Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death Chapter 4

[ameraleigh]

Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
Chapter Four
And If I Claim to Be a Wise Man

As they made their way out of the building, they could all sense the spirits around them.

The air had cooled considerably and the sooner they got out of there, the better off they would be.

Sam could sense them that they were close to him; as if they were trying to reach out and touch him and it gave him the chills.

He heard Dean mutter something under his breath and then saw him sidestep something apparently only he could see.

“Are you all right?” Sam called out.

“I will be when we get out of here,” Dean replied. “I really fucking hate this place. Would it be wrong if we burnt this place to the ground?”

Cas stopped mid step and turned to face Dean. “There are many innocent spirits trapped here as well, Dean. So yes, it would be wrong.”

“I wasn’t actually serious,” Dean replied as he finally stepped through the doorway and out into the courtyard.

It only took a few minutes to make their way across the courtyard and out onto the street.

Sam was relieved to be out of there, he had been reluctant to return in the first place but knew that there was no other choice.

After tonight he was resolved in his decision to never come back to this place.

As they piled into the car, Dean let out a huge sigh of relief as Bobby pulled the car away from the curb.

He was sitting in the back with Cas and Sam, who looked a little pale and he was concerned that something inside had gotten to him.

He watched as Sam folded his arms over his chest and a shiver went through his entire body.

Dean wished that there was something that he could do to help his brother.

Once they were far enough away from the building, Dean started to relax a little.

“Okay,” he said after a while. “So, what is the next step again?”

“Next comes the shitty part,” Meg said from the front seat. “I know that it will work but I really don’t want to do it.”

“And we’re doing this tonight, right?”

“I think it would be wise,” Cas said. “The sooner we get this done, the better.”

Dean knew that Sam was incredibly uneasy about this whole thing and he wasn’t feeling particularly great about it either.

The spell that Cas was casting was complicated but he had assured them that it would work; Meg was the most hopeful that it would.

Dean glanced over at her where she stood next to Cas. She had her hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket and Dean thought she looked bored.

Cas picked up a very old looking coin and the knife that Dean had used to stab Crowley. He used a cotton swab to wipe some of the blood from the knife and smear it across the coin.

He placed the knife back down and picked up a smaller, cleaner one and held it out to Meg.

She took it with an eye roll and pricked her thumb with the tip of the blade. When that was done, Cas placed the coin into a small metal box. “As soon as the spell is complete, you have to bury the box on consecrated land. You cannot tell anyone where it is.”

“Got it.”

Cas picked up the piece of paper that contained the spell that Meg had found. “We’re ready.”

Dean sucked in a deep breath and moved across the room where he stood just behind Meg. Sam was to his right while Bobby stood to his left.

When Cas began to read out the spell, Dean didn’t really understand the words but he did recognize the language as being Latin.

It wasn’t the same as the spell they had used at the hospital, this one was different. Dean didn’t really have much knowledge when it came to magic but he could tell that this spell was powerful; there was energy in the air that he couldn’t explain.

It didn’t take long for the spell to work, one minute Meg was standing there alone, the next Crowley was standing beside her.

“I knew that I would regret that the moment I threw that damn knife on the floor,” Crowley said dejectedly.

“Well hindsight is a bitch,” Dean replied with a smirk.

Cas picked up the box and placed it down in front of Meg and spoke softly in Latin for just a moment before a blue light emanated from the box. It began to twist and turn its way around Meg and Crowley.

“Okay,” Crowley said. “What hare-brained scheme are you idiots cooking up?”

The light continued to twist around them and Crowley tried to shake it away a couple of times but it didn’t go away.

It was all over fairly quickly and Cas picked up the box and handed it to Bobby who then left the room.

“No one wants to share?” Crowley asked. “Well, I’ll be leaving then.”

He tried to leave but very quickly realized that something was wrong.

“Well, isn’t this wonderful,” he said. “Anyone wanna tell me why I’m still here.”

Meg held her hand up and jumped up and down a couple of times. “I know, I know.”

“I told you that you would eventually see things our way,” Dean told him. “I mean you don’t have a choice in the matter but you know, whatever.”

Crowley squeezed his eyes shut. “A bloody binding spell?”

“Yep,” Dean told him with a grin. “We bound you to Meg.”

Crowley cocked an eyebrow. “That’s new but idiot No.1, you do realize this traitor over here is a demon.”

“Crap,” Dean replied. “I know that there was something that I missed about her.”

“I hate all of you,” Crowley retorted. “You do realize that when Azazel eventually shows up, and he will, he’ll kill all of us.”

“Fingers crossed,” Meg said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Well, I hope that he kills you.”

After packing up the supplies, Sam and Dean made their way out onto the front porch.

“Have you been able to get hold of Dad yet?” Sam asked.

Dean glanced down at the phone in his hand. “No, I’ve called him 10 times but he won’t answer. It’s been what, four, five days already? He should be answering his fucking phone.”

“What about Meg, did she find anything?”

“I asked her but she said there was nothing to find, she didn’t know who to ask without giving herself up.”

“Okay then do you think Dad has found her?” Sam replied. “And it’s been five and a half days now.”

Dean glanced over at his brother. “No, if he had then they would have come home.”

“Dean, I have a bad feeling about this,” Sam told him. “I just have this…”

“No,” Dean retorted, cutting him off. “Don’t even think it Sammy, she’s not dead.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Okay,” Dean said. “Mom is not dead so I want you to stop saying that, fuck, don’t even think it.”

A crashing sound from somewhere inside the house drew their attention.

“How was this a good idea again?” Dean asked as he motioned toward the door.

When they make their way inside, they find Crowley in the kitchen smashing dinner plates.

“Are you kidding me?” Dean asks him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“You pissed me off,” Crowley snapped at him. “I’m just returning the favor.”

“By smashing plates?” Dean replied with a slight chuckle. “Wow, terrifying.”

Dean had tried to call John at least a dozen times since they had failed to eat much dinner a few hours earlier.

He still wasn’t answering and it was pissing him off.

Dean was sitting on the end of the bed, his phone in his hand. He glanced up when Cas walked in from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and one around his head.

Dean couldn’t help it, despite his horrible mood, he laughed. It just came out and he couldn’t seem to stop.

Cas just stood there and stared back at him until Dean stopped laughing.

“You know it’s weird when you do that right.”

Cas didn’t answer and sat down on the end of the bed.

“Cas.” Dean said.

“Yes.”

“Can you sense Dad? He won’t answer."

“I can sense a lot of rage,” Cas replied. “But he isn’t in any physical pain if that’s what you’re actually wondering?”

“Okay,” Dean replied. “And yeah, it was.”

Cas turned to look at him, sadness in his eyes. “There is still nothing on your Mom. I wish I could tell you something different.”

“Yeah well, it’s been almost a week so…” Dean replied. “So, I’m not really holding my breath.”

“Dean,” Cas said. “I was thinking that perhaps I should return to heaven.”

Dean stared at him in surprise. “I’m sorry, what now?”

“Just for a brief time.” Cas assured him.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to just go back whenever you wanted?” Dean replied. “You know on account of me.”

“Well, yes,” Cas said. “They don’t approve of our relationship. I made my choice when I stayed after Sam came home but this is an extenuating circumstance.”

“How long is a brief amount of time?” Dean questioned him.

“It would only be for a few hours, I would be back by morning.”

Dean sighed heavily and shifted on the bed. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that. What if you go and don’t come back?”

Cas reached over and rested his hand on Dean’s arm. “I will come back.”

“Yeah well forgive me if I don’t exactly believe you right now,” Dean told him. “So, you’re going to go pretty much right now then?”

“I think it would be better if I did this as soon as possible.”

“You’re just going to leave me here to deal with Meg and Crowley on my own?”

Cas smiled half-heartedly. “I’m sorry.”

Cas quickly got dressed and Dean followed him downstairs.

He had briefly explained what he was doing and he had promised that he would be back by the morning.

Dean wanted to believe him but he was having a hard time with it.

Sam had already gone to bed which meant that Dean was going to be left to deal with Meg and Crowley himself.

It was going to be a very long night.

Sam never actually got much sleep, he would doze for a little while and then a noise somewhere within the house would wake him.

He had heard part of the conversation between Dean and Cas about how Cas was going to go somewhere but he wasn’t entirely sure where.

Several times after that he heard Meg and Crowley arguing and there were many times when he thought just getting up because he felt bad for Dean having to deal with all of that on his own.

But at the same time, he was beyond exhausted.

He had avoided answering any of Jo and Ash’s calls again because he didn’t know if he could explain what was happening and he also didn’t want them feeling sad for him because Mary was missing.

When he glanced at the alarm clock he saw that it was almost one o’clock and for a moment he had decided that he was going to get up but then he heard a deafening crashing sound come from downstairs followed by Dean yelling, clearly Crowley was destroying everything again.

Closing his eyes and shifted the pillow under his head to try and get comfortable, he figured though that he wasn’t going to get any actual sleep.

Dean clenched his hands into fists as he glared at Crowley who was standing near the living room window which he had just thrown a ceramic vase through.

There was shattered glass everywhere and a cool breeze quickly filled the room.

“How the hell is this helping you?” Dean snapped at him. “Destroying this house is not gonna undo the binding spell so fucking quit it.”

“Maybe not but it’s keeping me amused,” Crowley told him. “Would killing Meg break the spell?”

“You could try,” Meg said. “But it’s quite possible that if you did that, you’d kill yourself seeing as you’re fucking well bound to me you dumbass.”

Dean let out a chuckle.

“What exactly is the point in all of this?” Crowley questioned them. “I’ve already told you that he will kill whoever gets in his way, so why would you bind me to her, like she said, if one of us dies, the other follows.”

“There is your motivation to help us,” Dean pointed out. “We don’t know how to kill him.”

“Banishing him back to hell would only last so long,” Crowley told him. “He’ll always find a way out.”

“So, then we do something different.”

Crowley sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well if I’m being forced to play along, I might have an idea.”
~~~***~~~
It was almost four o’clock in the morning when Cas pushed open the front door and stepped into the living room.

There was a light on in the living room but the rest of the house seemed relatively quiet.

He was very careful not to make any noise but he almost let out an embarrassingly girlish scream when he walked into the kitchen and saw Meg sitting at the kitchen table in the dark.

“I thought you wouldn’t be back for several more hours yet.” Meg said as she pulled out the chair next to her.

“I believe that was going to be the case too but there has been a development.”

Meg glanced over at him and cocked an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Cas adjusted his coat and shifted in the chair. He wasn’t entirely sure what to tell her or if he should even tell her at all.

“Not easily freaked out,” Meg told him. “But you’re kinda making me that way, what gives?”

Cas narrowed his eyes as he contemplated whether or not to tell her what he had discovered.

“Cas, either start talking…”

“Where is Crowley?”

“I don’t know,” Meg responded. “He’s around here somewhere pouring through some nerd books of John’s. He thinks he has a solution to solve our Azazel problem but we’ll deal with that later, start talking.”

“While I was in Heaven, I did manage to convince a few of my colleagues into helping if they are needed.”

“Okay great, that’s what you’re so squirrely about?”

Cas shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I discovered something while I was there and I’m not sure how to handle it.”

“You know that I could always beat it out of you, if that’s how you’d like to play it.”

Cas drew in a deep breath and shifted in the chair, he wished that he wasn’t about to say this, he wished for anything else.

“Mary Winchester died six days ago.”
~~~***~~~
Sam sat bolt upright in bed and clutched a hand to his chest as his breath came in short gasps.

He had just had a nightmare or at least he hoped it had been a nightmare.

Most of the images were fading away but he was back in the old hospital, trapped in that room while everyone he loved sealed the door, one brick at a time.

When he had finally calmed down, he glanced at the clock and saw it was a little after four o’clock.

He couldn’t hear any voices or other noises so he figured that everyone was finally asleep.

Laying back down, he tried to get comfortable but he didn’t want to sleep. Most of the nightmare had dissipated but that one particular moment was sticking with him and he couldn’t seem to shake it.

So, he just lay there, staring at the ceiling, praying for morning to come and for it to bring some good news.
~~~***~~~
Meg rested her hands on the table and stared back at him. “Cas, you sure about that? Because this is something that you’re going to want to be 100% sure about.”

Cas inhaled deeply before responding. “I’m 100% certain. She died six days ago. From what I can gather, it was roughly about seven hours after she was last seen.”

“You saw her?”

Cas didn’t respond, he didn’t need to for them to know the answer. Instead he asked his own question.

“How am I supposed to tell Dean that his mother has died?”

“Fuck,” Meg muttered under her breath. “Yeah, that’s gonna suck. Do you know where she is or how it happened?”

“Her spirit was unsure of the details, but she said it felt like it may have been a cemetery or something similar. She also told me that she didn’t suffer, it happened quickly.”

“Well, that’s something I guess.”

“Cemetery?” Meg repeated. “What would she be doing…”

“Meg, what is it?” Cas asked.

“This is fucking insane,” she said. “Cemetery. Cas, Azazel took her. He took her to Wyoming.”

“You believe that he took her in order to open the Hell's gate again, why though?” Cas replied. “They have the Colt, they wouldn’t need her.”

“Not the gate Cas, I think he’s trying to bypass the seals and go straight for the cage,” Meg explained. “If it’s true and Sam really is Lucifer’s vessel, wouldn’t his blood have something to do with that?”

“I supposed it could.” Cas answered.

“Well Mary is his mother and seeing as he couldn’t get his hands on Sam, she was the next best thing?”

“I’m not sure if it works that way.” Cas told her.

“Maybe they thought that it was worth a try.”

“So, you are suggesting that Azazel took Mary into hell for the purpose of getting her into the cage? I’m more curious as to how she ended up dead.”

“Maybe it didn’t work so they killed her,” she said. “Does it really matter why, aren’t we more concerned with finding her body? Wyoming is a place to start.”

“You’re right, it’s a place to start.”

“Okay seeing as I’m being super helpful lately, maybe I can take the sidekick and go and check it out before you tell them.”

Cas glanced toward the doorway. “I can’t lie to Dean.”

“I get that,” Meg replied. “But it shouldn’t take long, we’ll leave right now.”

Cas sighed heavily. “Crowley is not going to like that.”

Meg shrugged her shoulders. “Who cares, he doesn’t get a say in the matter.”
~~~***~~~
When Dean made his way downstairs, he quickly realized that there was no sign of Cas, Meg or Crowley.

Sam was already in the kitchen and was making pancakes, badly.

“You want any?” he asked as Dean poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Yeah, thanks.”

He could hear Sam sigh heavily as he sat down at the counter.

“You heard anything yet, Dean?”

“Nothing yet.”

Sam dished up a plate of pancakes and placed them down in front of Dean.

“Where did Cas go?” Sam asked. “I heard you guys talking last night but I didn’t catch most of it.”

“He went to Heaven.”

Sam stared at him, eyes wide, mouth agape.

“He’s trying to find some help when we finally find Azazel.”

“Oh.” Sam replied, not at all convinced. “I guess that makes sense.”

“You guess that makes sense?” Dean replied. “He went to Heaven, Sam,” he paused for a moment before continuing. “What if he doesn’t come back?”

“Dean, come on. He’s an angel and I’m pretty sure that even death wouldn’t keep him from you.”

Dean sucked in a deep breath. “Don’t joke about that, please.”

“Dean, he’s going to be fine.”

Sam finished cooking and sat down at the table with his own plate.

He took a mouthful and instantly made a face. “These are disgusting.”

He glanced over at Dean who was in the middle of shoving a giant forkful into his mouthful. “What?”

Sam pushed the plate away and he saw Dean eyeing it hungrily.

“You’re kidding?” Sam asked with a small laugh. “They’re gross.”

Dean just shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever, food is food.”

“Go ahead,” Sam told him as he pushed the plate towards him. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Sam left the room while Dean stayed and finished off the pancakes.

He had been sitting there for about 10 minutes when a noise behind him drew his attention.

When he glanced over his shoulder and saw Meg standing there with a very annoyed -looking Crowley, he knew that something had happened.

She didn’t look sad exactly; more concerned and that terrified him.

Sucking in a deep breath he tried to prepare himself for what was about to happen.

This wasn’t the first time that she had come and gone but for some reason, this time felt different and he couldn’t explain why, it just did.

Crowley stormed out of the room, muttering under his breath while Meg took a seat next to Dean.

“Dean.”

Dean gave his head a slight shake. “I know what you’re going to say but I really wish that you wouldn’t.”

She seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Yeah and I am actually sorry about this, but you gotta know right.”

Dean squeezed his eyes shut as a tear rolled down his cheek. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

When he opened his eyes again, Meg nodded back at him. “Yeah, she is.”

“Does Dad know?” he asked. “Because I still can’t get hold of him.”

Meg nodded again. “Yeah he knows. We found him a few hours ago, he’s with her now.”

“Fuck,” Dean muttered. “This is actually happening, isn’t it?”

“Cas said he’d be here soon if you wanted help to tell Sam.”

Dean brought his hands to his face as more tears spilled down his cheeks. He didn’t want to believe that this was real but he knew that it was, he had been expecting it.

“How the fuck am I supposed to tell him?”

Meg exhaled loudly. “Yeah, that’s gonna suck.”

They sat in silence for a while. Dean was grateful for that at least but he had a lot of questions and he needed them answered before he even thought about talking to Sam.

“How did she die?”

“You sure you wanna know?”

Dean glared at her and she held her hands up in front of her.

“Okay but just remember that you asked,” she replied. “Azazel took her. I guess he figured that because she’s Sam’s mother, that her blood would…”

“Her blood…”
“Dude, don’t make me say it.”

Dean looked at her again, his eyes looked red and tired.

“He slit her throat.”

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in several long deep breaths.

“Why are you telling me this?” Dean asked.

“Yeah well Cas specifically told me no to tell you but… you were just sitting there and you were gonna ask questions so, I figured why the hell not.”

“Where is she?”

“Laramie, Wyoming,” Meg said. “She was found a few days ago, she’s at the morgue.”

“Wait, you said a few days ago?”

Meg scratched her eyebrow. “Yeah, from what I know. Look, Cas is going to be able to explain everything better than I can.”

Dean looked more confused than ever and he gave his head a shake. “How does Cas know already?”

“He came back earlier this morning,” she said, sighing heavily. “Just fucking ask him about it.”

Dean pounded his fist down onto the table. “Damn it Cas, get your ass here now.”

Almost before Dean had finished speaking, Cas appeared on the other side of the table.

“Dean, I’m so sorry,” Cas told him. “I know that I should have explained.”

Dean gave his head a shake. “You’re damn right. How could you just leave without telling me what happened?”

“Everything happened so quickly and I will explain but Sam needs to be here.”

Dean got to his feet and made his way upstairs, he pounded on Sam’s door but doesn’t wait for him to answer. “Downstairs Sam, now.”

Dean headed back down to the kitchen and took his seat. He waited until Sam appeared a few minutes later, his hair still damp from his shower.

“What’s going on?”

When no one answered, he angrily folded his arms over his chest. “Someone had better start talking.”

“You should sit down, Sammy.”

Sam swallowed the lump in his throat as tears burned his eyes.

After a moment, he reluctantly took a seat.

“Dean, please just tell me what’s going on?”

Dean drew in a deep breath before answering. “We’ve found Mom.”

Sam’s eyes widened but Dean couldn’t tell if he was happy or shocked by the announcement. “Okay, that’s uh… that’s good, right?”

Dean hesitated for a moment but then shook his head. “It’s not, Sammy. It’s bad news.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sam said as he leant back in the chair. “I don’t.”

“Sammy,” Dean said. “She’s gone.”

Sam wiped at his eyes as he sucked in a deep breath.

“I returned to Heaven last night to seek some help,” Cas explained. “I was speaking with a colleague when Mary’s name was mentioned. I didn’t want to believe it at first but then I received confirmation, from Mary herself.”

Sam glanced at Dean and he quickly realized that this was the first time that Dean was hearing that particular piece of information as well.

“This can’t be happening.” Sam mumbled.

“I discovered that she passed away almost six days ago.”

“What are you talking about?” Sam retorted. “You mean that she was… she was already gone before we even knew that she was gone?”

“I’m afraid so,” Cas said. “Azazel took her around the time she finished work that night. I know that it doesn’t help but there really was nothing that any of us could have done.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sam snapped at him. “It doesn’t help.”

“How did she uh… how did she die?”

“All you need to know is that it was blood loss.”

Sam angrily shook his head. “Don’t do that, Dean. I’m not a kid anymore, I want to know the truth.”

“He slit her throat,” Dean retorted. “Are you happy that you know that?”

“Dean.” Cas scolded him.

Dean glanced over at Cas. “What? He’s right, he’s not a kid anymore, he should know.”

An awkward silence fell over the room and Dean couldn’t bring himself to look at Sam, he felt guilty for the way he told Sam, he really should have handled it better.

“Where is Dad?” Sam asked.

“He’s with her now,” Cas told him. “Bobby, too.”

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. “I want to see her.”

“In a little while I’ll return to Laramie and we’ll bring her home, Sam.” Cas explained.

“Good idea,” Meg said as she got to her feet. “Crowley and I have some things to sort out regarding his plan.”
~~~***~~~
Dean stood in the doorway and exhaled sharply when Cas, John and Bobby appeared in the living room. He cringer inwardly when he saw the body bag in the middle of the room.

He was almost too afraid to get any closer, if he actually saw her it would make this real and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that.

John turned towards him, his eyes were red and he looked exhausted and Dean’s heart broke just a little bit more.

Sucking in a deep breath, he stepped up to his Dad and pulled him into a hug.

“Dad.”

“I’m sorry, Dean,” John said through fresh tears. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Dean heard footsteps behind him but he didn’t want to turn around because he knew that it was Sam and he was already heartbroken enough as it was.

“Dad,” Sam said. “Are you sure…”

Dean let go of his Dad as he stepped toward Sam and pulled his youngest son into a hug. “I’m sure.”

“What are we going to do now?” Sam asked.

Dean reached over and rested his hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“We’re going to make that son of a bitch suffer for what he’s done to this family,” John told them.
~~~***~~~
Three days later.
“I can’t believe that we’re doing this again,” Sam said. “It’s only been less than seven months since we buried Jess.”

Jo got to her feet and pulled him into a hug. “Sam, I am so sorry about all of this. I wish that this would…”

“It will soon,” Sam said, cutting her off. “We’re going to make sure that all of this ends.”

Jo tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and narrowed her eyes. “What are you going to do?”

“We’re going to find Azazel and we’re going to kill him.”

Jo exhaled sharply. “Sam, are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean maybe…”

“No,” he retorted. “It’s what’s happening. He’s a demon, he’s murdered hundreds if not thousands of innocent people, and he’s not going to get away with this.”

Jo wanted to say something else but Dean and Cas came into the room, Meg and Crowley followed shortly after.

“I get that this is all horribly sad and all,” Crowley said. “But do I really…”

“Why haven’t we killed him yet?” Dean retorted as he glared at Crowley. “I mean is there an actual reason why we haven’t?”

Crowley shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Not to repeat what’s already been mentioned but we have a deal. I help you kill Azazel, you leave me alone.”

“Yeah, you really don’t have to keep reminding us of that.”

Jo leaned toward Sam. “Who is he again?”

“Help, I’m being held hostage,” Crowley dramatically cried out. “Call for help.”

Meg reached over and picked up a knife from the table and quickly ran the blade across her palm, a thin line of blood instantly appeared.

Crowley flinched and lifted his hand, appearing on his palm, was a line of blood.

“That is pretty fucking awesome,” Meg said. “I’ve wanting to test that for days.”

“Do you fucking mind,” Crowley hissed at her.

“Not at all,” Meg replied with a smirk.

Dean angrily shook his head. “Stop it.”

Cas reached out to Dean and rested his hand on his shoulder. “It’s time to go.”

They made their way over to the cemetery for the funeral, it was small, all they could handle right now. Maybe one day they would do a proper memorial for her.

It was going to be a relatively short service for which Dean was grateful for.

The whole time he kept thinking that maybe this was all just some terrible nightmare, that he would eventually wake up and his life would be normal.

He glanced down when Cas took his hand in his and he felt gratitude towards him as well. Of course, he had Sam and John but things were so much easier with Cas around.

As the service came to an end, not one of them had been able to bring themselves to say anything, it was too painful.

Dean didn’t want to stay any longer and judging by the look on Sam’s face, he wanted to leave, too.

“Dad, are you ready to go?”

John turned to look at his sons. “You boys go ahead. I’m going to stay for a while longer.”

“Are you sure?” Dean asked him.

He was a little concerned about leaving his father alone right now but he also knew him well enough that he would put up a fight about it.

“We’ll see you back at the house,” Dean added before he followed the others toward the vehicles.

“Do you think we should leave him here?” Sam asked.

“He’ll be okay,” Dean told him. “Cas did the same protection spell on him that he used on Jo and Ash.”

The drive back to the house was silent and Dean almost fell asleep a couple of times.

Once they were back at the house, Dean made a beeline for the whiskey; he didn’t bother with a glass.

“You wanna share there, cupcake?”

“I do not.”

Sam pulled out two more bottles and put them onto the table.

Crowley walked over and picked up one of the bottles. “I see you spared no expense.”

“Fuck off, Crowley.” Dean retorted as he lifted the bottle to his lips.

“Oh, if only.”

Bobby grabbed several glasses and put them onto the table.

“There is nothing helpful or comforting that you can say after a funeral,” Bobby said. “So how about we discuss the plan?”

“Sure, why not.” Dean said as he took another long pull on the whiskey.

Sam filled a glass and leaned back against the cushions. “What is this plan that you all keep talking about, no one has told me anything.”

“It’s Crowley’s idea so…” Meg told him. “The difficult part is going to be getting close enough to Azazel to get his blood.”

Sam glanced over at Dean. “You wanna stab him in the chest as well?”

Dean didn’t answer.

“We’re going to bind him to his vessel.” Meg told him.

“Come again?”

“We’ve found a witch that has created a binding spell. The plan is to bind Azazel to his vessel, that way he can’t leave it and it will enable us to injure him,” Cas added. “As a precaution, I’ll remove everyone’s memories of the spell that way if it came down to it, no one would be able to reverse it.”

“Wait,” Meg said. “If we bind him to his vessel, do you think that the Colt would work then?”

Cas thought about that for a moment. “I’m not sure but it might be worth a try.”

“Except that Roan has the gun, how do we get it from him?” Dean replied.

Meg chuckled to herself. “His deal.”

“His deal?” Crowley repeated. “What about it?”

“You made his deal, didn’t you?” Meg asked and Crowley nodded. “You have the ability to rescind it?”

“Would that even work?” Bobby wondered. “Hasn’t he been a demon for more than a hundred years?”

“It wouldn’t work, the contract would have to be rescinded before the time was up.”

“What if there was a clause in his contract saying that in what, 115 years, he becomes your bitch.” Meg said.

“That could work,” Crowley replied. “Guess we’re going back to 1893.”

Dean sighed heavily. “You have fun with that,” Dean told them. “I’m going to stay here and get wasted.”

Chapter 5