Supernatural: Death Takes a Holiday Recap
March 28th 2009 00:58
Bison Bud’s Bar
Two guys walk out arguing about fantasy football. They round the corner, and come face to face with a guy asking for change. When they say they don’t have any, the man pulls out a gun and demands their wallets. Before they even have time to try and calm him down, he shoots of them and runs off.
The second man shouts for someone to call 911, then leans down to begin CPR. Suddenly his friend gasps back to life. “Hey.”
“Don’t move man!”
“I feel okay.” He pulls back his shirt to show the gunshot wound.
“You’re not even bleeding!”
“No…Give me a hand.”
His friend helps him stand up, staring at him in shocked confusion. “How’re you even alive right now?”
“I don’t know.”
~*~*~
“No no, you’re right, it’s definitely weird,” Sam tells Bobby on the phone as Dean gives up trying to get anything out of an empty pie display and comes to join him.
“What’s up?”
“Bobby found something over in Wyoming.”
“A job?”
“Maybe,” Sam answers, looking at his computer as Dean takes a bite of his hamburger. “Small town, no one’s died in the last week and half.”
“Is that so unusual?”
“Well, it’s how they’re not dying. One guy with terminal cancer strolls right out of hospice. Another guy gets capped by a mugger, walks away without a scratch.” Reading his computer, Sam tells his brother about the man who was shot in the heart at point blank range by a 9mm and walked away fine.
“And he’s not a donut?” Dean asks around some fries.
Sam shakes his head. “Locals are saying it’s a miracle.”
Dean nods. “Okay.” He goes back to his food.
“It’s gotta be something nasty, right?” Sam asks. “I mean people makin’ deals or something?”
“You think?”
Sam frowns at his brother. “What else would it be?”
Dean continues to eat. “I don’t know.”
“Alright—” Sam starts putting his computer away and nods to Dean’s plate. “Get that to go. Come on.”
Dean hasn’t moved. He continues to chew silently, and finally Sam asks, “What?”
“You sure you want me goin’ with you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know, I don’t want to be holding you back,” Dean answers dryly, taking another bite of his hamburger.
Sam sighs. “Dude, I told you a hundred times, that was the siren talking, not me. Could we get past this?”
Dean tosses his hamburger to his plate. “Yeah we’re past it.”
~*~*~
Greybull, Wyoming
“Now you two said you were bloggers?”
Sam and Dean are sitting across the table from the man who was shot and survived.
“Yes Sir,” Sam answers. “flooredbythelord.com”
“All of God’s glory fits a blog,” Dean adds, grinning. He exchanges a look with Sam, who clears his throat and asks, “Um, some of the people around town are saying what happened to you was a miracle.”
“It was.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“How else do you explain it? The doctors can’t.” He pauses, then adds, “There’s a bullet in my heart and it’s pumpin’ like a piston.”
“Well, how do you explain it?” Dean asks.
The man glances from them to his little girl in the next year and back, then answers, “Honestly? I was no saint. Not exactly Father of The Year either…But when that guy shot me and I didn’t bleed a drop? I just knew the Lord was giving me a second chance. “
“That so?” Dean asks, knowing that feeling all too well.
“I had this feeling…like angels were watching over me.” He leans back from the table as Dean nods. “I wouldn’t expect you guys to understand.”
After a second, Dean answers, “Well, we’ll just have to try.”
“You wouldn’t have happened to have swung by a crossroads in the past week or so?” Sam asks.
“No.”
“Maybe you met someone? With black eyes. Or red,” Sam prompts.
“Who’d you guys say you were again?”
“Never mind,” Dean answers. “Thank you for your time.”
They leave.
~*~*~
Back at the hotel, Dean is researching on Sam’s computer as Sam comes back.
“Anything?”
“Cancer survivor? He was clinically dead,” Sam tells him. “His wife pulled the plug, and now he’s taking her out for their 20th anniversary.”
“Any sign of a deal?”
“No. How about you, you find anyone dyin’ around here?”
“Not since Cole Griffith,” Dean answers, pulling up a picture of a young boy with dark hair. “He dropped ten days ago. It was the last death I could find.”
“So what’re you thinkin’?”
Dean shrugs. “Maybe it is what people say it is.”
Sam lets out a laugh. “Miracles?” They switch places. “Dean, in our experience, when do miracles just happen?”
“Well there’s no deals,” Dean answers, pouring himself some coffee. “There’s uh, no skeevie faith healers. I mean—” he shrugs with a laugh “—these souls just ain’t gettin’ dragged into the light.”
Sam thinks about this a second. “Maybe cuz there’s no one around to carry them.”
“What do you mean?” Dean asks, walking back over to the table.
“Well Grim Reapers, that’s what they do, right? Collect souls? So if Death ain’t in town…”
“Then nobody’s dying.” Makes sense. “So what, the local Reaper’s on strike? Playin’ the back nine? I don’t know Sam.” Dean takes a drink out of his coffee cup.
“Well, let’s talk to somebody who might.”
“Well last I checked huggy bear ain’t available.” Dean grins.
“No dude, the kid.”
“The kid?” Dean asks skeptically. “The kid’s a doornail.”
“Exactly,” Sam agrees. “Look, if he was the last person to die around here, maybe he’s seen something. We should talk to him.”
Dean laughs. “I love how matter-of-fact you are about that. Strange lives...” he adds, taking another drink.
~*~*~
At the cemetery, Sam is setting up by Cole’s grave as Dean flips through their dad’s journal. He glances down at all the candles. “You sure this is gonna work?”
Sam looks up. “No. But if the spirit’s around they should smoke him out.”
Dean closes the journal and Sam notices something’s wrong. “What?”
“This job is jack, that’s what,” Dean answers grimly.
“How so?”
“You want me to gank a monster or torch a corpse, hey—” he lets out a pfft noise “—Let’s light it up right? But this? We fix whatever this is people are gonna start droppin’ dead. Good people. “
“Look,” Sam stands up. “ I don’t want ‘em to die either, Dean, but there’s a…natural order.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“What?”
“You don’t see the irony in that?” Dean asks. “I mean you and me, we’re like the poster boys of the unnatural order. All we do is ditch death!”
“Yeah, but the normal rules don’t really apply do us, do they?” Sam asks, and Dean just laughs.
After a second, Dean realizes that his brother is serious, and insists, “We’re no different than anybody else!”
Sam just stares at his brother, reminding, “I’m infected with demon blood. You’ve been to Hell.” Dean can’t deny that, but still. “I know you want to think of yourself as Joe The Plumber Dean, but you’re not. Neither am I. The sooner you except that the better off you’re gonna be.”
Dean lets out a breath, staring up at the night sky. “Joe The Plumber was a douche.”
Sam nods. “You gonna help me finish this?”
Dean forms an ‘o’ with his mouth, watching his breath in the air, then gets up.
“Hey!”
They look over to find a man with a flashlight.
“What are you doin’ here?”
“Uh…” Sam searches for an explanation. “Just take it easy.”
The guy spots the candles and pentagram on the ground. “What the hell is this?”
“This? This is not what it looks like,” Dean answers with a laugh.
“Really? Cuz it looks like devil worship.”
“What?” Dean answers with a laugh. “No, no, this is not devil worship. This, this is…this is uh—“ He gestures to Sam, then finally admits, “I don’t have a good answer.”
Neither does Sam. Finally, he tells the man that they’re leaving, and he shakes his head. “You’re not goin’ anywhere.”
Um, what?
“Ever. Again.” The man steps forward, staring at Sam. “Sam.” Sam takes a step back as he watches the man’s eyes roll back in his head as he turns his attention to Dean.
“Alastair.” Dean glares at him. “I thought you got deep-fried, extra crispy.”
“Naw,” Alastair answers, shaking his head in amusement. “Just the pediatrician I was ridin’. His wife’s still lookin’ for him. It’s hilarious.”
Dean’s glare deepens.
“Anyway,” Alastair drawls. “No time to jest.” He turns to Sam, who is glaring at him just as hard as Dean is. “Got a hot date with death.” With a flick of his wrist, Alastair sends Dean flying, knocking him unconscious.
“Dean!”
Alastair turns to flick Sam away, but it doesn’t work. Sam smirks at him.
“You’re stronger, Sam. You been solo flexin’ with your little slut?”
“You have no idea.” Sam flicks Alastair away and holds out his hand, ready to finally get rid of him. Alastair quickly flees the body however, disappearing into the forest in a wave of black smoke.
~*~*~
Sam enters the hotel room to find his brother lying haphazardly on the bed with a washcloth to his forehead.
“How you doin’?”
“I’m in pain is how I’m doin’,” Dean answers without looking up. “I think I have a concussion.”
“You want some aspirin?”
“No thanks, House.” Dean sits up. “So demons, huh?
“Yeah, so much for miracles.”
Dean asks what happened to Alastair, and Sam tells him that “he tried to fling me or whatever and it didn’t work, so he bailed.”
“How come he couldn’t fling you? He chucked you pretty good last time.” Dean studies his brother suspiciously.
“I have no idea.”
“Sam do me a favor. You’re gonna keep your little secrets and I can’t really stop you, but just don’t treat me like an idiot okay?”
“What? Dean I’m not keeping secrets.”
“Mmhmm,” Dean answers. “Whatever.” Sam can’t lie to him. Changing the subject, Dean asks, “So’d you go back and Q&A the dead kid?”
“Didn’t have to. Bobby called. He did some digging.” Sam holds up a book.
“And?”
“He thinks I’m right. Local Reaper’s gone. Not just gone, kidnapped.”
“By demons. Why?”
“Listen to this.” Sam reads, “Any bloody death under the newborn sky, sweet to taste, but bitter when once devoured.”
“Swanky. What the hell’s that mean?”
“Well,” Sam answers, putting the bookmark back in place. “It’s from a very obscure, very arcane version of Revelations.”
“Which means what I think it means?”
“Basically, you kill a Reaper under the Solstice Moon—tomorrow night by the way—you’ve got yourself a broken seal.”
“How do you ice a Reaper?” Dean asks. “You can’t kill Death.”
“I don’t know. Maybe demons can,” Sam answers, wrapping the ribbon bookmark back around. “Where the hell are the angels is what I what to know. We could use their help for once.”
“Looks like we’re gonna be taking care of this one ourselves.”
“What are we gonna do, just swing in and save the friendly neighborhood Reaper?”
“You got a better idea, I’m all ears.”
Unable to keep from smiling, Sam reminds his brother, “Dean, Reapers are invisible. The only people who can see them are the dead and the dying.”
“Well, if ghosts are the only ones that can see ‘em…”
“Yeah?”
“Then we become ghosts.”
Sam sighs. “You do have a concussion.”
“Sounds crazy I know.”
“It is crazy.”
Dean just shrugs.
“How?”
~*~*~
Sam opens the door to let Pamela and Dean in.
“I can’t even begin to tell you two how crazy you are,” Pamela starts, and Dean just nods as if he’s heard this the entire time they were gone.
“Pamela, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Sam tells her politely, and she laughs, taking off her glasses to reveal her ruined white eyes.
“Ah that’s sweet, grumpy.” She puts her glasses back on. “What do you say to deaf people?”
Dean gives his brother an amused look as Sam immediately realizes his mistake. Whoops!
“Which one of you brainiacs came up with astral projection?”
Dean raises his hand. “Yo.”
She lets out a rueful laugh. “Of course. Chachi”
Dean looks at Sam, mouthing, Chachi? Sam just shrugs, I don’t know.
“So let’s be clear. You want to rip your souls out of your bodies and take a little stroll through the spirit world?” She sits down on one of their beds.
Dean nods. “Mmhmm.”
“Do you have any idea how heavy duty insane that is?”
“Maybe,” Dean answers. “But that’s where the Reaper is, so…”
“So it’s nuts.”
“Not if you know what you’re doin’.”
“You don’t know what you’re doin’.”
“No, but you do.” Dean grins.
“I do. And guess what? I’m sick of being hauled back into your angel/demon, Soc/Greaser crap.”
“Well look, I’d love to be kickin’ back with a cold one watchin’ Judge Judy too—”
“Nice. More blind jokes?”
“You know what I mean,” Dean answers, unamused. “We’re talkin’ the end of the world here, okay? No more tassel leather pants, no more Ramones CDs, no more nothin’!...We need your help.”
Pamela just shakes her head. She’s going to help them of course, but she’s not going to like doing it.
~*~*~
Sam closes the curtains as Dean takes one of the many lit candles across the room.
“Tell me somethin’ geniuses,” Pamela says. “Even if you do break into the veil and you find the Reaper, how you gonna save him?”
Dean sets down the candles, opening his arms. “With style and class.”
She laughs. “You’re gonna be two walking pieces of fog. You can’t touch or move anything, you’ll be defenseless hotshot.”
Sam glances at his brother and answers, “I seem to recall a bunch of ghosts beatin’ the crap out of us.”
“Yeah, they had plenty of time to practice.”
“Then I guess we gotta start crammin’,” Dean answers.
“Wow, a couple a heroes.”
~*~*~
~*~*~
“Come on man,” Dean tells his brother as they round a street corner. “We’ve been spookin’ this town for hours. No demons, no black smoke…I say we hit Victoria’s Secret and get our peep on, huh?” He grins.
Sam isn’t listening because he sees a little kid looking out a house window. “Hey, 3:00….Kid in the window.” Dean looks and Sam asks, “Am I crazy, or is he looking at us?”
“That’s because we’ve seen him before.”
“We have?”
“Newspaper. Cole Griffith, the last person to die in this town,” Dean reminds.
Suddenly Cole flickers out.
~*~*~
Cole’s mother enters his room, looking around. “Cole?...It’s Mom.” She lets out a laugh. “Your dad thinks I’m crazy.” She continues to walk around the room, looking. “Are you here? A picture frame fell over, I could have sworn it was you, baby.” Her voice cracks and she whispers, “Are you still here with me?”
Suddenly a soccer ball on the dresser begins to spin until it appears to fly off by itself, bouncing off the door behind her. She rushes out, right through Dean and Sam as they enter the door.
“Whoa!”
Cole throws more balls at them.
Dean: Ah! How are you doin’ that?
Cole: Who are you?
Sam: Relax Cole! It’s okay.
Cole: How do you know my name?
Sam and Dean exchange a look, and finally Sam carefully continues, “Look, this isn’t gonna be easy to hear, but…you’re…dead. You’re a spirit. Us too.”
“Yeah, thanks Haley Joel, I know I’m dead. What do you want?”
Okay then. “We just, want to talk,” Sam answers.
“About what?”
~*~*~
Downstairs, Dean and Sam sit at the kitchen table and watch Cole watch his mother pour herself a drink.
“I was outside all morning,” Cole says, turning to look at Sam and Dean. “They tell you to be careful when it’s cold. “
“Cold air can cause an asthma attack?” Dean asks, and Cole nods.
“Then I was in my room. It happened so fast. I called out for my mom but nothing came out. Everything just started spinning, and then I was just standing there. Looking down at my body…” He leans against one of the chairs.
“And that’s when you saw the man,” Sam says.
“Creepy old guy in a black suit…Wanted me to go with him but—” he glances back at his mom. “I didn’t want to go.”
“Reaper,” Sam says to Dean, then asks Cole, “How did you get rid of him?”
“I didn’t. The black smoke did.”
“Black smoke?” Dean asks, and Cole tells them, “It was everywhere. I hid in the closet, and then when I came out it was gone and so was he.”
“Do you know where the black smoke went?”
“No..but I know where it is.”
Suddenly the lights flicker and Cole looks up, alarmed. “They’re back!”
“Who?”
Cole flickers out before Dean can get an answer, and with a whoosh of wind, Sam realizes, “Another Reaper.” They quickly rush out the door after it.
“Hey! Hey, wait!” Dean calls out, heading for the stairs. “We need to talk to you!”
He and Sam stop at the bottom of the stairs, looking up as the Reaper walks down towards them. She stops. “Dean.”
Sam looks at his brother, but Dean is just as confused. “Do I know you?”
The girl nods. “We go way back.”
~*~*~
They follow the Reaper into the living room, and she asks Dean, “You don’t remember me?”
“Honestly, if I had a nickel for every time I heard a girl say that…” When she doesn’t answer, he adds, “You’re gonna have to refresh my memory.”
Walking up to hi, the Reaper kisses him. In a flash, Dean remembers.
“Tessa?”
“That’s one of my names, yeah.”
“You do know her?” Sam asks.
“From the hospital after the accident.”
“The accident with Dad?”
Dean nods and Sam looks at Tessa. “So this is the Reaper that came after you.”
“Yeah.”
“Well this was fun,” Tessa says. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“Wait, wait, wait—” Dean blocks her way. “You can’t…you can’t take the kid.”
“Why?”
“Demons are in town, that’s why. They’ve already snatched your Reaper pal, the kid knows hwere.”
“So…?”
“So you should shag ass,” Sam interrupts. “For all we know, they could snag you too.”
“Except that this town is off the rails,” Tessa answers, finally looking at him. “And someone has to set it straight.”
Cole’s mom walks out and through the living room, not seeing any of them.
“Yeah we understand that,” Dean answers. “But these are special circumstances.”
“What? You’re whole angel demon dance-off? I could care less. I just want to do my job.”
“Right yeah,” Sam answers as Dean continues to stare Tessa down. “And look, we wanna help you do your job, so if you would just bail town—”
“No,” she interrupts simply.
“Well then could you hold off until we fix this?” Dean asks. Tessa stares at him a moment, and Dean adds, “Please…”
“Alright, but jus so we’re clear, when I start reaping again? I’m starting with the kid.”
Dean swallows hard, but Sam answers, “Understood…I’ll find him.”
“Wait, wait, wait, what—what are you gonna say to him?” Dean asks his brother.
“Whatever I have to.”
~*~*~
Sam walks into Cole’s room, glances around, then heads over to sit outside the open closet. Cole is hiding inside.
“This all must be pretty overwhelming, huh?” Sam asks him. “Pretty scary too.”
“The worst in my mom.”
“Must be hard seein’ her like this.”
Coel leans into the light to look at Sam. “She’s always coming in here…talking to me. Telling me how sad she is. I knock some stuff over to let her know I’m here, but she only gets sadder.”
“Yeah…you might want to ease up on the flying soccer balls,” Sam answers, understanding.
“I’m not telling you where the smoke is.”
Sam doesn’t answer a second, then says, “Hey, what if I told you that if you helped me…you wouldn’t have to leave here? Ever?”
“What about the one downstairs?”
“Tessa? Naw, she wouldn’t bother you. No Reaper would. ” Cole listens as Sam says, “You could just stay here with your family. As long as you want.”
“You can do that?”
“You bet I can do that,” Sam answers, swallowing hard.
“You swear?”
“…I swear.”
~*~*~
Downstairs, Tessa and Dean are waiting.
“I’ll tell ya. Life is funny,” the Reaper says.
“What do you mean?”
“You and me, together again.”
Dean is confused. “Are you—are you makin’ a move on me?”
“You’re the one that got away Dean…you’d be surprised how little that happens to me.”
Dean looks at her a moment, then asks, “Can I tell you something between you and me?”
“Who am I going to tell?”
Good point.
“After are little, uh, experience,” Dean starts. “For that whole year I felt like I had this…hole in my gut. Like I was missing something. I didn’t know what…but you know what it was? It was you.” She listens silently as Dean continues, “The pain of losing my father, and Sammy…I just…I wished I’d gone with you for good. But I guess things are different now.”
“What? The angels on your shoulder now?”
“So you know about that, huh?” She shakes her head, and Dean says, “Well hey, don’t get me wrong, most of the ones I’ve known are dicks with wings. But still…” Dean takes in a trouble breath, brow furrowed. “You know, I’ve done things…horrible things…And someone upstairs still decided to give me a second chance. It just makes me feel…” he searches for the word but can’t find it. “I don’t know.”
She nods. “Uh-huh…”
Suddenly Sam clears his throat behind them.
Sam asks Cole if he’s okay, and Dean wonders how they’re supposed to fight that.
“I don’t know, learn some ghost moves?” his brother answers.
Dean looks at him like he’s crazy. “By tonight?” Sam just shrugs, he’s got nothing better. “Yeah sure,” Dean says sarcastically. “I’ll meet you back at Mr. Miyagi’s.”
Cole is confused. “Who’s Mr. Miyagi?”
Dean just stares at him, then at Sam. This is not good.
~*~*~
Outside, Sam and Cole watch as Dean glares furiously at a small wooden windmill decoration.
“It’s not gonna move if you don’t concentrate,” Cole says, and Dean answers, “I am concentrating!”
Dean lets out a breath then scrunches up his face, concentrating even harder. The windmill does a half turn. “Ah-ha! There we go baby!”
Sam is impressed, but Cole just laughs. “You pull a muscle?”
“Alright Yoda, let’s see what you got,” Dean shoots back.
Amused, Cole turns toward the windmill, which immediately begins to turn. The small horse and rider at the back begins trotting forward. Sam looks over at the deck swing, which is also rocking back and forth. The wind chimes start to sound too.
“Dude!” Dean says with a laugh. “You are so Amityville!”
Cole grins. “This isn’t even the good stuff.”
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~*~*~
That night, Sam and Dean walk up to a building covered in glowing symbols.
“This looks like New Jack City,” Dean says, looking up. “Can nobody see this?”
“Maybe it’s demon invisible ink, you can only see it in the veil.”
“Any idea what it’s for?”
Sam takes in a deep breath. “We’ll find out.”
They walk through the open door and split up. So far the building looks empty. Together, they walk into the next room and find the two Reapers lying in the center of a trap. A man stands by with his back to them.
“Dude,” Dean tells his brother. “Check me out.” With that, he flickers out and appears behind the guy taping him on the shoulder. When he turns around, Dean punches him in the face.
The guy swings around to hit him, but Dean is gone.
Sam taps him on the shoulder, and punches him again when he turns around. Both brothers take turns beating the demon up. They kick him behind a coffin, and Dean grins. “You know, this ghost thing, it’s kinda rad.”
Suddenly another demon runs out, shouting in pain as he drags an iron chain across the room. His fellow demon jumps over the coffin and out of the way just as Sam and Dean turn around and see the chain. “Iron!” They’re trapped.
Alastair walks out, smirking. “Boys. Find the place okay?”
~*~*~
Alastair walks forward and one of his goonies hands him a gun. He takes great pleasure cocking it, raising it slowly, then shooting Dean in the stomach. Dean disappears in a flash and Alastair turns to Sam. “Rock salt’s not so much fun anymore, is it?”
Dean blinks back, trying to catch his breath. “Alastair… you bastard.”
“Well go on,” Alastair tells Sam smugly. “Why don’t you try some of your mojo out on me now, hot shot. It’s hard to get it up when you’re not wearin’ your meat, huh?”
“Go to hell,” Sam growls.
“Oh if only I could,” Alastair says turning around. “But they just keep sending me back up to this arctic crap hole.”
“To kill Death?”
“No, to kill Death twice,” Alastair answers, stepping around the two unconscious Reapers. “It takes two to break a seal. I figured another one would show up. They’re like lemmings.” He cocks the rifle and shoots Sam this time.
Sam disappears, and Alastair walks up to Dean, being careful not to touch the chain. “By the way, it’s uh, good to see you again, Dean. “
“You can shoot us all you want, but you can’t kill us.”
Sam pops back with a grunt.
Alastair smirks. “Ah, is that so?”
~*~*~
Still sitting in the hotel room, Pamela suddenly gets up to lock the door. She senses the open window. Something’s not right.”
~*~*~
“Anywho,” Alastair drawls, studying the scythe in his hand. “Moon’s in the right spot, the board is set. Let’s get started, shall we?”
Sam looks worried, but Dean just asks, “You’re gonna kill a Reaper with that? It’s a little on the nose, don’t you think?”
“Uh-huh. An old friend lent it to me. You know, he doesn’t really ride a pale horse? But he does have Three Amigos.” He turns towards the Reapers. “And they’re just jonesin’ for the Apocalypse.” Alastair leans down next to the old Reaper. “It pays to have friends in low places.” He yanks the Reaper up, asking, “Don’t you think?”
He starts in on the incantation, and in one swift move, Alastair brings the scythe across the Reaper’s neck, killing him. with a flash of blue light.
Not good!
Sam glances up at the chandelier hanging above Alastair and the Reapers. It may be their only chance! Alastair steps over to Tessa and kneels down, pulling her up.
“No,” she gasps, waking up. “Stop!”
Dean looks at Sam to see what the plan is, and Sam glances at the chandelier. Dean gets the idea. Together, they try to focus on bringing it down.
Alastair begins the incantation.
~*~*~
Pamela closes the window and turns back towards the room. “I know you’re here.” She heads towards the shower, asking the empty room what the matter is. “You afraid of a skirt?” She throws back the shower curtain. No one’s there.
Frustrated, she turns back and steps carefully into the room. The demon is waiting on the other side of the door. Sensing his presence, Pamela rushes to Sam’s bed to begin the spell to bring him back, but the demon grabs her. She loses her concentration as he begins dragging her away from the bed.
~*~*~
Alastair is still chanting. Sam and Dean are still glaring hard at the chandelier. Tessa notices, and looks up to see it shaking above them. Ah, good plan boys! Together, they’re able to drop it, breaking the trap on the floor. She quickly blinks out and over to the chain, unhooking it and letting Sam and Dean free.
Dean smirks at Alastair. “Buh-bye.” They all flicker out.
~*~*~
Dean and Tessa appear on the sidewalk outside.
“Where’s your brother?”
“I’ll go find him, you get out of here.”
~*~*~
Back at the hotel, Pamela is being tossed around the room even as she tries to shout the words to bring Sam and Dean back. The demon throws her onto a nearby dresser, pulling out a knife and stabbing her in the stomach. Pamela gasps and falls to the floor just as Dean wakes up.
“Pamela!”
Seeing his friend stabbed by the demon, Sam angrily flings the demon across the room, getting up to squeeze the black smoke right out of him. The body falls as the demon dies.
Sam rushes over to Pamela, who’s laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I can’t die, not in this town!” She laughs, showing him the knife wound that isn’t bleeding.
“Pamela—“
“Quit your worrying, grumpy. How ‘bout you make me a drink, huh?”
“You need a doctor.”
“Make me a drink Sam.”
~*~*~
Dean is walking through an alley, looking for his brother. Suddenly Alastair appears. “You can’t run Dean. Not from me.”
Dean begins backing up as Alastair walks towards him, drawling, “I’m inside that angsty little noggin of yours…” He continues to walk forward, smiling smugly at him.
Suddenly, there’s a flash of light like lightning that shoots down out of the sky and hits Alastair right on the head. Dean covers his eyes as the light flashes Alastair away.
Dean looks up, shocked. “ What the hell?”
“Guess again.”
Dean swings around to find Castiel standing behind him.
~*~*~
“What just happened?” Castiel asks a still stunned Dean. “You and Sam just saved a Seal. We captured Alastair…Dean, this was a victory.”
“Ah, no thanks to you.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You were here the whole time?” Dean asks.
“Enough of it.”
“Well thanks for your help with the rock salt!”
“That script on the funeral home,” Castiel explains. “We couldn’t penetrate it.”
“That was angel-proofing,” Dean answers, finally getting it.
“Why do you think I recruited you and Sam in the first place?”
“You recruited us?”
“That wasn’t your friend Bobby who called, Dean. It wasn’t Bobby who told Sam about the Seal.”
“It was you…If you wanted our help, why the hell didn’t you just ask?”
“Because whatever I ask, you seem to do the exact opposite.”
Well, okay, Dean will give him that. “So what now, huh? People in this town, they just gonna stop dying again?”
“Yes.”
“These are good people,” Dean argues. “Don’t you think you could make a few exceptions?”
“To everything there is a season,” Castiel answers, and Dean frowns. “You made an exception for me.”
Castiel is quiet a moment, then turns to look at Dean. “You’re different.”
Suddenly Castiel disappears as Tessa shows up.
“Dean? I could use your help.”
Dean looks around but the angel is gone.
~*~*~
Back at Cole’s house, he’s watching his mom sit at the table, crying while looking through his baby book.
“Hey Cole.”
He turns around to see Tessa and Dean standing there. To Dean, he says, “Tell your brother thanks for nothing.”
“Look at her, Cole,” Tessa says gently. “Do you see how unhappy she is?”
“That’s why I want to stay with her,” Cole says, troubled.
“As long as she can feel you, she’ll be in pain,” Tessa explains. “She can’t let go…because you won’t let go of her.”
Cole glances from his mom and back and asks, “Why won’t anybody tell me what’s on the other side?”
“Maybe nobody wants to ruin the surprise.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“She won’t answer you, Cole,” Dean finally says. “Reapers never do. But trust me…staying here’s a whole lot worse than anything over there.”
“Why?”
“Because one day your family’ll be gone,” Dean answers. “And there’ll be nothin’ left here for you.” Cole glances back at his mom again, and Dean says, “It’s okay to be scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“We’re all scared. That’s the big secret,” Dean answers. “We’re all scared.”
Cole stares at him a long moment, then hopefully asks, “Are you coming?”
Dean glances at Tessa. “Oh I’m sure I’ll be there sooner than you think.”
Taking one last look at his crying mother, Cole finally nodes and steps into Tessa’s arms. She hugs him to her until he disappears in a soft flash of light.
Suddenly Cole’s mother stops crying, looking up in relief.
Tessa turns to Dean, who tells her, “Look out for that boy.”
“Look out for yourself, Dean.”
“What do you mean?”
She takes a step towards him. “I’ve been around death from the get-go. You know what I see most? Lies…’He’s in a better place’, ‘at least their together now’. You all lie to yourself , because like you said, deep down you’re all scared…Stop lying to yourself, Dean.”
“What?”
“The angels have something good in store for you. A second chance. Really? Cuz I’m pretty sure, deep down, you know something nasty is coming down the road. Trust your instincts Dean. There’s no such thing as miracles.”
“What are you saying?”
But Tessa is gone.
~*~*~
Pamela finishes the incantation to bring Dean back and Sam helps her to the other bed.
“Hey,” he tells her. “We just gotta talk to Tessa, get her to hold off reaping until we can get you better.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s started up again,” Pamela answers shakily as blood pours onto her hands from her knife wound.
Dean gasps awake and spots his brother and Pamela. “What happened?”
“Dean, where’s Tessa?”
“She’s…”
“Pamela,” Sam says, lowering his gaze. “I’m so sorry…”
“Stop,” she interrupts, taking off her glasses.
“You don’t deserve this.”
“Yeah, I don’t. I told you I didn’t want anything to do with this.”
Both brother’s feel more than a little guilty for all of this.
“Do me a favor?” Pamela asks. “Tell that bastard Bobby Singer to go to hell for ever introducing me to you two in the first place.”
She starts to cough, and Dean tells her to take it easy. “If it’s any consolation, you’re going to a better place.”
“You’re lying.” Breathing hard, she laughs, “What the hell, right? Everybody’s gotta go some time.” Struggling for breath, Pamela gestures towards Sam. “Come here.” He leans forward and she whispers, “I know what you did to that demon Sam…I could feel it like it was inside of me. If you think you have good intentions, think again.”
Coughing up blood, Pamela gasps in pain, leaning back against the bed.
“Pamela?”
Nothing.
“Pamela!” Dean looks to his brother. “What did she say to you?”
Sam won’t look at him.
~*~*~
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
We miss you too Kim!
Two guys walk out arguing about fantasy football. They round the corner, and come face to face with a guy asking for change. When they say they don’t have any, the man pulls out a gun and demands their wallets. Before they even have time to try and calm him down, he shoots of them and runs off.
The second man shouts for someone to call 911, then leans down to begin CPR. Suddenly his friend gasps back to life. “Hey.”
“Don’t move man!”
“I feel okay.” He pulls back his shirt to show the gunshot wound.
“You’re not even bleeding!”
“No…Give me a hand.”
His friend helps him stand up, staring at him in shocked confusion. “How’re you even alive right now?”
“I don’t know.”
~*~*~
“No no, you’re right, it’s definitely weird,” Sam tells Bobby on the phone as Dean gives up trying to get anything out of an empty pie display and comes to join him.
“What’s up?”
“Bobby found something over in Wyoming.”
“A job?”
“Maybe,” Sam answers, looking at his computer as Dean takes a bite of his hamburger. “Small town, no one’s died in the last week and half.”
“Is that so unusual?”
“Well, it’s how they’re not dying. One guy with terminal cancer strolls right out of hospice. Another guy gets capped by a mugger, walks away without a scratch.” Reading his computer, Sam tells his brother about the man who was shot in the heart at point blank range by a 9mm and walked away fine.
“And he’s not a donut?” Dean asks around some fries.
Sam shakes his head. “Locals are saying it’s a miracle.”
Dean nods. “Okay.” He goes back to his food.
“It’s gotta be something nasty, right?” Sam asks. “I mean people makin’ deals or something?”
“You think?”
Sam frowns at his brother. “What else would it be?”
Dean continues to eat. “I don’t know.”
“Alright—” Sam starts putting his computer away and nods to Dean’s plate. “Get that to go. Come on.”
Dean hasn’t moved. He continues to chew silently, and finally Sam asks, “What?”
“You sure you want me goin’ with you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know, I don’t want to be holding you back,” Dean answers dryly, taking another bite of his hamburger.
Sam sighs. “Dude, I told you a hundred times, that was the siren talking, not me. Could we get past this?”
Dean tosses his hamburger to his plate. “Yeah we’re past it.”
~*~*~
Greybull, Wyoming
“Now you two said you were bloggers?”
Sam and Dean are sitting across the table from the man who was shot and survived.
“Yes Sir,” Sam answers. “flooredbythelord.com”
“All of God’s glory fits a blog,” Dean adds, grinning. He exchanges a look with Sam, who clears his throat and asks, “Um, some of the people around town are saying what happened to you was a miracle.”
“It was.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“How else do you explain it? The doctors can’t.” He pauses, then adds, “There’s a bullet in my heart and it’s pumpin’ like a piston.”
“Well, how do you explain it?” Dean asks.
The man glances from them to his little girl in the next year and back, then answers, “Honestly? I was no saint. Not exactly Father of The Year either…But when that guy shot me and I didn’t bleed a drop? I just knew the Lord was giving me a second chance. “
“That so?” Dean asks, knowing that feeling all too well.
“I had this feeling…like angels were watching over me.” He leans back from the table as Dean nods. “I wouldn’t expect you guys to understand.”
After a second, Dean answers, “Well, we’ll just have to try.”
“You wouldn’t have happened to have swung by a crossroads in the past week or so?” Sam asks.
“No.”
“Maybe you met someone? With black eyes. Or red,” Sam prompts.
“Who’d you guys say you were again?”
“Never mind,” Dean answers. “Thank you for your time.”
They leave.
~*~*~
Back at the hotel, Dean is researching on Sam’s computer as Sam comes back.
“Anything?”
“Cancer survivor? He was clinically dead,” Sam tells him. “His wife pulled the plug, and now he’s taking her out for their 20th anniversary.”
“Any sign of a deal?”
“No. How about you, you find anyone dyin’ around here?”
“Not since Cole Griffith,” Dean answers, pulling up a picture of a young boy with dark hair. “He dropped ten days ago. It was the last death I could find.”
“So what’re you thinkin’?”
Dean shrugs. “Maybe it is what people say it is.”
Sam lets out a laugh. “Miracles?” They switch places. “Dean, in our experience, when do miracles just happen?”
“Well there’s no deals,” Dean answers, pouring himself some coffee. “There’s uh, no skeevie faith healers. I mean—” he shrugs with a laugh “—these souls just ain’t gettin’ dragged into the light.”
Sam thinks about this a second. “Maybe cuz there’s no one around to carry them.”
“What do you mean?” Dean asks, walking back over to the table.
“Well Grim Reapers, that’s what they do, right? Collect souls? So if Death ain’t in town…”
“Then nobody’s dying.” Makes sense. “So what, the local Reaper’s on strike? Playin’ the back nine? I don’t know Sam.” Dean takes a drink out of his coffee cup.
“Well, let’s talk to somebody who might.”
“Well last I checked huggy bear ain’t available.” Dean grins.
“No dude, the kid.”
“The kid?” Dean asks skeptically. “The kid’s a doornail.”
“Exactly,” Sam agrees. “Look, if he was the last person to die around here, maybe he’s seen something. We should talk to him.”
Dean laughs. “I love how matter-of-fact you are about that. Strange lives...” he adds, taking another drink.
~*~*~
At the cemetery, Sam is setting up by Cole’s grave as Dean flips through their dad’s journal. He glances down at all the candles. “You sure this is gonna work?”
Sam looks up. “No. But if the spirit’s around they should smoke him out.”
Dean closes the journal and Sam notices something’s wrong. “What?”
“This job is jack, that’s what,” Dean answers grimly.
“How so?”
“You want me to gank a monster or torch a corpse, hey—” he lets out a pfft noise “—Let’s light it up right? But this? We fix whatever this is people are gonna start droppin’ dead. Good people. “
“Look,” Sam stands up. “ I don’t want ‘em to die either, Dean, but there’s a…natural order.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“What?”
“You don’t see the irony in that?” Dean asks. “I mean you and me, we’re like the poster boys of the unnatural order. All we do is ditch death!”
“Yeah, but the normal rules don’t really apply do us, do they?” Sam asks, and Dean just laughs.
After a second, Dean realizes that his brother is serious, and insists, “We’re no different than anybody else!”
Sam just stares at his brother, reminding, “I’m infected with demon blood. You’ve been to Hell.” Dean can’t deny that, but still. “I know you want to think of yourself as Joe The Plumber Dean, but you’re not. Neither am I. The sooner you except that the better off you’re gonna be.”
Dean lets out a breath, staring up at the night sky. “Joe The Plumber was a douche.”
Sam nods. “You gonna help me finish this?”
Dean forms an ‘o’ with his mouth, watching his breath in the air, then gets up.
“Hey!”
They look over to find a man with a flashlight.
“What are you doin’ here?”
“Uh…” Sam searches for an explanation. “Just take it easy.”
The guy spots the candles and pentagram on the ground. “What the hell is this?”
“This? This is not what it looks like,” Dean answers with a laugh.
“Really? Cuz it looks like devil worship.”
“What?” Dean answers with a laugh. “No, no, this is not devil worship. This, this is…this is uh—“ He gestures to Sam, then finally admits, “I don’t have a good answer.”
Neither does Sam. Finally, he tells the man that they’re leaving, and he shakes his head. “You’re not goin’ anywhere.”
Um, what?
“Ever. Again.” The man steps forward, staring at Sam. “Sam.” Sam takes a step back as he watches the man’s eyes roll back in his head as he turns his attention to Dean.
“Alastair.” Dean glares at him. “I thought you got deep-fried, extra crispy.”
“Naw,” Alastair answers, shaking his head in amusement. “Just the pediatrician I was ridin’. His wife’s still lookin’ for him. It’s hilarious.”
Dean’s glare deepens.
“Anyway,” Alastair drawls. “No time to jest.” He turns to Sam, who is glaring at him just as hard as Dean is. “Got a hot date with death.” With a flick of his wrist, Alastair sends Dean flying, knocking him unconscious.
“Dean!”
Alastair turns to flick Sam away, but it doesn’t work. Sam smirks at him.
“You’re stronger, Sam. You been solo flexin’ with your little slut?”
“You have no idea.” Sam flicks Alastair away and holds out his hand, ready to finally get rid of him. Alastair quickly flees the body however, disappearing into the forest in a wave of black smoke.
~*~*~
Sam enters the hotel room to find his brother lying haphazardly on the bed with a washcloth to his forehead.
“How you doin’?”
“I’m in pain is how I’m doin’,” Dean answers without looking up. “I think I have a concussion.”
“You want some aspirin?”
“No thanks, House.” Dean sits up. “So demons, huh?
“Yeah, so much for miracles.”
Dean asks what happened to Alastair, and Sam tells him that “he tried to fling me or whatever and it didn’t work, so he bailed.”
“How come he couldn’t fling you? He chucked you pretty good last time.” Dean studies his brother suspiciously.
“I have no idea.”
“Sam do me a favor. You’re gonna keep your little secrets and I can’t really stop you, but just don’t treat me like an idiot okay?”
“What? Dean I’m not keeping secrets.”
“Mmhmm,” Dean answers. “Whatever.” Sam can’t lie to him. Changing the subject, Dean asks, “So’d you go back and Q&A the dead kid?”
“Didn’t have to. Bobby called. He did some digging.” Sam holds up a book.
“And?”
“He thinks I’m right. Local Reaper’s gone. Not just gone, kidnapped.”
“By demons. Why?”
“Listen to this.” Sam reads, “Any bloody death under the newborn sky, sweet to taste, but bitter when once devoured.”
“Swanky. What the hell’s that mean?”
“Well,” Sam answers, putting the bookmark back in place. “It’s from a very obscure, very arcane version of Revelations.”
“Which means what I think it means?”
“Basically, you kill a Reaper under the Solstice Moon—tomorrow night by the way—you’ve got yourself a broken seal.”
“How do you ice a Reaper?” Dean asks. “You can’t kill Death.”
“I don’t know. Maybe demons can,” Sam answers, wrapping the ribbon bookmark back around. “Where the hell are the angels is what I what to know. We could use their help for once.”
“Looks like we’re gonna be taking care of this one ourselves.”
“What are we gonna do, just swing in and save the friendly neighborhood Reaper?”
“You got a better idea, I’m all ears.”
Unable to keep from smiling, Sam reminds his brother, “Dean, Reapers are invisible. The only people who can see them are the dead and the dying.”
“Well, if ghosts are the only ones that can see ‘em…”
“Yeah?”
“Then we become ghosts.”
Sam sighs. “You do have a concussion.”
“Sounds crazy I know.”
“It is crazy.”
Dean just shrugs.
“How?”
~*~*~
Sam opens the door to let Pamela and Dean in.
“I can’t even begin to tell you two how crazy you are,” Pamela starts, and Dean just nods as if he’s heard this the entire time they were gone.
“Pamela, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Sam tells her politely, and she laughs, taking off her glasses to reveal her ruined white eyes.
“Ah that’s sweet, grumpy.” She puts her glasses back on. “What do you say to deaf people?”
Dean gives his brother an amused look as Sam immediately realizes his mistake. Whoops!
“Which one of you brainiacs came up with astral projection?”
Dean raises his hand. “Yo.”
She lets out a rueful laugh. “Of course. Chachi”
Dean looks at Sam, mouthing, Chachi? Sam just shrugs, I don’t know.
“So let’s be clear. You want to rip your souls out of your bodies and take a little stroll through the spirit world?” She sits down on one of their beds.
Dean nods. “Mmhmm.”
“Do you have any idea how heavy duty insane that is?”
“Maybe,” Dean answers. “But that’s where the Reaper is, so…”
“So it’s nuts.”
“Not if you know what you’re doin’.”
“You don’t know what you’re doin’.”
“No, but you do.” Dean grins.
“I do. And guess what? I’m sick of being hauled back into your angel/demon, Soc/Greaser crap.”
“Well look, I’d love to be kickin’ back with a cold one watchin’ Judge Judy too—”
“Nice. More blind jokes?”
“You know what I mean,” Dean answers, unamused. “We’re talkin’ the end of the world here, okay? No more tassel leather pants, no more Ramones CDs, no more nothin’!...We need your help.”
Pamela just shakes her head. She’s going to help them of course, but she’s not going to like doing it.
~*~*~
Sam closes the curtains as Dean takes one of the many lit candles across the room.
“Tell me somethin’ geniuses,” Pamela says. “Even if you do break into the veil and you find the Reaper, how you gonna save him?”
Dean sets down the candles, opening his arms. “With style and class.”
She laughs. “You’re gonna be two walking pieces of fog. You can’t touch or move anything, you’ll be defenseless hotshot.”
Sam glances at his brother and answers, “I seem to recall a bunch of ghosts beatin’ the crap out of us.”
“Yeah, they had plenty of time to practice.”
“Then I guess we gotta start crammin’,” Dean answers.
“Wow, a couple a heroes.”
~*~*~
~*~*~
“Come on man,” Dean tells his brother as they round a street corner. “We’ve been spookin’ this town for hours. No demons, no black smoke…I say we hit Victoria’s Secret and get our peep on, huh?” He grins.
Sam isn’t listening because he sees a little kid looking out a house window. “Hey, 3:00….Kid in the window.” Dean looks and Sam asks, “Am I crazy, or is he looking at us?”
“That’s because we’ve seen him before.”
“We have?”
“Newspaper. Cole Griffith, the last person to die in this town,” Dean reminds.
Suddenly Cole flickers out.
~*~*~
Cole’s mother enters his room, looking around. “Cole?...It’s Mom.” She lets out a laugh. “Your dad thinks I’m crazy.” She continues to walk around the room, looking. “Are you here? A picture frame fell over, I could have sworn it was you, baby.” Her voice cracks and she whispers, “Are you still here with me?”
Suddenly a soccer ball on the dresser begins to spin until it appears to fly off by itself, bouncing off the door behind her. She rushes out, right through Dean and Sam as they enter the door.
“Whoa!”
Cole throws more balls at them.
Dean: Ah! How are you doin’ that?
Cole: Who are you?
Sam: Relax Cole! It’s okay.
Cole: How do you know my name?
Sam and Dean exchange a look, and finally Sam carefully continues, “Look, this isn’t gonna be easy to hear, but…you’re…dead. You’re a spirit. Us too.”
“Yeah, thanks Haley Joel, I know I’m dead. What do you want?”
Okay then. “We just, want to talk,” Sam answers.
“About what?”
~*~*~
Downstairs, Dean and Sam sit at the kitchen table and watch Cole watch his mother pour herself a drink.
“I was outside all morning,” Cole says, turning to look at Sam and Dean. “They tell you to be careful when it’s cold. “
“Cold air can cause an asthma attack?” Dean asks, and Cole nods.
“Then I was in my room. It happened so fast. I called out for my mom but nothing came out. Everything just started spinning, and then I was just standing there. Looking down at my body…” He leans against one of the chairs.
“And that’s when you saw the man,” Sam says.
“Creepy old guy in a black suit…Wanted me to go with him but—” he glances back at his mom. “I didn’t want to go.”
“Reaper,” Sam says to Dean, then asks Cole, “How did you get rid of him?”
“I didn’t. The black smoke did.”
“Black smoke?” Dean asks, and Cole tells them, “It was everywhere. I hid in the closet, and then when I came out it was gone and so was he.”
“Do you know where the black smoke went?”
“No..but I know where it is.”
Suddenly the lights flicker and Cole looks up, alarmed. “They’re back!”
“Who?”
Cole flickers out before Dean can get an answer, and with a whoosh of wind, Sam realizes, “Another Reaper.” They quickly rush out the door after it.
“Hey! Hey, wait!” Dean calls out, heading for the stairs. “We need to talk to you!”
He and Sam stop at the bottom of the stairs, looking up as the Reaper walks down towards them. She stops. “Dean.”
Sam looks at his brother, but Dean is just as confused. “Do I know you?”
The girl nods. “We go way back.”
~*~*~
They follow the Reaper into the living room, and she asks Dean, “You don’t remember me?”
“Honestly, if I had a nickel for every time I heard a girl say that…” When she doesn’t answer, he adds, “You’re gonna have to refresh my memory.”
Walking up to hi, the Reaper kisses him. In a flash, Dean remembers.
“Tessa?”
“That’s one of my names, yeah.”
“You do know her?” Sam asks.
“From the hospital after the accident.”
“The accident with Dad?”
Dean nods and Sam looks at Tessa. “So this is the Reaper that came after you.”
“Yeah.”
“Well this was fun,” Tessa says. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“Wait, wait, wait—” Dean blocks her way. “You can’t…you can’t take the kid.”
“Why?”
“Demons are in town, that’s why. They’ve already snatched your Reaper pal, the kid knows hwere.”
“So…?”
“So you should shag ass,” Sam interrupts. “For all we know, they could snag you too.”
“Except that this town is off the rails,” Tessa answers, finally looking at him. “And someone has to set it straight.”
Cole’s mom walks out and through the living room, not seeing any of them.
“Yeah we understand that,” Dean answers. “But these are special circumstances.”
“What? You’re whole angel demon dance-off? I could care less. I just want to do my job.”
“Right yeah,” Sam answers as Dean continues to stare Tessa down. “And look, we wanna help you do your job, so if you would just bail town—”
“No,” she interrupts simply.
“Well then could you hold off until we fix this?” Dean asks. Tessa stares at him a moment, and Dean adds, “Please…”
“Alright, but jus so we’re clear, when I start reaping again? I’m starting with the kid.”
Dean swallows hard, but Sam answers, “Understood…I’ll find him.”
“Wait, wait, wait, what—what are you gonna say to him?” Dean asks his brother.
“Whatever I have to.”
~*~*~
Sam walks into Cole’s room, glances around, then heads over to sit outside the open closet. Cole is hiding inside.
“This all must be pretty overwhelming, huh?” Sam asks him. “Pretty scary too.”
“The worst in my mom.”
“Must be hard seein’ her like this.”
Coel leans into the light to look at Sam. “She’s always coming in here…talking to me. Telling me how sad she is. I knock some stuff over to let her know I’m here, but she only gets sadder.”
“Yeah…you might want to ease up on the flying soccer balls,” Sam answers, understanding.
“I’m not telling you where the smoke is.”
Sam doesn’t answer a second, then says, “Hey, what if I told you that if you helped me…you wouldn’t have to leave here? Ever?”
“What about the one downstairs?”
“Tessa? Naw, she wouldn’t bother you. No Reaper would. ” Cole listens as Sam says, “You could just stay here with your family. As long as you want.”
“You can do that?”
“You bet I can do that,” Sam answers, swallowing hard.
“You swear?”
“…I swear.”
~*~*~
Downstairs, Tessa and Dean are waiting.
“I’ll tell ya. Life is funny,” the Reaper says.
“What do you mean?”
“You and me, together again.”
Dean is confused. “Are you—are you makin’ a move on me?”
“You’re the one that got away Dean…you’d be surprised how little that happens to me.”
Dean looks at her a moment, then asks, “Can I tell you something between you and me?”
“Who am I going to tell?”
Good point.
“After are little, uh, experience,” Dean starts. “For that whole year I felt like I had this…hole in my gut. Like I was missing something. I didn’t know what…but you know what it was? It was you.” She listens silently as Dean continues, “The pain of losing my father, and Sammy…I just…I wished I’d gone with you for good. But I guess things are different now.”
“What? The angels on your shoulder now?”
“So you know about that, huh?” She shakes her head, and Dean says, “Well hey, don’t get me wrong, most of the ones I’ve known are dicks with wings. But still…” Dean takes in a trouble breath, brow furrowed. “You know, I’ve done things…horrible things…And someone upstairs still decided to give me a second chance. It just makes me feel…” he searches for the word but can’t find it. “I don’t know.”
She nods. “Uh-huh…”
Suddenly Sam clears his throat behind them.
Sam asks Cole if he’s okay, and Dean wonders how they’re supposed to fight that.
“I don’t know, learn some ghost moves?” his brother answers.
Dean looks at him like he’s crazy. “By tonight?” Sam just shrugs, he’s got nothing better. “Yeah sure,” Dean says sarcastically. “I’ll meet you back at Mr. Miyagi’s.”
Cole is confused. “Who’s Mr. Miyagi?”
Dean just stares at him, then at Sam. This is not good.
~*~*~
Outside, Sam and Cole watch as Dean glares furiously at a small wooden windmill decoration.
“It’s not gonna move if you don’t concentrate,” Cole says, and Dean answers, “I am concentrating!”
Dean lets out a breath then scrunches up his face, concentrating even harder. The windmill does a half turn. “Ah-ha! There we go baby!”
Sam is impressed, but Cole just laughs. “You pull a muscle?”
“Alright Yoda, let’s see what you got,” Dean shoots back.
Amused, Cole turns toward the windmill, which immediately begins to turn. The small horse and rider at the back begins trotting forward. Sam looks over at the deck swing, which is also rocking back and forth. The wind chimes start to sound too.
“Dude!” Dean says with a laugh. “You are so Amityville!”
Cole grins. “This isn’t even the good stuff.”
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~*~*~
That night, Sam and Dean walk up to a building covered in glowing symbols.
“This looks like New Jack City,” Dean says, looking up. “Can nobody see this?”
“Maybe it’s demon invisible ink, you can only see it in the veil.”
“Any idea what it’s for?”
Sam takes in a deep breath. “We’ll find out.”
They walk through the open door and split up. So far the building looks empty. Together, they walk into the next room and find the two Reapers lying in the center of a trap. A man stands by with his back to them.
“Dude,” Dean tells his brother. “Check me out.” With that, he flickers out and appears behind the guy taping him on the shoulder. When he turns around, Dean punches him in the face.
The guy swings around to hit him, but Dean is gone.
Sam taps him on the shoulder, and punches him again when he turns around. Both brothers take turns beating the demon up. They kick him behind a coffin, and Dean grins. “You know, this ghost thing, it’s kinda rad.”
Suddenly another demon runs out, shouting in pain as he drags an iron chain across the room. His fellow demon jumps over the coffin and out of the way just as Sam and Dean turn around and see the chain. “Iron!” They’re trapped.
Alastair walks out, smirking. “Boys. Find the place okay?”
~*~*~
Alastair walks forward and one of his goonies hands him a gun. He takes great pleasure cocking it, raising it slowly, then shooting Dean in the stomach. Dean disappears in a flash and Alastair turns to Sam. “Rock salt’s not so much fun anymore, is it?”
Dean blinks back, trying to catch his breath. “Alastair… you bastard.”
“Well go on,” Alastair tells Sam smugly. “Why don’t you try some of your mojo out on me now, hot shot. It’s hard to get it up when you’re not wearin’ your meat, huh?”
“Go to hell,” Sam growls.
“Oh if only I could,” Alastair says turning around. “But they just keep sending me back up to this arctic crap hole.”
“To kill Death?”
“No, to kill Death twice,” Alastair answers, stepping around the two unconscious Reapers. “It takes two to break a seal. I figured another one would show up. They’re like lemmings.” He cocks the rifle and shoots Sam this time.
Sam disappears, and Alastair walks up to Dean, being careful not to touch the chain. “By the way, it’s uh, good to see you again, Dean. “
“You can shoot us all you want, but you can’t kill us.”
Sam pops back with a grunt.
Alastair smirks. “Ah, is that so?”
~*~*~
Still sitting in the hotel room, Pamela suddenly gets up to lock the door. She senses the open window. Something’s not right.”
~*~*~
“Anywho,” Alastair drawls, studying the scythe in his hand. “Moon’s in the right spot, the board is set. Let’s get started, shall we?”
Sam looks worried, but Dean just asks, “You’re gonna kill a Reaper with that? It’s a little on the nose, don’t you think?”
“Uh-huh. An old friend lent it to me. You know, he doesn’t really ride a pale horse? But he does have Three Amigos.” He turns towards the Reapers. “And they’re just jonesin’ for the Apocalypse.” Alastair leans down next to the old Reaper. “It pays to have friends in low places.” He yanks the Reaper up, asking, “Don’t you think?”
He starts in on the incantation, and in one swift move, Alastair brings the scythe across the Reaper’s neck, killing him. with a flash of blue light.
Not good!
Sam glances up at the chandelier hanging above Alastair and the Reapers. It may be their only chance! Alastair steps over to Tessa and kneels down, pulling her up.
“No,” she gasps, waking up. “Stop!”
Dean looks at Sam to see what the plan is, and Sam glances at the chandelier. Dean gets the idea. Together, they try to focus on bringing it down.
Alastair begins the incantation.
~*~*~
Pamela closes the window and turns back towards the room. “I know you’re here.” She heads towards the shower, asking the empty room what the matter is. “You afraid of a skirt?” She throws back the shower curtain. No one’s there.
Frustrated, she turns back and steps carefully into the room. The demon is waiting on the other side of the door. Sensing his presence, Pamela rushes to Sam’s bed to begin the spell to bring him back, but the demon grabs her. She loses her concentration as he begins dragging her away from the bed.
~*~*~
Alastair is still chanting. Sam and Dean are still glaring hard at the chandelier. Tessa notices, and looks up to see it shaking above them. Ah, good plan boys! Together, they’re able to drop it, breaking the trap on the floor. She quickly blinks out and over to the chain, unhooking it and letting Sam and Dean free.
Dean smirks at Alastair. “Buh-bye.” They all flicker out.
~*~*~
Dean and Tessa appear on the sidewalk outside.
“Where’s your brother?”
“I’ll go find him, you get out of here.”
~*~*~
Back at the hotel, Pamela is being tossed around the room even as she tries to shout the words to bring Sam and Dean back. The demon throws her onto a nearby dresser, pulling out a knife and stabbing her in the stomach. Pamela gasps and falls to the floor just as Dean wakes up.
“Pamela!”
Seeing his friend stabbed by the demon, Sam angrily flings the demon across the room, getting up to squeeze the black smoke right out of him. The body falls as the demon dies.
Sam rushes over to Pamela, who’s laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I can’t die, not in this town!” She laughs, showing him the knife wound that isn’t bleeding.
“Pamela—“
“Quit your worrying, grumpy. How ‘bout you make me a drink, huh?”
“You need a doctor.”
“Make me a drink Sam.”
~*~*~
Dean is walking through an alley, looking for his brother. Suddenly Alastair appears. “You can’t run Dean. Not from me.”
Dean begins backing up as Alastair walks towards him, drawling, “I’m inside that angsty little noggin of yours…” He continues to walk forward, smiling smugly at him.
Suddenly, there’s a flash of light like lightning that shoots down out of the sky and hits Alastair right on the head. Dean covers his eyes as the light flashes Alastair away.
Dean looks up, shocked. “ What the hell?”
“Guess again.”
Dean swings around to find Castiel standing behind him.
~*~*~
“What just happened?” Castiel asks a still stunned Dean. “You and Sam just saved a Seal. We captured Alastair…Dean, this was a victory.”
“Ah, no thanks to you.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You were here the whole time?” Dean asks.
“Enough of it.”
“Well thanks for your help with the rock salt!”
“That script on the funeral home,” Castiel explains. “We couldn’t penetrate it.”
“That was angel-proofing,” Dean answers, finally getting it.
“Why do you think I recruited you and Sam in the first place?”
“You recruited us?”
“That wasn’t your friend Bobby who called, Dean. It wasn’t Bobby who told Sam about the Seal.”
“It was you…If you wanted our help, why the hell didn’t you just ask?”
“Because whatever I ask, you seem to do the exact opposite.”
Well, okay, Dean will give him that. “So what now, huh? People in this town, they just gonna stop dying again?”
“Yes.”
“These are good people,” Dean argues. “Don’t you think you could make a few exceptions?”
“To everything there is a season,” Castiel answers, and Dean frowns. “You made an exception for me.”
Castiel is quiet a moment, then turns to look at Dean. “You’re different.”
Suddenly Castiel disappears as Tessa shows up.
“Dean? I could use your help.”
Dean looks around but the angel is gone.
~*~*~
Back at Cole’s house, he’s watching his mom sit at the table, crying while looking through his baby book.
“Hey Cole.”
He turns around to see Tessa and Dean standing there. To Dean, he says, “Tell your brother thanks for nothing.”
“Look at her, Cole,” Tessa says gently. “Do you see how unhappy she is?”
“That’s why I want to stay with her,” Cole says, troubled.
“As long as she can feel you, she’ll be in pain,” Tessa explains. “She can’t let go…because you won’t let go of her.”
Cole glances from his mom and back and asks, “Why won’t anybody tell me what’s on the other side?”
“Maybe nobody wants to ruin the surprise.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“She won’t answer you, Cole,” Dean finally says. “Reapers never do. But trust me…staying here’s a whole lot worse than anything over there.”
“Why?”
“Because one day your family’ll be gone,” Dean answers. “And there’ll be nothin’ left here for you.” Cole glances back at his mom again, and Dean says, “It’s okay to be scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“We’re all scared. That’s the big secret,” Dean answers. “We’re all scared.”
Cole stares at him a long moment, then hopefully asks, “Are you coming?”
Dean glances at Tessa. “Oh I’m sure I’ll be there sooner than you think.”
Taking one last look at his crying mother, Cole finally nodes and steps into Tessa’s arms. She hugs him to her until he disappears in a soft flash of light.
Suddenly Cole’s mother stops crying, looking up in relief.
Tessa turns to Dean, who tells her, “Look out for that boy.”
“Look out for yourself, Dean.”
“What do you mean?”
She takes a step towards him. “I’ve been around death from the get-go. You know what I see most? Lies…’He’s in a better place’, ‘at least their together now’. You all lie to yourself , because like you said, deep down you’re all scared…Stop lying to yourself, Dean.”
“What?”
“The angels have something good in store for you. A second chance. Really? Cuz I’m pretty sure, deep down, you know something nasty is coming down the road. Trust your instincts Dean. There’s no such thing as miracles.”
“What are you saying?”
But Tessa is gone.
~*~*~
Pamela finishes the incantation to bring Dean back and Sam helps her to the other bed.
“Hey,” he tells her. “We just gotta talk to Tessa, get her to hold off reaping until we can get you better.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s started up again,” Pamela answers shakily as blood pours onto her hands from her knife wound.
Dean gasps awake and spots his brother and Pamela. “What happened?”
“Dean, where’s Tessa?”
“She’s…”
“Pamela,” Sam says, lowering his gaze. “I’m so sorry…”
“Stop,” she interrupts, taking off her glasses.
“You don’t deserve this.”
“Yeah, I don’t. I told you I didn’t want anything to do with this.”
Both brother’s feel more than a little guilty for all of this.
“Do me a favor?” Pamela asks. “Tell that bastard Bobby Singer to go to hell for ever introducing me to you two in the first place.”
She starts to cough, and Dean tells her to take it easy. “If it’s any consolation, you’re going to a better place.”
“You’re lying.” Breathing hard, she laughs, “What the hell, right? Everybody’s gotta go some time.” Struggling for breath, Pamela gestures towards Sam. “Come here.” He leans forward and she whispers, “I know what you did to that demon Sam…I could feel it like it was inside of me. If you think you have good intentions, think again.”
Coughing up blood, Pamela gasps in pain, leaning back against the bed.
“Pamela?”
Nothing.
“Pamela!” Dean looks to his brother. “What did she say to you?”
Sam won’t look at him.
~*~*~
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We miss you too Kim!
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