andy, and Dean followed his gaze. Andy saw a strange, pinched look cross Castiel's face and then he was gone.

"We have to go get Chuck," Dean said moving toward the impala.

They missed the chance to kill her. Just like Andy had seen. In some ways, part of her wished Sam had taken the deal. Lilith was trying to tell them what she was.

"Killed off right before the good part starts." Andy thought bitterly. But she knew Sam would never sacrifice his brother, and he was too bent on revenge to consider sacrificing himself at the moment either. To be fair Sam tried his best to kill her though. He had the knife ready and waiting. Luckily, they managed to show up at the right time to keep Sam from getting killed. He brought Chuck and an Arch angel threatened to rain down righteous wrath… and Lilith got away.

After a few hours on the road Chuck called Andy. He was whispering.

Andy?

Chuck? What's going on?

I saw it…I saw it all…

Really…

Yea…Sam…

I know. We just have to do our best ok. You write Chuck. Write your books and I'll do what I can.

Ok…good luck Andy.

You too Chuck.