Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death Chapter 5
Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
Chapter Five
Heaven Waits for You
Dean had no intention whatsoever to move from the spot he had picked on the couch. He had several bottles of liquor on the coffee table in front of him and there was still plenty of pizza from the night before.
Cas, Meg and Crowley had left earlier that morning to send Meg and Crowley back to 1893.
Dean had no interest in participating, neither did Sam.
He was too busy worrying about John who still hadn’t come back from the cemetery.
Dean was worried too of course but he understood it, John had just lost his wife of 30 years, that wasn’t something that you quickly moved on from.
Leaning back, he closed his eyes and it was only a moment before he heard Sam walk into the room and sit down beside him.
“So, when we’re finally able to go after Azazel, you’re going to be too drunk to stand?”
Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Possibly, does it really matter though?”
“It might do,” Sam replied. “If you can’t see straight, I wouldn’t want you using a gun.”
Dean sighed and took another pull on the whiskey. “It doesn’t really matter, he’s probably going to kill all of us.”
Sam narrowed his eyes as he studied his brother. “You don’t really mean that.”
“Two demons who I hate have travelled back in time to 1893 to change the details on a contract. The other plan is that a witch has created a binding spell that we probably can’t do because it requires Azazel’s blood and we can’t get close enough to him without him killing us all.”
“Way to put a positive spin on it.”
Dean leant forward and placed the whiskey onto the coffee table and picked up the bourbon.
“Sammy.”
“Dean.”
“Have you considered the idea that after this is over with, if we’re still alive, that it might be a good idea to have Cas do that memory removal thing on us?”
Sam narrowed his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know, how he offered to remove your memories after we got you back.”
“Yeah,” Sam replied. “I know what you meant I just… I didn’t realize that you had actually thought about that.”
“Are you serious?” Dean answered, his tone angrier than he had intended. “All of the shitty fucking things that have happened to us Sammy, why would you want to remember any of that?”
“Because it happened,” he told him. “As awful as it is, I don’t know if having those memories taken away would be any better.”
“It couldn’t be any worse.”
“And what if he took them away but it affected other memories,” Sam told him. “I’m not sure that I could take a risk like that, especially not now.”
Dean shifted and glanced over at Sam. “How have you been so calm about all of this? Everything that happened to you, you’re handling it way better than I ever would.”
“I don’t know about that,” Sam answered. “Just because I might look like I have it together, I don’t actually feel that way, in fact most of the time I’m in a constant state of panic because I can’t tell what’s real and what’s not.”
Dean stared back at him. There were at least a dozen questions he wanted to ask his brother but instead he just sat there, staring blankly at him.
They sat in silence for a while, Dean continued to polish off the bottle of bourbon while Sam nursed the same drink the entire time.
“Do you think that Dad is going to be okay?” Sam asked.
Dean rested the bottle in his lap as he leant back against the couch cushions. “I don’t know. He’s been a mess since we found Mom, I’ve never seen him like that before.”
“So, not so cut up over my disappearance then?” Sam replied.
Dean gave his head a shake. “Sammy, that’s not what I meant. Dad spent almost an entire decade trying to find you. He became a hunter trying to get you back.”
“He never told me that.”
“He was convinced that you were still alive and that one day you’d come home.”
Sam hadn’t heard any of this before. Since he’d been back, they’re talked about his disappearance and homecoming briefly but never in much detail he figured it was because he was home so what had happened in the past didn’t matter anymore.
“Dad wasn’t there that night.” Sam pointed out.
“In the months leading up to your return, I could see it in his eyes…”
“You son of a bitch, you almost got us both killed.”
Dean and Sam almost leapt from the couch when Meg and Crowley suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room.
“What the hell is going on?” Sam asked.
Meg was swatting at her jacket and Sam could see embers burning the material.
“What happened to you?” Dean asked.
“What happened?” she snapped at him. “This idiot failed to mention that the crossroads where Roan made his deal was right next to a fucking burning building. Literally right next to.”
Sam gave his head a shake as he tried to process what Meg had just said. “What are you talking about?”
“Roan’s deal,” Crowley explained. “Was to save his family from certain death, he saved them, got another 10 years playing sickening happy family man and then he was mine.”
Dean pointed at Meg. “So how exactly did that happen.”
Meg shook her head and picked up one of the bottles from the table and downed half the contents.
“So, that’s the end of the story then, great.” Dean replied.
“Is it done?” Sam asked. “How will we know if it worked?”
Almost as if on que, there was a knock on the front door.
“Guess we’re about to find out.”
Crowley walked over to the door and pulled it open, standing there was Roan and Crowley couldn’t help but laugh.
Dean found the whole thing extremely… odd.
“I really have to try that trick more often.” Crowley said.
“Crowley,” Roan said. “We made a deal, it’s been 115 years, has it not?”
“It has,” Crowley replied. “Do you have it?”
Roan opened his coat and pulled out the Colt which he then held out to Crowley.
“He’s not going to be happy when he finds it out that it’s gone,” Roan told him.
“I could care less,” Crowley retorted. “How many bullets does it have?”
“Three.”
Crowley turned to look at the others. “Guess we’ll just have to make that work.”
“Wait, so if we have the Colt now,” Sam asked. “Does that mean we’re not doing the binding spell?”
Crowley smiled back at him but nothing about it seemed warm or friendly. “I added a little something extra to the contract,” he looked back at Roan. “Do you have it?”
Roan pulled a small glass vial from his pocket and handed it over to Crowley.
“That’s all there is and you’re not going to be able to replace it.” Roan told him.
“Just what I wanted to hear.” Crowley replied. He snapped his fingers and Roan began screaming and then he burst into flames until all that was left was a small pile of ash sitting on the front step.
“I uh…” Dean stuttered. “Should I bother saying, you know what, doesn’t matter.”
“Good because I don’t care,” Crowley replied. “We’re doing this tomorrow night, all we had left to gather were the Colt and Azazel’s blood,” he held out the vial of blood. “Tah dah!”
Dean wiped at his mouth and exhaled loudly. “Wow, just wow.”
Sam wandered into the kitchen and found Dean sitting at the table. He had finally stopped with the alcohol and was nursing a cup of coffee.
“Where’s Cas?”
“He and Bobby went to get John.” Dean told him.
“And, where is he?”
Dean sighed heavily and pushed the cup aside. “Ellen called, apparently he passed out at the bar.”
“What the hell is he doing in Tulsa?” Sam asked.
Dean shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know Sammy. Dad is…”
“Yeah, he’s probably going to be like that for a while.” Sam replied.
Dean pushed is chair back and got to his feet. “I think I’m going to call it a night, not that I’ll be able to sleep.”
“I think it might be a while too, that any of us get any proper sleep,” Sam said.
Dean sat down on the bed and put the bottle of whiskey had grabbed from the coffee table onto the nightstand.
He kicked off his boots. He didn’t bother to get undressed, he was too exhausted.
Lying back on the bed, he adjusted the pillow behind him and reached over for the bottle and took a long pull.
He assumed that he fell asleep fairly quickly because when he opened his eyes again, the room was pitch black and the bottle was sitting back on the nightstand.
Sitting up, he leaned over and flicked on the lamp.
He felt Cas stir beside him and he rolled over to face him.
“Is everything alright?” Cas asked.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s in his room,” Cas told him. “Physically he’s fine but Dean… he had had an awful lot to drink. Ellen expressed how concerned she was about him, when I questioned Bobby about the matter, he was awfully silent.”
Dean was worried as well, even more so after what Cas had just told him.
After Sam had disappeared, John had been a bit of a wreck but he’d pulled himself out of it and set out to become a hunter.
He had no idea what John might do now that he’d lost Mary.
Cas shifted on the bed and rested his hand on Dean’s arm. “We’re going to be okay.”
He shifted again, his face just inches from Dean’s and pressed his lips to his.
Dean knew that he reeked of alcohol but it didn’t seem to bother Cas.
He let the moment distract his thoughts from everything else going on but he’d barely returned the kiss when they both heard a loud crashing sound coming from downstairs.
Cas began to climb off the bed but Dean reached out and grabbed his hand to try and stop him.
“I would much prefer staying here but…”
Dean nodded back at him. “Yeah, with the demon idiot twin’s downstairs destroying everything.”
He sighed heavily and planted his feet on the floor.
He begrudgingly followed Cas downstairs and they found Crowley lying on the floor and Meg standing over a body.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dean cried out.
Meg turned to face him. “My guess is that this is one of Azazel’s flunkies.”
Dean glanced over at Crowley. “What’s wrong with him? You seem fine, so…”
Meg rolled her eyes. “He’s milking it for all it’s worth. He’s fine.”
“Uh, what are we supposed to do with him?” Dean asked.
“I’ll take care of it,” Cas told him.
Cas walked over to the demon and reached out, resting his hand on the demon's arm. The demon disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Meg turned to look at Dean. “So, I hope our little scuffle here didn’t interrupt anything.”
Dean folded his arms over his chest and glared back at her. “Would you actually care if I said that yes you did interrupt something?”
Meg gave her head a shake. “Nope, I would not.”
Dean continued to glare at her.
“Whatever, it would have been like 24 hours since you last got laid,” Meg replied with a smirk. “You’ll get over it.”
Dean closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “I fucking hate you.”
~~~***~~~
It was midday when they began setting up the summoning spell.
Dean couldn’t understand why they were doing this at the house. It had been his understanding that they were doing this at the old hospital but Crowley had prattled on about how it would be better on home turf or some crap, he actually hadn’t paid that much attention to him.
Dean paced nervously back and forth as he watched them work on the spell.
“How long is this going to take?” He asked as Sam walked in.
“It shouldn’t be long now.”
“Is there anything happening yet?”
“No, I’ve checked everywhere, there is no one there.”
“Check again,” Cass told him. “We’re almost done.”
Dean nodded at Sam and joined him as they made their way around the house, they checked all of the doors and windows and as they looked outside, they saw no one there.
When they made their way back to the living room, Sam stopped dead in his tracks at the window.
“Guys, you need to see this.”
Crowley and John joined them in the living room.
“What is it?” John asked.
Sam pointed out the window and standing in the front yard, was Azazel and one at a time, his minions appeared around him.
“Well that worked a treat,” Crowley said. “Ready for the fun part?”
Dean glanced over his shoulder to where Cas, Meg and Crowley were gathered around the table, they were half way through the binding spell and when he peeked through the blinds. He could see Azazel still just standing there.
He was surrounded by his minions and when he saw exactly how many there were, a lump quickly formed in his throat.
“How’s it going in there?” he called out. “I don’t know how much longer they’re just going to stand there, it’s kinda weird.”
“It will be another few minutes,” Cas answered.
Dean glanced at Sam who was pacing back and forth nervously, he was holding a gun but Dean wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable using it.
“Dean, I’m worried about Dad. I have a feeling that he’s going to do something stupid.”
Dean squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled sharply. “We won’t let that happen. Bobby is with him, he’ll make sure that he’s okay.”
Sam peered out through the window and muttered nervously under his breath.
Dean heard a clattering noise from the kitchen and then a moment later, Cas was standing beside him.
“It’s done, Azazel is bound to his vessel,” Cas told them. “If the Colt does not kill him, Crowley will cast the banishing spell.”
“Dean, I really don’t like that Dad is the one with the Colt.”
“Yeah well, you heard him. No one was going to be able to talk him out of it.”
Meg and Crowley once again joined them at the living room window.
Azazel was still just standing there but then he glanced over at the window and Sam felt like he was staring directly at him and it sent a shiver down his spine.
“Dean,” Sam said. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
Dean tried to calm his own nerves before he could help Sam with his. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No Dean, something is wrong. Tell me you see that.”
Dean narrowed his eyes as he stared at Sam. “See what? What are you talking about?”
Sam pointed at the window. “The blood, it’s pouring down the glass, tell me you can see it.”
Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sammy, I think you’re the only one who can see that.”
Sam spun around to face him, his eyes wide with fear. “No, I can’t be, you have to see it, too.”
Dean placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I’m sorry but I can’t see it.”
As he clutched the gun in his hand, he swallowed the lump in his throat as words began to appear in the blood.
“Death will come for you.” Sam said aloud.
“Yeah okay, he’s starting to freak me out.” Meg told them.
“Guys,” Dean said. “The minions aren’t there anymore.”
A deafening crashing sound came from the back of the house and they could all hear glass breaking.
Sucking in a deep breath, Dean followed Cass and Crowley down the hall while Sam and Meg made their way upstairs.
John and Bobby were standing on the landing and Sam almost froze in place when he saw the two demons come out of the bedroom.
“Dad.”
John spun around and raised his gun, he fired off two shots which connected but did very little too slow them down.
Bobby held a hunting knife in his hand and as one of the demons lunged at him, he swung his arm around and Sam was impressed when the blade plunged into the side of his neck.
The demon staggered backward, his hand clutching at his throat.
The other demon made a beeline for John and as he got closer, John raised his gun and fired off another shot, it hit him straight in the head but before he crumpled to the ground, the demon left the body, the black smoke disappearing into the vent in the wall.
Sam stared at the gun in John’s hand, for a brief moment he panicked, believing that his father had just used one of the Colt’s remaining three bullets to kill that demon.
John turned to face him and it was as if he could read Sam’s mind, he lifted the hem of his shirt to revel the colt tucked into the waistband of his jeans.
Sam let out a deep breath and then turned toward the end of the hall where he saw two more demons appear.
“Dad, we need to get out of there, there are too many of them.”
John nodded back at him and motioned toward the stairs.
“Downstairs now.”
The three of them made their way down to the living room as the demons began to follow them.
They could hear Dean shouting and as they made their way to the back of the house.
Walking into the den, they saw that it was completely destroyed, the furniture was upended, the windows had been smashed and there was a pool of blood on the carpet.
“Dean?”
Dean spun around and Sam saw the gash on his forehead, a trail of blood ran down his cheek.
“Are you okay?”
Dean waved a knife in the air and then threw it. Sam’s eyes widened as he ducked to the side and watched as the knife connected with a demon who had just come through the doorway.
It was the second time it happened, black smoke swirled around as the demon left the body.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” Sam cried out. “There are too many of them.”
He cringed as he saw Bobby flying across the room. He crashed into the bookcase and crumpled to the floor.
Sam noticed then that Meg was sitting not too far from where Bobby had landed, a huge cut across her arm and chest, blood soaked her clothes.
Sucking in a deep breath he glanced around for Crowley, he appeared to be suffering from the same wounds but he was in the middle of a tussle and wasn’t really paying much attention to that.
Sam was distracted for a moment when he thought he felt the ground began to tremor.
The sound of wood breaking drew his attention to Dean, who flew through the air and landed heavily on the coffee table. It collapsed under his weight and for what felt like the longest time, he didn’t move.
This wasn’t working, they were being outnumbered and there was still no sign of Azazel in the house.
He could hear John shouting and he spun on his heel to see his father being shoved through the door and out into the hall, the light caught the Colt and Sam swallowed the lump in his throat at the thought of one of the demons or Azazel getting the gun back.
Crowley rushed past him and grabbed the demon who was attacking John by the arm and spun him around, then he pressed his hand against his chest and Sam shielded his eyes when the demon exploded in a cloud of fire and ash.
There were still too many of them and they were essentially trapped in the room.
Dean was almost back on his feet and so was Meg, so Sam adjusted the weight of the gun in his hand and followed John and Crowley out into the hall.
They made their way out into the living room, it was a disaster zone but what scared Sam the most was that Azazel was standing there, Cas was a few feet away from him, he looked a little worse for wear but definitely better off than everyone else.
“Sam, it’s a pleasure to finally meet face to face.”
The very sound of his voice gave Sam chills and he instinctively took a step backward.
“I have been waiting a very long time for this moment.”
John took a few steps forward, the Colt clutched tightly in his hand.
“I see you managed to pull a few tricks out of your sleeve to get your hands on the Colt,” Azazel said. “It’s a pity about Roan, he was a loyal soldier but clever, adjusting the terms of his contract.”
“What can I say?” Crowley retorts. “I find enjoyment in screwing up your plans, it’s the highlight of my day.”
“Do you honestly believe that the gun will stop me?”
Crowley shrugged his shoulders. “I’m willing to test the theory if you are.”
Azazel waved his hand in the air and John flew through the air, he hit side of the stairs and Sam closed his eyes when he heard the bannister crack under his weight and the Colt was knocked from his hand, it clattered across the floor and landed near the kitchen doorway.
Sam’s breath caught in his throat, he didn’t know what to do, Dean and Meg were still in the Den, he could hear them fighting off the demons and it didn’t sound like it wasn’t going well.
“You are not taking Sam,” Cas told him. “I will not let you take him.”
Azazel smirked back at him. “Do you think that you can stop me?”
Sam felt the tremor under his feet again and he realized now that it was Azazel who was causing it.
He heard John groan and he slowly got to his feet, Sam watched him as if it was all happening in slow motion but in reality, what happened next, it was so quick that he didn’t have time to react.
Azazel waved his hand again, this time at Sam but he wasn’t flung across the room, instead he seemed to be frozen in place.
He could hear John, Cas and Bobby yelling but he couldn’t make out the actual words, everything felt blurry and muddled.
“I have been waiting an eternity for this day,” Azazel told him. “There were many times when we believed that Lucifer’s vessel had finally come into existence but when tested, they failed and so did our hopes for freeing him. And then there was you, you wouldn’t remember it of course because you were only an infant but I visited your nursery, I tested you Sam and you passed. That’s when I knew that you were the one.”
Azazel glanced over at Crowley.
“And then this traitorous fool had to interfere, we were so close to achieving our goals and poof, just like that you were gone. I searched for you for 10 long years and it wasn’t until your brother and your pathetic friends freed you that our plans were once again in motion.”
Azazel was standing directly in front of him now and he reached up and grabbed Sam around the throat.
He tried to pry his hands away but Azazel wouldn’t budge.
“We’re going to achieve some wonderful things Sam, this pathetic human life that you appear to be so fond of, that will be nothing but a distant memory,” Azazel continued. “And those pesky little ‘visions’ you’ve been having, won’t be visions any longer, we can make them a reality. We will bring this world to its knees and you’re be right at the centre of it.”
Sam couldn’t tell but he definitely felt it when something or someone crashed into them, he wobbled on his feet for a moment until he felt Azazel’s grip on him loosen and he crumpled to the floor clutching at his throat, his breath ragged.
When he looked up, he saw John standing there and tears streamed down his face when he saw the knife that Azazel held at his throat.
The others tried desperately to get to him but they were frozen in place, all they could do was watch and scream.
Azazel sliced the knife across his throat and blood poured down his neck and seeped into his shirt.
Sam screamed until his lungs ached and when he saw Dean appear, his eyes widened in shock.
Azazel let John go and he crumpled to the ground, a pool of blood formed around him and Sam brought his hand to his mouth as he scurried across the floor to his father’s side.
But it was too late, he was too late to stop this from happening.
Tears burned his eyes as he pleaded for this to be a mistake, all he wanted was for his father to wake up, to tell him that everything was going to be okay.
Nothing else mattered right now, he could hear noise around him but it was just a blur.
Dean was stunned, he knew what he was seeing but it was almost as if he were watching it happen to someone else, like a movie playing out before him.
He couldn’t think, he couldn’t focus but then he thought he heard someone yelling at him and as he glanced at the ground, he noticed the Colt lying near the kitchen door.
Without thinking, he leaned down and picked it up, it felt strange in his hands but he knew what he had to do.
With tears burning his eyes he raises the gun and points it at Azazel.
Azazel turned toward him, a smirk on his face. “I’ve barely even begun; how long can you last?”
Dean was done with all this, he was so exhausted and it wanted it all to stop.
He pulled the trigger but he was almost certain that he heard Azazel laughing which angered him even more.
The bullet sailed through the air and it hit Azazel square in the chest.
For what felt like the longest time, nothing seemed to happen and then Dean watched with narrowed eyes as Azazel seemed to convulsed, he found it hard to process what he was seeing.
It was as almost like a storm happening within his body, it sparked and burned.
He couldn’t say what happened next, the entire room seemed to be engulfed in darkness and he felt himself falling.
His entire body ached and when he tried to sit up a shooting pain ran down his spine.
When he opened his eyes, he was confused about where he was.
He was no longer in the living room of his childhood home; instead he was lying on the bed in the apartment he sometimes shared with Cas.
Trying to sit up again just brought on more pain but he pushed past it and glanced around the room.
There was no one else there so he slowly and reluctantly got to his feet.
As he made his way out to the living room, he saw Cas sitting on the coffee table, Meg and Crowley were standing behind the sofa, grim looks etched across their faces.
“What’s going on?” Dean asked “What happened?”
Sam was sitting on the floor in front of the couch, his arms resting on his knees, his eyes were red and he looked completely drained.
Lying on the couch was John, his eyes were closed and there was a blanket over him, pulled right up to his chin.
Dean squeezed his eyes shut as the memories returned.
John was dead.
Cas got to his feet and walked over to Dean, he reached out and placed his hand on his chest.
Dean could feel an intense heat course through his body and soon his aches and pains began to subside.
Dean pulled Cas into a brief hug before he sat down on the coffee table, he reached out and rested his hand on Sam’s arm.
“Where’s Bobby?” Dean asked.
“He’ll be here soon, he’s collecting the binding box.” Cas told him.
Dean glanced down at John, if he hadn’t have witnessed his father having his throat slit, he would have thought that John was simply asleep.
“What happened back there?” Dean asked. “Why did I pass out?”
“You weren’t the only one,” Meg explained. “When you shot Azazel, it blew the fucking house up.”
Dean cocked an eyebrow. “Come again?”
“Good job on that by the way, you killed Azazel,” Crowley added. “But yeah, the house went boom, we went flying, pain and chaos ensued.”
Dean gave his head a shake. “Wait, so what happened after that?”
“The assistance I sought out,” Cas explained. “The Angels arrived not long after the explosion and are dealing with the… mess.”
“Okay, but how did we end up here?”
“They also brought all of us here,” Cas told him. “I wasn’t sure of where else to go.”
Dean took a moment to process it all. “So, he’s actually dead?”
“Yep,” Meg said. “Even in death he’s got to be a huge over the top pain in the ass.”
Sam glanced up at Dean. “We may have won but we lost so much more.”
Dean squeezed his eyes shut again. He couldn’t believe that both of his parents were gone, it was inconceivable.
“The other angels have dealt with the… chaos that was left after Azazel’s death,” Cas explained. “But Meg and Crowley are correct, there is not much left of your parent’s house.”
“Why didn’t you save him?” Dean asked no one in particular.
“What do you mean?”
“Dad, why didn’t anyone save him, I mean you’re angels, you can heal people so…”
“Dean,” Sam said.
“No, someone should have been able to save him.”
“I’m afraid that John was already dead before you pulled the trigger.”
Dean raised his hands to his face and wiped at his eyes. After a moment, he got to his feet and walked toward the window.
“Dean.” Cas said as he moved up beside him.
“No, it’s okay. I don’t blame you, you’re right. He was already dead,” Dean replied. “I just…”
“I understand.”
For the longest time they just stood there, allowing time to pass, time to process what happened and what it all meant.
“Dean,” Sam said. “What are we going to do?”
Dean turns around and smiled sadly at his brother. He wished that he knew what to say but he had nothing.
Epilogue