Supernatural Fan Fiction ❯ Angels and Demons: A Supernatural Fanfic ❯ Living and Dying ( Chapter 9 )

9.Living & Dying

Cobalt Colorado, 1:47 p.m.

“I hope you're ready to die.” A man sneered, his gun pointed straight at Dean's face. His partner copied him, his gun in Sam's face.

Dean and Sam exchanged glances. “You're not really going to kill us.” Dean scoffed. He and Sam laughed.

And then they were both shot point blank in the head. “When I come back, I'm going to be pissed.” Dean said. He didn't even have enough time to hear Grace scream before he hit the pavement.

Dean blinked slowly awake and sat up. He heard snoring beside him and found Sam passed out in the seat of Dean's car.

What the hell? How did Sam and I end up here? Why are we in my car?

Dean shook Sam awake and heard some static on the radio. It sounded like someone speaking, but the volume was too low for him to make anything distinguishable out. He sat up and turned up the volume.

“Sam, Dean, are you awake? Can you hear me?”

Dean and Sam exchanged shocked glances. “Castiel?” They both simultaneously asked in amazement.

“Yes.” He sounded a little nervous. “It's me. Look, I'm not supposed to be up here, but I am. I'm going to give you some directions, so you need to listen very carefully to me or Rachel and I can't bring you back.”

“Where is here anyway? The last thing I remember is some low life demon popping a cap in my head.” Dean murmured. “Yeah, and what happened to those guys?” Sam asked.

“Well, for starters you're in Heaven. As for the demons, well, their end wasn't that pleasant. Once you and Dean hit the dirt Grace beat the holy hell out of them before using her blade to exorcise them back to Hell. Then she incinerated their meat suits.”

“Wow. You're girlfriend's a major bad ass Dean.” Sam said. Dean smiled. “Yeah, I know.” They heard Castiel clear his voice and the angel began speaking again. “Alright, here's the message. You see, Heaven itself is like a collection of wonderful memories; each man's visions are different. You two however, need to follow the path outside your car until you find an angel named Joshua, because he speaks to God. He'll be in the Garden. Now, get there as quickly as you can, because Zachariah knows you're here. I'm going to hold him off as long as I can.”

Dean and Sam opened the Impala's doors. “Hey Cas, how did you know where to find Sam and me? Just out of curiosity.” Dean asked curiously.

“The instant you died, Rachel felt your souls leave Earth. She sent me up here to relay the message to you. If you can find Joshua, who knows where God is, then you might be able to get back to Earth.”

“Wait a minute. We might be able to get back? What if this plan doesn't work?”

“Well, I honestly don't know Dean. This should work though.” Castiel murmured, sounding a little hesitant. Dean rolled his eyes and Sam sighed. They got out of the car and followed a much manicured path. After a few hundred feet they came into the center of a garden. In the midst of the place was a golden haired man in a well tailored suit, standing under a fruit tree. Sam and Dean walked cautiously over to him. He turned, his golden eyes flashing, and regarded the Winchesters with an easy calm that vaguely reminded them of Rachel. The mysterious stranger motioned for them to sit on a bench beside the tree. They did so, regarding him curiously. The man grabbed an apple from the tree and looked over at them, flashing a dazzling white smile. Coming to stand beside them, he looked them over and laughed.

“Well, aren't you two souls a sight for sore eyes? You really were interesting mortals. I thought the Guardian was wasting her time with you, but after speaking with Father, I am sadly mistaken. I'm Joshua by the way. You must be Sam and Dean Winchester.” He held out his hand.

Sam shook it. “It's nice to meet you Joshua. We've been looking for you. My brother and I were wondering if there was any way we could get back to Earth.”

Joshua looked at them speculatively.

Then he looked at the tree.

“You cannot be serious. What, God is a tree or something?” Dean murmured. “Shut up Dean.” Sam mumbled. Joshua looked at them and laughed. “Oh no, of course Father isn't a tree. I was just listening to his response to your question.”

“Well, what does he say?” Dean asked.

Joshua's joyful face grew serious. “God says to back off. He says that he's done enough for you. He was the one who intervened and transported you to the hotel, which was out of mercy for Rachel and her plea. He's also brought Castiel back to life a few times, and even though you two didn't know about that, it still counts. He's also saved Sam's soul, giving him salvation and eternal life.”

Dean looked at Sam in shock. “When the hell was this?”

Sam shrugged. “Remember when you and Grace went out on an actual date the other night and the rest of us stayed home? Well, Rachel gave me the talk and I accepted her way of salvation. It really works Dean. You should get saved before it's too late.” Dean rolled his eyes and snorted. “No thanks, as far as angel preaching goes, I'm good.”

“So, is there any way that we can get out of this and back to Earth? Oh, and speaking of God, where is he? Castiel and Rachel have been looking for him.” Sam said.

“God is on Earth. He's known about this Apocalypse the whole time and wants absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Dean whistled. “Damn. Rachel and Cas are going to be pissed once we tell them that.”

Joshua sighed. “Well, Father says I can send you back, but you have to end the Apocalypse. Defeat Lucifer and stop him at all costs. Keep in mind however that besides your salvation, this is the final time he's going to help you two. As far as he's concerned, you, Castiel, Rachel, and Grace are on your own. Good luck in stopping the Apocalypse. You brought it on after all. Well, down you go.” Joshua snapped his fingers and the boys disappeared.

Bobby's Place, 7:47 p.m.

Sam and Dean awoke in Bobby's house, more specifically, his couch. Opening their eyes and sitting up, Dean's breath got knocked out of him as Grace jumped onto him. “Dean! How did you get back? Oh screw it, I don't care. Don't you ever scare me like that again! You were dead! I thought I would never see you again! Oh Dean I'm so glad you're back! Don't you ever leave me like that again! I was so scared! I'm not ever letting go of you Dean Winchester. Never!”

Dean grunted. Grace's arms wrapped around his neck in a chokehold. Sam looked at him and laughed, but then he was grabbed in a vise like grip and looked up in surprise. “Ruby?!”
She smiled at him. “Hi Sam.” She said, giggling. Dean and Sam exchanged glances, once again surprised. Reluctantly they let go of the boys and Sam and Dean looked at Bobby.

He was sitting across from them in his chair, Ellen and Jo at his side. They got up and received hugs from Ellen and Jo, reassuring them that they really were alright and trying to keep them from crying. Bobby hugged them too, warning them to never pull something like that again, a few stray tears streaming down his cheeks. Everyone's emotions running high, Sam started to cry, and even though Dean mumbled about him being a girl, he couldn't help but wipe away one or two tears of his own. Then Castiel and Rachel walked in.

And they looked pissed. Well, more specifically, Rachel did. Castiel stood there straight faced and emotionless as Rachel sauntered over and picked up the boys by the collars of their shirts. They looked at her, wide eyed and surprised. They got a little nervous as Rachel raised them up so high that their feet were off of the ground. Silence enveloped the room as she spoke.

Rachel looked at them, her brown eyes shimmering with irritation, sadness, and something else, worry? Relief maybe?

“If you two mortals ever do anything so stupid as that again, I'll shoot you myself. Don't ever put me through that again. I sent Cas up there to get both your candy-apple assess back here. Do you have any idea how worried everyone one was? How much you worried me? I felt your souls leave your meat suits you idiots! Neither one of you had ever make me experience that again, or the demons won't be the ones to end you.”

Dean and Sam exchanged shocked glances as Rachel set them down. For a second no one moved and stood in stunned surprise, disbelieving that Rachel had snapped at the boys like that. Grace and Ruby broke the silence by giggling. Dean and Sam looked at Rachel. Her brown eyes filled with tears and she hugged them. They hugged her back, feeling a little odd because Rachel was never one to be touchy. “You two mortals can be such pains in my ass sometimes.” She sobbed softly. They both managed to mumble something about never leaving again and looked helplessly over at Castiel. Even Cas wiped a tear away from his eye, giving them a small smile. “You two really had us worried. Don't ever do that to me again. I might not be able to help you next time.” Sam and Dean nodded, mumbling an apology to the angels as Rachel let go of them. The boys took a step back, Dean to Grace and Sam to Ruby as Castiel came over to Rachel and wrapped a reassuring arm around her. “Well, it's really good to be back everyone. I didn't know we'd be missed so badly. Heaven was nice, don't get me wrong, but it's great to be back on Earth where we belong. We have some news however. It's mainly for you two.” Dean said, looking at the angels. Castiel and Rachel nodded for him to continue.

Dean sighed. “Alright then, keep in mind that I'm just the messenger. Here's what you need to know. Joshua, the fruit loop with the Garden, said that God is here on Earth and that he's known about the Apocalypse all along. He's done and he isn't offering us anymore help. He wants nothing to do with us or with anything that's happened. He does however; want us to stop Lucifer and the whole end of the world. You were right Cas, God wasn't on a piece of flatbread. He apparently had a front row seat to all the chaos unfurling.”

“You mean to tell me that He was here…… the whole time?” Castiel exclaimed furiously, looking toward the heavens and cursing out God. The sky outside went dark and they heard thunder and saw lighting flash. During the flashes of lightning they saw Castiel's wings unfurl, dark and shadowy, his mortal visage concealing them for the most part. Sam, and all the demons for that matter, stood there in silence, a mixture of trepidation and nervousness running through their veins. While everyone was seemingly focused on Castiel, shocked at seeing him display such a strong show of emotion, Dean's gaze drifted to Rachel. He felt regretful and guilty, wishing he could take back what he said a few seconds previous as he watched the light and hope drain from Rachel's eyes. Her face went pale and she started to tremble as the news sank in. The house began to shake and the lights flickered. Everyone shuddered as they felt Castiel's palatable rage that flowed from him in waves, feeling small trickles of fear as they realized just what an enraged angel could do and just how much power Castiel possessed. The windows began to quiver and Dean thought the glass might shatter, but then a loud thump suddenly stopped Castiel's awesome display of power. Everyone gasped and looked horrified as they saw Rachel lying on the floor.

For the first time in her life, Rachel Anderson had fainted.

“Oh my God! Rachel!” Grace shrieked. “Castiel, get her on the couch here.” Bobby said. “Jo, get the woman some water.” Ellen ordered. Castiel looked halfway between shocked and worried, gently setting Rachel down on the couch. “Give her some room guys.” Ruby said, waving everyone back. Jo brought the glass of water but before Castiel could grab it Sam took it and splashed it in Rachel's face, some of it landing on Castiel's jacket.

“Sam, what the fuck?!” Grace admonished, slapping him as Ruby rolled her eyes and Dean punched him in the shoulder. Everyone but Castiel glared at him momentarily. Then they all focused in on Rachel as her eyes opened.

Rachel's big, deep brown eyes were unfocused and cloudy as she opened them, staring at the ceiling, the water dripping onto her hair, the couch, and down her shirt as it flowed off of her pale porcelain face. She didn't seem to care however, she just stared upward and murmured incoherently in the angel's ancient language.

“Castiel? What's she saying?” Grace asked tremblingly, inwardly afraid to find out. Everyone stood in strained silence as Castiel listened to Rachel's indistinguishable speech. He opened his mouth to speak but then Rachel's eyes rolled back into her head and she started seizing.

“Dammit! She's going into shock! Dean, get some whiskey, we have to calm her down!” Bobby barked. Dean ran out of the room and Grace hit the floor in a sobbing heap. While Jo, Ellen, and Ruby managed to get her up and a few feet away from what was happening, Castiel called for Bobby and Sam to hold Rachel down. While they did so he placed his palm on Rachel's forehead, murmuring words in the angel language as Rachel's body began to glow.

Castiel managed to get Rachel's body to stop shaking but it still glowed. He broke out into a sweat, channeling energy into her mortal form and looking more than a little scared. He murmured more words in the ancient language and got her body to stop glowing. Her body was still trembling ever so slightly as Dean rushed in with the whiskey, holding out the glass. Castiel rolled his eyes and took the bottle, pouring half of it down Rachel's throat, murmuring in the weird language once again. After a few moments her body stopped shaking, lying so still that everyone but Castiel worried that she was dead. Castiel downed the rest of the whiskey in the bottle and drank the glass before shakily standing up.

“What the hell just happened?” Dean asked, sounding a little shaken. Castiel's worried gaze didn't leave Rachel's face as he spoke. “Bobby was right. After hearing the news and fainting, Rachel went into shock. She started seizing and glowing because she was so frightened that her immortal spirit was trying to vacate her mortal vessel. I've managed to calm her down though. For now, she will sleep. When she wakes up, I'll speak with her. Thank you for the alcohol Dean.” He murmured.

“Yeah, sure, anytime. Just make sure Rachel doesn't do that again.” Dean said, walking over to a trembling Grace who had been crying softly the whole time. All the mortals stood there with pale faces, looking nervous. Even Ruby looked fearful. “Will Rachel be okay?” Sam asked hesitantly, slipping an arm around her.

Castiel hung his head. “I wish to God I knew Sam.”

Everyone got chairs and sat in the living room, looking at Rachel from time to time, drinking some form of alcohol as Castiel explained why he and Rachel had reacted the way they had.

“You have to understand what this means for us. We thought our father had deserted us and was far away, when the whole time he was right here, watching as we've suffered. There's been Civil War in the Heavens, countless casualties as my brothers died in battle as Raphael and Michael fought for control. Sin has been running rampant since Lucifer was released and that's not even counting all the damage the Four Horsemen have done. It's slaughter in this world, nothing is safe, nothing is worth believing in. Our father has been watching all this go on and he knows full and well everything we've suffered here. Rachel and I needed him and he hasn't been there. I lashed out in anger because he has abandoned us.”

“What about Rachel? Did you catch anything she said?” Bobby asked, his voice sounding tired and hollow. Castiel took a shaky breath and nodded.

“Yes. Right before she started seizing she said, “Father doesn't love us anymore. We're alone.” Please try to understand, this is like losing everything we've ever known. For the first time in our existence there is no one to lead us, to keep order. Our whole way of living and the life we knew before is no more. The world as we knew it has crumbled and fallen. Imagine how you felt when your father died and then envision the fact that neither of you could ever go hunting again. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

“I don't know about Sammy here, but I'd be scared shitless. Hunting is all I've ever done.” Dean said. Sam nodded. “What are you guys going to do?”

Castiel looked completely heartbroken. “Oh Sam,” he said, his voice thickening with emotion, “I don't know what to do anymore.” He rummaged in his coat pocket and pulled out Dean's necklace. Tossing it to him he got up and sat on the couch, picking up Rachel's sleeping form and holding her in his arms. Dean scoffed, glaring at the necklace as if it was its fault for all the horrible things that were happening.

“I don't care if there is a God. No father would let his daughter go through what Rachel just did. How the hell can he even save my soul if he's willing to let her die?” Dean snorted, throwing the necklace into a nearby trash can. No one said anything. Bobby turned on the TV. The news showed images flashing on the screen of political unrest and sickness in various countries around the world and everyone but the angels sat sipping hard liquor and listening to it, feeling numb and dejected. The weather channel showed a huge storm barreling toward them, one that was breaking a century old record. “I guess we should ask if we can stay here tonight then.” Ellen murmured, seeing as how it had gotten dark outside and the weather was already getting bad even though the major storm hadn't hit them yet. Bobby shrugged. “Sure, if someone's willing to loan out their room to you.”

“You and your daughter can take Rachel's room. It's looking like she and I are going to be in the living room tonight.” Castiel murmured, glancing at a sleeping Rachel. Ellen thanked him and Jo got their bags out of the car, taking them up to the room. Ellen murmured good night to everyone and made Castiel promise to alert her if anything changed. Then she and Jo went up to their room.

About an hour later Sam and Ruby did the same, going up to Sam's room, also making Castiel promise to inform them if anything changed. The day after the whole thing with Lucifer had gone down, Sam had come back and set up his own room upstairs. Ruby had come back a few days later, having clawed her way out of Hell to be with Sam. Love apparently did conquer all, because she swore that if she ever screwed up like that again that Rachel could destroy her. She claimed to care only about Sam and his happiness, and even though no one really trusted her yet, she made a melancholy and moody Sam happy, so they let her stay, mostly because Grace and Rachel could kill her if she misbehaved.

The news was dark and dreary so Grace changed it to Wheel of Fortune. “Oh come on, seriously?” Dean groused. “You always win at this show.” Grace smiled. “Exactly.” After it went off they went upstairs too, claiming to be tired, they as well making Castiel promise to wake them if anything changed. Bobby looked weary and said that he was going to his room to sleep, but if Castiel needed him or Rachel's condition changed to wake him. Castiel murmured that he would.

An hour later he sat watching animal planet on the TV, sitting in the dark. Every few minutes he would look down at Rachel to make sure she was still breathing. Losing interest in the program he turned the TV off and turned a lamp on, casting a dim light in the darkened living room. He could hear the rain pouring on the roof and pounding against the windows, along with hail. The wind howled outside viciously and he hoped that Bobby's house was strong enough to withstand it. Jagged lightning zigzagged across the sky flashing ominously. Storms didn't normally make Castiel nervous, but this one did. He shook his head and sighed, attributing his nerves to Rachel, who was still sleeping quietly in his arms. He heard her breathing pattern change and watched with a cautious optimism as she opened her eyes. They were clear.

“Hey Rachel. Are you alright?” he asked softly, kissing her temple. She smiled up at him. “I'm fine. I don't remember much though. After Dean said that God had been here the whole time I blacked out. What happened anyway? I feel a little tipsy.”

Castiel explained what had transpired while she had been out of it. “Do you remember anything?” he asked. Rachel shook her head. “Everyone must be pretty worried about me.” She said, feeling a little bad about worrying everyone.

“Well, I'm sure once they know you're awake that they'll be fine. I'm just glad you're alright. You made me a little nervous.” He murmured, kissing her. She smiled, kissing him back. They ended up making out on the couch for awhile before footsteps coming down the stairs broke their concentration. Grace walked by and into the kitchen. Walking back through the room, beers in hand, she saw Rachel and stopped.

“Rachel…..you're okay!” she squealed joyfully, hugging her. Rachel hugged her back, wincing as her friend shrieked happily in her ear. “I have to go tell Dean!” she exclaimed, running up the stairs. Castiel and Rachel exchanged amused glances. A few seconds later Grace and Dean came pounding down the stairs, all the noise they were making waking up everyone else in the house. Dean saw Rachel, alive and awake, and a broad grin broke out on his face as he came over and hugged her. Rachel was almost too shocked to remember to hug him back. Dean had never been one to give hugs before; he saved that rare luxury for Grace. Hugging him back she saw everyone else file into the living room.

Once Dean let her go Sam grabbed her and hugged her, murmuring how glad he was that she was alright. Jo, Ellen, and Bobby did the same, happy and relieved that Rachel was awake. Ruby, although visibly pleased, meekly offered the angel her hand. Rachel gave her a small smile and shook it. It was early morning but everyone was too awake by that point to even consider going to sleep any time soon. They all sat down and began to talk.

“So, you really are okay right? You're not going to faint on us again are you?” Dean asked teasingly. Rachel shook her head, looking at everyone and blushing slightly. “I don't plan on it. I'm sorry I worried all of you. I was just shocked when Dean told us the message. I don't know why I fainted. It's never happened to me before. I guess I just couldn't believe that God has really been here the whole time.”

“Well, God or no God, we're with you in this till the end. We're you friends after all.” Bobby murmured. Rachel turned to him and shook her head.

“No Bobby, you guys aren't my friends. You're my family. I know I'm not alone and I believe that even without my Father helping us that we can stop Lucifer.” She said smiling. Bobby and everyone else smiled back.

For the next few hours they talked about how they needed to find the other horsemen and what they needed to do in order to prepare for it. Rachel eventually drifted into the kitchen and started fixing breakfast. Everyone ate and then Jo and Ellen excused themselves to go on a hunt but promised that they would keep in touch.

Bobby went to do more research, Sam and Dean followed up on a few leads that Sam had discovered for possible hunts via the internet, Grace and Ruby went to track a few rogue demons that were in the vicinity and exorcise them, and Castiel and Rachel went out to see if they couldn't find any signs of the three remaining horsemen. A few hours later the angels returned.

“We've found the next horsemen.” Castiel said, once everyone had gathered in the living room.

“Where is he?” Dean asked.

“He's in the Midwest, Oklahoma to be more specific. The entire country's wheat crop is mysteriously failing. If it keeps up then famine will consume the entire country. We have to stop this before it gets out of hand.” Rachel said.

“Well then, pack your bags people. It looks like we're headed down south.”

“Cas and I will meet you there. It's kind of pointless to stuff six people into your car.” Rachel murmured. Once she and Castiel had disappeared the rest of the group piled into Dean's car and made the drive to Oklahoma. Grace got a call from Rachel saying that they had found the horseman in a warehouse not too far from the state line. They met up there and defeated him, taking his ring. It was surprisingly easy. Almost too easy….

“No Sam, absolutely not! There is no way in Hell that you can say “Yes.” to Lucifer. I won't allow it. If you do he'll kill you Sam.” Dean yelled. A few days after finding Famine in the south, Dean and Sam had started arguing about whether they should say yes to Michael and Lucifer. The world's condition had gotten far worse. Even with two of the horsemen gone, the aftereffects of all the damage they had caused were still being felt.

“I know that Dean! But what else can I do? I can't let you and the rest of our friends die trying to stop this thing. If I say “Yes.” to Lucifer then that way you can kill me and end this whole mess.” Sam yelled back.

“There's no fucking way that I would kill you Sam! I couldn't, I wouldn't!” Dean exclaimed. Bobby walked into the kitchen where they were arguing. “Will you two shut it? Rachel just called and there's another horseman they've found a few miles from here in a nursing home. Pestilence he's called. Be careful. More than likely he'll make you sick.”

So Dean and Sam met up with the angels and demons at the nursing home. While Sam and Dean had been arguing and Castiel and Rachel had been tracking the horsemen, Ruby and Grace had once again gone demon hunting.

“So, who won this time?” Dean asked, knowing the answer. Grace smiled and Ruby rolled her eyes. “Why do you even bother asking us? Grace always manages to kill more demons than I do.” She murmured smugly as they walked into the building. They found the horseman in the middle of the establishment, laughing in amusement as every human lay on the floor, completely sick. Rachel and Castiel hung back, trying to heal the sick residents and staff. Sam and Dean went on but before they could get close to him they went down too, sinking to the floor and groaning in pain.

“Ahh, so it's Sam and Dean Winchester. I have to say, I was kind of expecting you two to put up more of a fight, but then again you're mortals and susceptible to disease and sickness. Oh well. I don't care if Lucifer wants you alive or not. I could just give you cancer or AIDS and kill you right now.” Grace and Ruby pulled out their weapons and took a few steps toward Pestilence.

“You foolish girls. Even if you manage to kill me it's already too late. The Croatoan Virus is being distributed as the Swine Flu by Niveus Pharmaceuticals. Before the day is out, thousands of mortals will die. Isn't it glorious?” he let out a maniacal laugh. Ruby tackled him and Grace cut off his finger, pulling the ring off and effectively killing him. Everyone gained their health back, returning to normal, and the gang headed back to Bobby's place.

Bobby's place, 1:35 p.m.

After telling Bobby what had transpired at the nursing home and how they had the third ring. “Is there any good news you can give us?” Dean asked. Bobby sighed. “Well alright. The storm of the Millennium is going to hit Chicago and kill an estimated 3 million people. This is good because it means the fourth horseman, Death, will be there.”

Silence enveloped the room as everyone exchanged glances. Before anyone could say anything, Crawley appeared in the midst of the room. Looking over at Bobby, he laughed and smiled. “You're forgetting who to give the credit to old man. You didn't know this on your own. You see, this bugger here sold his soul to me to find out about the fourth horseman. See?” Crawley pulled out his iPhone.

Dean looked over at Bobby and glared. “You did what?! You idiot! How stupid are you? Didn't you see what happened to Sam, dad, and me when we did that?”

“That's gross. You had to kiss him Bobby?” Sam said reviled, looking at Crawley's iPhone.

“He had to seal the deal somehow.” Crawley said. Grace and Ruby laughed out loud, seeing Bobby have to kiss Crawley. Rachel and Castiel looked away, slightly embarrassed.

“I only had to take his soul as in insurance policy so you morons wouldn't do anything stupid, like kill me. I have an interesting proposal. I have Death's scythe you see, and if we're lucky it will kill him. I understand that you need to get his ring so that you can defeat Lucifer, at least according to the Guardian's plan. So I'll make you a deal. At least one of you needs to come with me so that you can bargain with Death. The other ones can go and stop the Croatoan virus from being released. Yes boys, I do know about that.” Crawley said, seeing Sam and Dean's surprised expressions.

“Alright then, we need to make a plan.” Grace said.

“Well, okay, I'll go with Grace and Crawley to meet Death. Sam, you and everyone else can go stop the Croatoan virus from spreading.” So the group split up. Dean, Grace, and Crawley headed to Chicago and Sam, Ruby, Castiel, and Rachel went to the Niveus Pharmaceuticals headquarters. On the drive over, Sam started talking to the angels, telling them his plan of saying yes to Lucifer and saving everyone. Castiel murmured that he thought it might be possible, but he didn't know for certain. Rachel added that Michael had found a man named Adam to be his vessel since Dean was opposed to being an “angel condom.” She also told him that if he really did want to be Lucifer's vessel that he would need to consume demon blood. A lot of it. Once they arrived at the location they managed to stop the trucks from leaving by knocking out the drivers. Rushing into the building, they were dismayed to find demons, as well as some infected humans. While Grace and Ruby kicked some major demon ass, Sam, Rachel and Castiel managed to kill all the infected hosts. Rachel used a spell that destroyed the virus and eradicated it from the swine flu virus vaccines. That mission done, they headed back to Bobby's place, praying for Dean to be successful.

Chicago, 7:45 p.m.

“Alright. Here, take the scythe. Death is in that pizza parlor right over there on the street corner. I'll be waiting here.” Crawley murmured, handing Dean the scythe. He and Grace walked cautiously inside the restaurant and found a lone man sitting in the middle of the deserted establishment, using a fork and knife to eat deep dish pizza.

The scythe started heating up and got so hot that Dean dropped it, swearing.

“I know you're here Dean Winchester. Why don't you and Ms. Mathews come and sit? I don't mean to be rude, but I'm eating some Chicago deep dish pizza. Thank you for returning my scythe by the way. When we're done here, you can give my best to Crawley.” His voice sounded hollow, old, cold. Grace and Dean walked over to where he was and nervously sat across from him. They waited in silence as he finished his piece of pizza. Then, meticulously wiping his hands and mouth off with a napkin, he fixed them in his cold ice blue gaze and spoke.

“Contrary to what you believe Dean Winchester, I don't care about humans. Why should I? Yours is but one species of millions in the universe. Death occurs everywhere all the time. The only reason I am here in such a way is because that spoiled brat Lucifer used a very powerful spell to bind be to this inferior planet. He's using me to kill people because he's having a temper tantrum. Like I said, he's a spoiled bastard. Anyway, I'm older than everything that exists. God and I go way back you could say, so long in fact that neither one of us can remember who was here first, but in the end I'll reap him too. Nothing that exists can escape Death after all. I'm willing however to give you my ring and I'll even teach you to use it. It will help you to stop Lucifer I know. Believe it or not, your angel friend was right. If you assemble all four rings it will create a trap that will bind Lucifer in the darkest pits of Hell. If I give you my ring though, you have to promise me something. Dean, you have to let your brother say “Yes” to Lucifer. It's the only way the plan will work.”

Dean and Grace exchanged glances but in the end Dean agreed. “Alright. It's a deal. I'll let Sam say “yes”. Death nodded, slipped his ring off, and handed it to Dean, along with a coupon for Chicago deep dish pizza. He got up, took his scythe, and was gone in an instant, leaving Grace and Dean alone in the restaurant.

Bobby's house 10:09 p.m.

Dean watched in fascination as the rings formed into a key, three rings attached to one. He and Bobby were sitting in the kitchen, waiting for everyone else to get back. Grace had gone upstairs and was taking a shower.

“I can't believe that Sam wants to say yes to Lucifer. It's so wrong. I don't care if I told Death I'd let him, I won't.” Dean groused, pulling the rings apart and putting them back together.

“You're in for trouble Dean. You should know better than to screw one of the four horsemen over, especially Death. You can't stop Sam you know. It's like Rachel said, there's a little evil in Sam but there's mostly good.”

“Yeah, well, I still don't want Sam to say yes.” Dean groused. Bobby sighed.

“Let me ask Dean, are you afraid that Sam is too weak to stop the Apocalypse and he'll fail or are you against it because you think Sam is strong enough to do it and you don't want to lose him?” Bobby asked quietly, taking a sip of whiskey.

Dean didn't say anything but he and Bobby both knew his answer. One look into Dean's misting eyes and Bobby knew that more than anything, Dean didn't want to lose his little brother.