Chapter 27: Purgatory's a Bitch

It had been two months since she had landed in Purgatory. Two months of blood, claws, and fear. Two months not knowing if her family was alive or dead. Two months not knowing if they really had saved the world back home, or if it had all been for nothing. Two months living completely on her own. The biggest pain in the ass was that she seemed to have lost all her abilities but one. She could still shift. She spent most of her time as a cougar. It was easier to hear and sense things hunting her in that form. It was also easier to overhear the whispers that other monsters spoke to each other in the night. The secrets traded for favour or mercy. That was how she started hearing the rumors. Rumors of an angel, trapped in with the worst of God's creations. He was hiding from the leviathan that were trying to hunt him down. Then she heard stories of a human. A human who was looking for the angel too and would put down any one and any thing that stood in his way. That was when Andy started hunting herself. She couldn't be sure, but what other angel and human could possibly be in the armpit of the worlds. Dean and Cas were here, and she was going to find them.

She was up a tree one night catching as much sleep as she could when she heard a scuffle below. Creatures everywhere, focused on one thing. Andy looked down. Something in the shape of the shoulders, the cocky way he held himself, triggered in her mind. Was it possible? She watched as one after another, he took them down. When only one was left, a werewolf she thought, the figure held him against a tree.

"Where's the angel?" she heard him say gruffly. She knew then she had found him. Dean was just there. It wasn't long until Dean swung his blade and cleaved the beasts head off. It was then she noticed the vamp creeping up on him.

"Look out!" she shouted. Well screamed. She was still a cougar. Dean whipped around just in time. She saw a few more rushing at him. It was her turn. She dropped from her tree straight onto a vamp. She made quick work of it. They just kept coming. Finally, they seemed to have cleared them out. She could hear Dean breathing hard behind her. She turned toward him. His blade was at the ready, he held it out at her waiting. Andy made a sound and turned away from Dean. She retreated to a small patch of scrub not far away. She shifted to human, untied her little bundle of clothes, and slipped them on. When she came out Dean was still right there, blade ready. But when he caught sight of her his face went pale and he dropped his arm.

"No," was the quiet word that escaped him.

"Not happy to see me then?" She quipped. He strode to her in two quick steps and wrapped her in his arms. He held her so tight for a moment she lost her breath. When he let her go, she looked up into his face and was gutted to see tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. She couldn't help the sigh and the slight eye roll. Dean shook his head with a small sad smile. "Then can I say, as much as I wish you didn't have to be here, I'm glad you're here with me?" he said brushing hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear so he could see her more clearly. Andy smiled.

"Yeah, I can accept that." Suddenly they heard a growl off to one side. They both moved into action. There were creatures to kill. One by one they took them down together. Andy was just dispatching a wolf when one more vamp appeared. She rushed him.

"Andy no!" came the warning from Dean. She nearly tripped into the vamp in front of her. She looked back at Dean questioning. He came hurrying over.

"He's a friend," he said breathlessly. Andy's eyes widened.

"Pardon?"

"It's true," the vamp said in a southern drawl.

"Andy, this is Benny. Benny, this is Andy." Benny gave Dean a look with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, I see. She's your girl. The one you told me about." Benny sized her up slowly. "So, she did come through with you." Dean nodded. Andy was glancing between Dean and the vampire. Her eyes met Benny's. She narrowed them, looking him up and down as well. "I see what you mean brother," he said after a pause "she is a fine woman." Andy started. She looked at Dean and raised an eyebrow. He made a face, slightly embarrassed and slightly…proud. Andy chuckled. She couldn't help it.

"Did you get the info brother?" Benny asked.

"I did," Dean said nodding.

"Well then, let's get ourselves gone."

They moved on to a relatively quiet spot for the night and settled it. It was then that Dean finally asked what had happened to Andy after stabbing Dick.

"Cas and I came through together - when I came to he was right there with me. We didn't see you," Dean said, an apology in his tone.

"I don't really know. I woke up as a cougar and pretty much had a black dog on me right as I woke up, so I just ran without taking in my surroundings. Maybe we did all come in together, but I just didn't realize it," Andy said, trying to think back to her first few days in Purgatory. "It took me a while to adjust to life here, I think I spent most of my first month or so just in cougar form because it was easier to fight that way. Then I started hearing whispers about a human and an angel in the area and started keeping an eye out for you or Cas. For once, I got lucky," she said with a small smile at Dean. He returned it and put an arm around her.

"We'll be ok now, we've got each other. We just need to find Cas and then we can get the hell out of here," Dean said with finality nodding at Benny as well.

"Get out?" Andy asked incredulously, "get out of here how?"

"There's a portal, for humans that get stuck here. Like an escape hatch," Benny said in his drawl. Andy raised her eyebrow and glanced at Dean. He seemed to believe it, so Andy just accepted, because it was not worth the fight to say otherwise now.

It was strange seeing Dean so friendly with a vampire. But Andy had to admit there was something about Benny. He didn't feel like one of those vicious killers. He killed out of necessity. Like she had several times. Truly she got it, and they worked well together. They continued to track Cas. Benny was nervous at night. He had been hearing things about something that had been killing monsters dead. He didn't know much about it. Just that it seemed to hunt Leviathans with a vengeance. Like they didn't come back like they were supposed to. They were just gone. The info Dean had gotten from the other vamp led them to a river. For once, they had found a monster that didn't lie. Cas was there, squatting by the edge of the water.

"Cas!" Dean shouted. Slowly Cas stood and turned to them. Dean strode to him chuckling and hugged the angel hard. "Damn it's good to see you."

"Dean, it's good to see you too. But you shouldn't be here."

"Shouldn't be here? Cas, we came to get you," Dean said looking Cas in the eyes. Cas looked around nervously.

"I appreciate that Dean, but it's not safe here."

"It's not safe anywhere Cas! I've done a lot of things to find you. And what did you do? You ran the second we got here!"

"I had to run."

"Had to?"

"Dean there have been things hunting me from the moment we got here-"

"Join the club," Dean said harshly.

"These aren't just monsters. The Leviathan have a price on my head. I've been trying to stay one step ahead. But there is something else out there too. Something killing souls."

"Killing souls?"

"Yes. They say he has a blade that kills monsters' souls. Although he apparently only actively hunts Leviathan." When Andy heard Cas mention a blade, she laughed out loud. Dean looked at her sideways.

"What's got you happy?"

"It's Dyson." she said with a smile. Dean was puzzled, then it dawned on him, and he laughed too.

"I bet you're right!"

"We need to find him."

"Whoa, whoa now. Hold up." Benny stepped in. "We are talking about someone who could kill all of us for good, and you want to go find him?" Dean looked at Andy.

"Yup," she said smiling.

"Mmm hmm. Why exactly?"

"She's his soul mate," Dean said. Benny's eyebrows shot up.

"Alright, now you're joshin' me."

"Nope, it's true."

"But…I thought, you two were together."

"We are."

"But this other guy is your soul mate." Andy nodded. Benny threw up his hands in defeat.

"I know, I don't understand it either." Cas said roughly. Dean glared at him.

"Well, if we're gonna find this guy, we had best get moving." said Benny as he walked back up the bank.

"Good. Go do that." Cas said turning in the opposite direction.

"Wait Cas, we're getting out. Going home."

"I can't"

"Yes, you can, Benny tell him."

"Purgatory has an escape hatch."

"It's too dangerous Dean."

"We've gangked Leviathan before, we can do it again."

"Dean…"

"Let me bottom line it for you. I'm not leaving here without you. Understand?" Dean said directly. Cas looked at him intently then sighed.

"I understand."

It was a rough bloody battle trying to find Dyson. Not only did the humanity of Andy and Dean draw monsters, but now with Cas, his angel mojo brought it to a whole new level. They were in the middle of a fight with a pack of werewolves with a few unnameable monsters thrown into the mix, when Cas suddenly froze.

"Leviathans. They're coming."

"Cas don't you dare go poof," Andy said as she chopped off a head.

"But…"

"Cas!" Dean shouted as three black ooze balls landed and formed into humanish form. Andy's heart started pumping fast. This was not a good situation. She tore off her shirt, sild off her pants and shifted. This was not a fight she wanted to experience as a human. She circled with a leviathan for a second. Her teeth bared; the creature just smiled. The moment it twitched towards her Andy leaped forward, hoping to knock it off its feet. Suddenly she felt a rush of air and saw a Leviathan's head go flying. She glanced around and saw a flash of long blonde hair. She guessed who it was but was too occupied with a werewolf to get a good look. In what felt like no time, the wolves and others were all killed. Andy found her pants and shifted back just in time to see Dyson going after Benny. She took a flying leap and caught Dyson's blade with her own knife.

"Stop! Dyson Stop! He's a friend! Dyson!" Andy shouted. She was losing her grip. She had forgotten how ridiculously strong he was. Finally, Dyson registered who was in front of him. A sequence of emotions flickered across his face. Shock, happiness, tenderness, and then…

"How…?" An all-consuming rage filled Dyson's eyes. "Who killed you?"

"No one-"

"Who killed you?" he growled out. He dropped his blade and looked like he was ready to start ripping through dimensional fabric to get to whatever he thought might have killed her.

"Dyson look at me! No one killed me!" Andy shouted grabbing the side of his face forcing him to look at her. "We got sucked here because we killed a Leviathan," she finished. Dyson paused confused.

"We?" he asked. Andy nodded to Dean and Cas. Dyson's shoulders relaxed. He walked over to Dean, who gave him a grim smile. Then Dyson punched him. Dean went staggering back and landed on his ass.

"Idiot," Dyson said simply. Andy glared at him.

"Really. Was that necessary?" she said. Dean staggered to his feet.

"What the hell was that for!?" he shouted rubbing his jaw.

"For letting her end up here," Dyson said evenly. Andy sighed and rolled her eyes. Dean sighed and gave Dyson a look of understanding and shrugged.

"Not to interrupt this little reunion of friends, but we should get moving." Benny said.

"Just a second. Gotta take care of the bodies." Dyson said picking up one of the Leviathan's heads. "Cas, can you help me out?"

"What are you doing?"

"Take the head to the edge that way, and I'll take the bodies the opposite way."

"The edge?"

"Yea the edge. The edge of the world." They all looked at him confused.

"Just go until you can't anymore." Cas looked confused but he picked up the heads and blinked out. Dyson did the same with the bodies.

"Well, that was odd," Andy said looking around stunned.

"Say that again." Dean replied.

"I'm not even going to ask." Benny said.

It only took about half an hour for Dyson and Cas to get back, but Dean was already getting restless staying in one spot.

"So…what was all that about?"

"All what about?"

"The edge of the world?"

"Oh that, there's a finite amount of space in here. It's big, but it's not infinite. I found the edge a couple…well maybe 6 months after getting here. I just walked in a direction until I couldn't anymore. Then I memorized the location and walked another way. Now whenever I kill one of those chompy assholes, I take one part to one edge, and one part the other way and leave them there under rocks. Let's see them crawl together quickly then!" Dyson smiled self-satisfied.

"Well, that's something…" Andy said. They moved on then. Dyson took them to a spot that seemed to be a bit quitter than others. Then Dean and Benny filled him in about their plan. Dean would carry both Benny and Dyson's souls out of Purgatory and get out through the escape portal. Dyson was, needless to say, ecstatic.

"Man, I can't wait to get the hell out of here. It'll be nice to get back to something normal." Dyson said with sigh. They were enjoying a very rare quiet moment. "You know what I really want? I want to go hang out with Bobby; I miss that old codger." Everyone went silent for a moment. Dean and Andy exchanged looks. Dyson noticed and stiffened. "What? What's wrong?"

"Dyson…Bobby…"

"Bobby's dead Dyson." Dean said shortly. Dyson's face fell.

"How?" he asked quietly.

"Dick Roman, the leviathan we killed. He shot him in the head." Dean said. His voice was cold, and angry. Dyson swallowed hard. Andy could tell he was fighting something back. Whether it was rage, or sadness she couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry Dyson," Andy said putting a hand on his arm. He looked at her and pulled her into a quick hard squeeze.

When they made it to the portal it was a close thing. Just as Dean took Dyson and Benny's souls into his arms they were attacked by Leviathan. In the rush to the portal Cas got cornered and beaten up badly. Andy and Dean managed to cut the heads off the bastards with relative ease. Dean dragged Cas to his feet and he and Andy helped him up the steep slope. At the last few feet Cas stumbled Dean stepped into the portal and held a handout to his friend. Cas grabbed it. Andy stepped in.

"Come on Cas!" she shouted. Cas looked at her and looked at Dean. He pushed Dean's hand away.

"Deans go!"

"Cas! Wait, Cas!" Dean shouted and the portal sucked him through.

The flash of light blinded Dean for a moment. But he knew he was home. He fought to keep from crumbling. Cas had given up. He could feel it. He took a shuddering breath and looked around for Andy. His heart skipped a beat. She wasn't there.

"Andy?" Nothing. "Andy!" Still nothing. She wasn't there. Dean would never admit it, but a small sob escaped him. He had let them both down. Cas and Andy were stuck in Purgatory alone. He let the guilt wash over him for a moment, then remembered Dyson. He took his knife and slit his arm and spoke the release words. After a moment, Dyson appeared in front of him. Dean was grateful that it had worked. Dyson, being a kind of reaper, could manifest outside of his physical body. He looked around and smiled.

"It is so good to be out of there!" He looked at Dean. The moment he registered the look on Dean's face Dyson knew something was wrong. "What happened?" he looked around "Where's Andrea?"

"She didn't come through," Dean's voice was low and rough. Dyson stood still for a moment, thinking.

"I guess she's less human than she thinks," Dyson said quietly.

"We have to get her out," Dean was starting to panic, "she can't…she's in there alone!"

"It's ok Dean. I have a plan," Dyson put his ghostly hands-on Dean's shoulders. "Where's my body?" Dean fought to swallow his panic.

"It's at Bobby's. In the basement," Dean said in a clipped tone, "you're going to have to dig for it though."

"Why?"

"The house burned down," Dean said. Dyson's eyes widened.

"Ok then." Dyson nodded and started to turn away.

"Bring her back…please," Dean said with a note of desperation. Dyson's eyes tightened with sympathy. He nodded solemnly and squeezed Dean's shoulder. Then he blinked out.

Dean took four days to make it to Louisiana. One night of a rather challenging dig, only having one properly working arm and all, and he was able to speak the spell and restore Benny's soul to his body.

"We made it brother," Benny drawled.

"You keep your nose clean," Dean said. They shared a hug and parted ways. After that, Dean hitched himself to Whitefish to hold up in Rufus' cabin. When he walked into the quiet, everything that had happened in the past year came crashing down onto him. He put his back against the door and slowly slid down it. He put his head in his hands and sank into his grief.