Set during Season 5, Episode 10: Abandon All Hope.
83: God's Experiment
"Has he ever heard of a door handle?" Ellen asked exasperatedly, shaking her head as Jane shrugged and scrambled out of the backseat. She shared a look with Jo before glancing back, watching Castiel as he looked at nothing. Dean and Sam were scouting ahead, checking out the police department, and Jane was reluctantly riding with them because Dean had put his foot down. "Jane, get back in the car." She wasn't about to responsible for anyone else, she didn't want to be responsible for anyone besides her and Jo.
Jo wasn't helping and Ellen groaned when her daughter was next out of the car. Cursing under her breath, she shifted into park, and joined the three in the middle of the road. The town was empty, not another soul in sight, and none of them had missed all the 'Missing' posters lining the telephone poles, shop fronts, anywhere they could be tacked.
Everything about this place was wrong, Ellen could feel it, deep in her bones and she wrapped her arm around Jo. She looked over at Castiel, frowning, her gaze moving onto Jane. They were both looking around, Castiel's eyes seeming to take in something only he could see while Jane looked like she was trying to see it. "What is it?"
"This town's not empty."
"There's something here." Jane said it the same time as Castiel said 'this town's not empty', wondering if he could see whatever it was she was feeling. She hated this ability of hers, whatever it was. Pamela had thought it was a mutant form of precognition, with the way she seemed to get 'feelings' that led her to whatever it was giving her the issues. ESP, whatever, Jane just wished she knew how to harness it, or at least understand it because she was aware that it was changing. She worked on it, remembering the exercises Pam had taught her, trying to 'expand that shit', and she was able to sense things more now, before the serious headaches and weird feelings kicked in. If she actively 'listened', she could get a general idea of where something was. Whatever the It was, on some level that was above her pay grade, It generally took up space, or displaced it, and that area, that was what she could target in on.
The problem was… there was a lot of Its.
"Can you see them?"
She looked at Castiel, who had moved closer to her but he wasn't looking back at her. "No… I can feel them though. What are they?"
"Reapers."
Pamela was already on her mind and now… now Jane was watching Pam die all over again. Don't let this be you, kid. She and Pam had joined Sam and Dean in a town where there had been no Reapers, no one had died… until Pam. "All of those spots… they're Reapers?" She asked quietly, trying not to take a trip down memory lane.
He nodded, already walking away.
"Well this is great, not even here for twenty minutes and we've already lost the angel up our sleeves." Dean sighed as he spared a glance to his left and then to his right. To his left, Ellen and Jo were walking, to his right were Jane and Sam. All of them were toting shotguns, and he wished, for the umpteenth time, that Jane had remained home with Bobby. Hell, he wished all of them had kept their asses to home.
"Think Lucifer got him?" Sam asked, looking over Jane's head.
"He's following Reapers."
Dean ignored Jane. "I don't know what to think right now."
"Reapers, he's following Reapers." Why didn't they ever listen to her? "And… behind us."
"There you are."
Sighing, she turned along with the rest of them, not as surprised as everyone else to find Meg, though she did feel her stomach drop. Meg had a special, scary little place in her heart, or fear center, sometimes they were interchangeable. "Meg."
"Shouldn't have come here, boys."
Dean aimed the Colt at Meg, almost smirking. "Could say the same for you."
Jane was already backing away, her eyes on the ground. She reached out for Dean, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket.
"Didn't come alone, Deano."
Hellhounds.
There was blood on her hands. Again.
Pam, you need a doctor.
Shut up, Jane, is he making my goddamn drink?
"Hey… hey,"
Jane reluctantly raised her head, looking from her bloodstained hands into the very pale, clammy face of Jo. Jo was dying. Dean had been attacked by one of those damn hellhounds, and Jo had gone back to help… this was her reward. This had been Pam's reward.
"I'm the one dying here." Jo managed a trembling smile, her eyes darting to the side when Ellen began shaking her head. When she felt Jane's hand slip into hers, she managed to squeeze it. "Bad joke… I know…"
"Jo…" Jane didn't even know what to say. She barely knew Jo, and she couldn't imagine the pain Ellen was going through. It was obvious Jo wasn't going to make it, and Jo knew that. Jo had made the decision to turn back, to help Dean, and now she would die for it. What could Jane say? "Thank you."
"Yeah…" Jo seemed to get it, her eyes straying over to the boys, who were standing not too far off, discussing ways of getting her out of there. "Stop. Guys, stop."
Jane pushed herself off the floor, knowing what was coming and unable to look in Ellen's face. Instead, she moved to stand a little off to the side, taking in the store they were shacked up in. Anything to block out the discussion being held.
"Janey?"
She blinked, feeling her head being tipped up, and met her husband's pained stare.
Dean searched her face, finally bending down to press his head against hers. "Help Ellen, keep them both… comfortable. Sam and I… we're going to build a bomb."
She just nodded.
"So… last words?"
Dean had been staring at the men, now they knew what had happened to the people of this town, or at least some of them. He didn't see any women, or children, and an image of Lilith possessing a little girl flickered through his mind. That was something he didn't need to be thinking about. "Uh… no, I'm good."
Sam glanced at Jane, cocking an eyebrow.
"What? Because I'm the woman I have to be sentimental?" She folded her arms over her chest, returning his stare. "Screw you both." Jane was emotionally running on empty, all her grief and tears were being saved for a time when she didn't have to worry about running headfirst into Satan himself.
"Uh yeah, I'm good too." Sam cleared his throat, and then groaned, turning as Dean decided that actions were louder than words and kissed his wife. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." They were going to try to ice the Devil, Dean was getting one last kiss. "Here goes nothing."
Here goes nothing was the understatement of the century. They had a game plan. It wasn't a very good plan, but it was their plan. Or Dean's plan. Sam was the bait, Dean was going to come in with the Colt, and she… she was mostly there for a distraction or something. She had her gun, sure, but what was that going to do against the Devil?
"So suck it."
Jane nearly facepalmmed herself, or would have, if she wasn't two seconds from pissing her jeans. Satan looked like he had seen better days, and her head was killing her, her vision was blurring, and her stomach had bottomed out. When he dropped, the feeling in her gut only intensified and she began shaking her head. She looked around at the assembled men, they were still in their positions, none of them moving.
Dean looked like he was considering nudging the body on the ground with his foot, only for Lucifer to groan. Jane took several steps backwards, watching as he got up, the bullet Dean had shot right into his forehead, working its way out until it fell to the ground.
"Owww…" He rubbed the heel of his hand, his host's hand, against his forehead. "Where did you get that?"
Dean never got a chance to do more than gape because a second later he was sent flying backwards, right into a tree.
"Now, where were we?"
Sam swallowed down a lump, his eyes darting between the prostrate Dean, Jane, and Satan. He headed for Dean, checking for a pulse.
"Don't feel bad, Sam. There are five things in all of creation that that gun can't kill and I, I happen to be one of them."
Jane wished Sam hadn't eyed her at all, feeling her own lump forming when those emotionless eyes landed on her.
"I bet that hurts, doesn't it, Jane?" Lucifer tapped the side of his head. "Here, let me…"
Jane was expecting to go flying backwards but instead… instead the pain in her head dulled to nothing but a lingering ache, her stomach uncoiled, and she felt… better. She blinked owlishly at Sam, unsure if she should panic or try manners.
She was forgotten as he turned back to whatever he was digging, and she had no idea what to do.
"I don't suppose you'd just say yes, here and now, Sam?"
Sam was shaking his head no, pushing himself up onto his feet. He gestured for Jane, holding out his hands when she stumbled towards him and caught her. "You okay?" He murmured against her hair, eyes on the fallen angel.
"The Reapers, Sam, I can still feel them." It wasn't painful, she was just sensing them, and whatever that hole was… whatever Lucifer was doing, something bad was coming. She did not need her weirdo abilities to know that. "We have to go."
"I can hear you, children." Lucifer didn't even turn around. "Jane, you should talk to Sammy, help him see that this is really for the best."
"I will never say yes." Sam hissed, feeling his sister-in-law shuddering against him and tightened his hold on her. "You leave her alone."
"I'm not doing anything to her, I helped her. Didn't I, Janey?" He propped his shovel in the dirt, turning to lean against it while he regarded them, studying her almost curiously. "My, my, you are different, aren't you?"
Even Satan was telling her that and Jane just shook her head.
"God's last… experiment."
"You need to go talk to her."
"And say what?" Dean wasn't even being sarcastic, he really wanted to know. He leaned in the frame of the open door, staring out at Jane. She was trying to pretend everything was great by acting busy, and by cooking. Under normal circumstances, he would have been thrilled with the cooking thing, right now… he knew she was only doing it to give herself some semblance of normalcy.
"Anything Dean." Sam wanted to punch his brother, just a couple of times. "She hasn't been the same since we got back."
"No kidding, Sam? None of us have. She knew what she was signing up for when she decided to come." Dean drained the rest of his beer and turned away from the door. "Hell, she knew what she was signing up for when she decided to stay with me."
"Dean…"
"No Sam. We all knew the risks going in. People die. More people are going to die. She's just going to have to pull on her big girl panties and suck it up like the rest of us." He was mad. Dean was royally pissed off, and it wasn't even Jane he was mad at.
He had been angry with Jo, for a while. Why had she been so stupid? She could have just let the hellhound have him, she didn't need to come back for him. Playing the hero was a sure way to get killed. When the guilt kicked him in the ass for those thoughts, he acknowledged that it wasn't fair, and knew where his anger was directed.
At himself. At the world. At God. The Devil. Those junkless dicks who called themselves angels.
