Carry On My Wayward Son

Chapter 9

 

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Help I'm steppin' into the twilight zone

The place is a madhouse

Feels like being blown

My beacon's been moved under moon and star

Where am I to go

Now that I've gone too far

-Twilight Zone

Golden Earring

 

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A.N.-

Castiel isn't wanting to play nice with me in this chapter and I am having issues getting the 'feel' for him. So, if his 'voice' is a little off, please forgive me and try to overlook it. I'm working with it and trying to coax him into cooperating but he's being a diva and so damned stubborn right now! Bad angel! Sorry!

-Danyealle

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Standing outside the hotel that he knew Dean was staying in that night, Castiel watched, quietly, the light flickering behind the curtain until it shut off, not to come back on. Staying in the shadows, he remained there for a good hour, not doing anything but staring at the now darkened room. Part of him wanted to go in and talk to the hunter but he knew to stay put. During the fiasco with Anna, Dean had made it very clear to him that he meant every word that he said, not wanting to talk to any of the angels until they came clean about what was really going on and give him the answers he demanded. He, and those he answered to, thought that the elder Winchester just needed some time to cool off but now the angel doubted that was going to happen. Dean was, indeed, sticking to his guns about the whole thing.

 

The angel was, honestly, troubled by all of this. Sure, part of it was he appeared to be failing at the mission that had been assigned to him. It was an important one that needed to be tended to but he wasn't able to fulfill that. Even with Uriel's help, something that was supposed to smooth the way, it wasn't going as it should. But there was more to it than that. Deep down, despite trying to suppress them, doubts as to whether or not this was truly God's will were cropping up.

 

Some of the questions Dean had asked and what he had said about the final seal made a great deal of sense to him. Why hadn't one of them been allowed to tell Sam what was planned for him? If they did that then, perhaps, the youngest Winchester would back away and the seal wouldn't be in danger. But he was told to say nothing to Sam, to not interfere in any way. He was told that the youngest Winchester had free will do as he pleased, that was God's plan. Now, though, he doubted that since Zachariah, at what he was sure was Michael’s insistence, wanted Sam back in the game. He was to be found at all costs from what he was told. That made no sense if they didn't want this war. Sam had exercised his free will in the situation by vanishing and taking himself out of the game so why drag him back then? All the seals before the final one could be broken and it wouldn't matter if Sam weren't around to break the final one. So, if they didn't want this war, Sam staying out of the game was for the best. Why then did they want him back? That was... strange to him.

 

On the other front, Dean wanting to be told what was going on and not be left in the dark also made sense. The elder brother was more than willing to right what he started, from what Castiel knew, and threw himself into the job when he was needed. He just didn't want to be left in the dark. The angel didn't think that Dean would back out if he knew the full plan and what was to come. Why not tell him then? Wasn't that exercising free will as well? If Castiel read the situation right, Dean might actually be more effective if he knew just what was going on, what needed done and the full scope of what was happening. Why hamper the plans to prevent a disaster by not giving full information to the one being that really could help them put a stop to it. Again, to him anyway, it made no sense.

 

Staring at the darkened room for a couple more minutes, he then vanished with the sounds of feathers ruffling in the wind before appearing in Van Nuys, California where Zachariah was basing himself at this point, preparing for the worst case scenario, or so he said. After finding the powerful angel, Castiel gave a short nod of his head and waited.

 

Seated behind a desk in what he called the 'green room', Zachariah glanced, appraisingly, at the minor angel that was in charge of the troublesome older Winchester brother. No, he didn't envy Castiel that task in the least, having many reports on the stubborn, temperamental Dean that spoke readily of him being a serious trial to deal with. Leaning back in his chair, he gave the other angel a nod then asked, “Have you been able to get Dean to get with the program?”

 

“No, he still refuses to talk to me until he gets the answers he wants. He's also made it clear that he wants things done his way and won't go about them how we would like,” Castiel admitted quietly, gazing at his superior.

 

Face hardening, Zachariah snapped, “Then you need to persuade him in a better way, Castiel! You know how important this is!” When he saw his underling nod, he relaxed slightly then asked, “About Sam... you've told me he is talking to him over these computer things? Have you found a way to trace that?”

 

“No, we haven't managed that either. Whatever Sam is using to shield himself is preventing us from being able to detect him in anyway. Uriel, I and others have all tried with no success,” Castiel admitted.

 

Nodding, Zachariah pondered this, gazing at his desk thoughtfully. “Is it possible that he learned how to use sigils? I thought that wouldn't be something he had a way of knowing about.”



“It's possible,” Castiel nodded. “He's the one that does most of the research for him and Dean. With his intelligence and knowledge of how to find things, he may well have discovered Enochian then utilized it to protect himself.”

 

“That isn't good,” Zachariah said with a sigh and shake of his head. “If that's what he's utilizing we won't be able to trace him.” Glancing back up at Castiel, he ordered, “You need to get Dean to find his brother. Let the rest of us worry about seals for now. Sam's also needed in this fight and we can't do it without him.”

 

Nodding to let his boss know he understood and would try, Castiel then asked, “But, as things stand now, isn't it best to leave Sam where he is? With him out of the way, no one is capable of breaking the final seal. That would put things at a stalemate at the very least. Only good can come of that.”

 

Face darkening, Zachariah snapped, “This is the way things are deemed to go by Michael himself, Castiel! It's not within your domain to question them. If you don't like it, you can be replaced! Is that what you want?”

 

“No,” Castiel replied with a shake of his head. “I wasn't trying to question, just to understand so that I can convince Dean to do what is needed.” But that vehemence about it rang some alarm bells in the angel's head. He didn't like what it could mean or the tone that was taken over it.

 

Placated by his underlings supplication in the matter, Zachariah waved a dismissive hand then relaxed. “Understood. Now, I expect Dean to be back on board with the program and on Sam's tail in a week. See that you manage it, Castiel! If not, I will step in and we'll do things my way. I don't think that is something you want, now is it?” Seeing Castiel nod in understanding at the threat, he then dismissed him and went back to what he was doing.

 

---

After stepping out of the building Zachariah had taken over, Castiel once more vanished with the sound of ruffling feathers only to reappear in St. Mary's convent in Ilchester, Maryland. Walking, quietly, into the old chapel, he tried to see if he couldn't sense the presence of other angels around but found nothing, making his brow furrow slightly. He agreed with Dean on this one; as this was the place for the final seal, some of his kind should be protecting it. But there were no angels around. However, he could, indeed, sense the presence of demons, more than one as a matter of fact. That was troubling to him. If the opposition were keeping an eye on the place that meant they planned to ensure that the final seal was broken and probably had something in place to make it happen.

 

Walking towards the old altar, he could feel Lucifer's power emanating from below his feet. Indeed, this place was right over the cage that held the fallen angel. With the seals breaking, more of his power could probably be felt with each passing day. Standing over the place that he felt it most powerfully, he looked down then to the back of the altar where he could still see a faint outline of a cross. Staring at it, he tried to think, feeling the fallen angel seem to rumble beneath his feet as though he were trying to communicate with him in some way. Ignoring what was going on below, he stared at the image of the cross, all those troubling thoughts growing more distinct.

Shaking his head after a few minutes, he moved forward then seated himself on the altar, hoping that by being away from where the greatest of Lucifer's power emanated, he wouldn't be distracted. No, unlike with humans, the fallen angel couldn't affect him or make him lean his direction, it was just distracting to feel him was all.

 

Lucifer, before his fall, wasn't a being he had met. After all, he was just a regular angel and Lucifer was God's most favored arch-angel, beings he didn't associate with much. Though, since then, that had changed. Michael, of course, he had met by now, Gabriel, though he hadn't seen him in centuries and Raphael who he had a passing acquaintance with by this point. When it came to Lucifer, all he knew were stories of him and his fall from grace, there was no firsthand knowledge to play on. Same with so many other things. That part, Lucifer's fall, didn't bother him nor did he question it. But, now, he was about everything else. That was more troubling than he cared to admit to himself.

Shutting his eyes, he tried to quiet the thoughts and push them aside but found he couldn't. That he didn't like. They had taken root, or so it had seemed, and grown, even in the short time tonight. Shaking his head, he tried to figure out what to do. The only thing that came to him was his normal fall-back; asking God for guidance.

Deciding that was what was needed, he began to pray fervently, harder than he could ever remember doing before but was met with silence. Assuming he had to try harder, he kept going but still nothing. After several hours, he opened his eyes, dejected. Feeling a pain inside him, he stood up. After one more look at the place on the floor that he could feel the most power, he vanished, going to somewhere to attempt to clear his thoughts and try again, more troubled than when he stepped into the place.

 

---

Lying in his hotel room, Dean, though utterly exhausted, wasn't sleeping. Curled up in the bed, he just stared outside through a crack in the curtains into the night as his mind played over every bit of the conversation with Sam. As he did that, he picked it apart, wondering what he could have done differently or better to have had a more favorable outcome other than what happened. Along with that, his mind was conjuring up all kinds of gloom and doom scenarios over what could come of the revelations. In a nutshell, he was making himself insane over it but was powerless to stop. With what he had dumped on Sam tonight, he was envisioning his brother going off on him then telling him to stay away forever even though Sam had said he wouldn't do that. Shit, if Sam had dumped something like this on him, he would probably consider doing that! After he completely and totally freaked out that was.

 

Flopping onto his side, he punched his pillow a few times to get it into some kind of comfortable shape while taking out aggression in a constructive way, he then flopped down again with a groan, sprawling out all over the bed. Cracking one eye open, he gazed out the window again to see the first hint of pink on the horizon, telling him that he had been awake all night and sleep probably wasn't going to happen. Groaning loudly, he shut his eyes then rubbed them. Just friggin' great! He was so tired he was about to drop but his mind was going at warp speed and wasn't about to let him sleep anytime soon. Maybe he should just get up, find some breakfast then move on to the next town? Perhaps the drive would do him good and tire him out enough so that he could get some rest when he finally stopped.

 

With a groan, he sat up on the edge of the bed and put his chin in his hands, staring, gloomily, out the window, well as much as he could see out it, trying to decide what to do. Watching the daylight slowly creep on them, he was waffling over his options. Honestly, he didn't have anywhere to go, he hadn't even bothered to look up a new hunt for himself nor, as distracted as he was, did he think that was a good idea right now. He would get his ass handed to him if he went out hunting a big, bad nasty.

 

Just as he had decided to get up and find some breakfast then decide what needed done after that, his phone rang. Finishing doing up his jeans, he grabbed it then said, “Hey, Bobby. What's up?”

 

Settling back in his desk chair, Bobby sipped at his coffee while organizing his notes on the computer. This was the morning that he fully started to lead into what he and Sam felt was going on. Shifting to get comfortable, he grunted, “Hey,” before launching in, “You headed out this morning or you got some time for me to go over some stuff with you?”

 

Sitting himself down in the chair at the small table in the room, Dean grabbed his laptop and turned it on in case he needed to keep some of the information. “Naw, not going anywhere I don't think. I didn't sleep the greatest last night. Since I don't have a hunt lined up, I think I'm going to hang around here for the day,” he decided at the spur of the moment. “What have you got for me, Bobby?”

 

Pleased that Dean wasn't going to be distracted by other things, Bobby cleared his throat then told him, “I have some stuff I want to cover with you. I've gone through and gathered everything I have on the angels and other things together so I thought it might be a good time to lay out all I have rather than feed it to you in dribs and drabs.”

 

That Dean liked, a lot! He had tons of information about all this mess but it was from different places in the spectrum. He wanted it in a concise format that he could scroll through and read in a logical progression. “Alright, Bobby, go for it. This is info I want!”

 

Nodding, the old hunter said, “Go check your e-mail. I sent all of it to you through that.”

 

Logging on to his e-mail, Dean began to download what Bobby had sent him, squinting at the names on the files, shaking his head. There were several of them and each looked big. That was going to be a lot to sort through before his first cup of coffee for the day. Thinking it over as they downloaded, he said, “Tell you what, Bobby... Let me get all this, go grab some breakfast and a ton of coffee then read through it. I'll call you back when I'm done. Save you the time and trouble of having to spoon feed it to me and me, maybe, missing something important. Does that work for you?”

 

“Yeah, I think that's a good idea actually,” Bobby nodded. Though he was mostly prepared, letting Dean do a read through of everything then go from there would be much easier. That way he only had to cover what Dean didn't get rather than go through the whole damn mess!

 

After a quick glance through of the files, Dean was shaking his head, knowing he wasn't going to tackle any of the mess without some caffeine and food. “Alright, give me a couple hours then I'll call you back.” After hearing Bobby's reply, he hung up then grabbed his jacket and was off to find something that resembled food.

 

---

Two hours later, Dean was sitting at the computer, staring at the document he had open, shaking his head, feeling his gut clench. That feeling he had been getting for the last little while that things might not be what he was told were firming up nicely with all this.

 

Looking over the graph with the order of angels, he shook his head and sighed deeply. If it were right, and he was sure it was, then that meant that Cas was, indeed, rather low man on the totem pole of things and probably was just following the orders he was given. Deflating slightly, he gave it one last look before grabbing the phone and giving Bobby a call. After the old hunter answered with his usual gruff greeting, he launched in, “Alright, Bobby, I read through this damn mess. One word; shit!”

 

Grunting out a chuckle, Bobby replied, “It is, ain't it? One big ol' nightmare.” Settling back in his chair, Bobby opened the documents on his own computer then brought the one about the angels to the front. “Let's get to it then, shall we? The angels are the most logical place to kick this off with.”

 

Nodding, Dean pulled up the document on the angels. It had everything from the seals Bobby and Sam could come up with, including the ones that they had determined had been broken, to who ran what where. Looking at it as he scrolled through, he asked, “If what I'm gathering is right, Cas is answering to some powerful beings, isn't he?”

 

Nodding, Bobby told him, “That's what both Sam and I are gathering. That also leads to me questioning if he truly knows what is really going on with this whole mess. From what he's said and things you've told me, I don't think he knows just what the higher ups are doing.”

 

“At first, I thought, because he was an angel, that wasn't the case, Bobby, but now... Shit, I think you're right.” Squinting at the list of the seals that were broken, he shook his head again then added, “I also don't see, with all the power that side has, that this many of the damn seals could be allowed to break! Dammit! They could have stopped it! I know there are a lot to keep an eye on but you can't tell me a bunch of damn demons are more powerful than the angels.”

 

“I agree with you there, boy,” Bobby nodded, liking that Dean gave him an opening to jump into the next topic. “Look, Dean, I know this is a touchy subject with you but the whole bit with you being in hell... No offense but it's my thinking, and Sam's when I talked to him about it, is that they wanted that seal to break. Shit, they had the power to know that you were the one that was supposed to do it. They also let you rot there until it was done. If they hadn't wanted that one to go they would have intervened either before the deal came due or right afterwards then pulled you out before there was a chance of it.” Stopping, he waited for the older Winchester's reaction to that before he pressed forward.

 

Wincing at the memories mentioning hell had triggered, Dean tried to push them aside and think about what Bobby said. Though he didn't like it, the whole thing made sense. There is no way, with the power the heavenly faction of this nightmare had, that it would have taken them months to yank him out unless they were just waiting for that seal to go. That pissed him off and made his heart sink at the same time since it made him think that he walked right into the mess they set up without knowing it. Rubbing his eyes in a tired way, he then took a sip of his now luke warm coffee before saying, voice weary, “I think you're right, Bobby. Looking at all this shit it's as though they want the seals to break, that they are helping to start the damn war!”

 

Relieved that Dean had allowed himself to be led to the water then took a giant gulp of it, the old hunter grunted, “I agree, Dean. I've run this by Sam more times than I care to count and he's thinking along the same lines we are.”

 

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Dean grunted, grinding his teeth. He didn't like this, not at all. “Shit,” was finally all he could mutter.

 

Snorting, Bobby gave a mirthless chuckle, “That's about what it is. A big, stinking pile of it.”

 

“Tell me this, Bobby... do you think Cas knows? Or is he just getting the information they want to feed him?” Dean finally asked quietly.

 

Blowing out a breath, Bobby shook his head, “Honestly, I don't know. If what we've compiled on the angels is right, then he's low down enough that he might not. From what I've seen of him and that Uriel one, they are all about following orders. That might be what's happening. Researching this, it seems that they aren't like us, Dean, they don't question everything, just follow what they are told to do. I don't think free will applies to them the way it does with us.”

 

“I think you're right there,” Dean agreed. “Cas doesn't seem to want to question, just go by what he's told and how he's ordered to do it. Shit..” he trailed off, thinking over his interaction with the angel since the beginning.

 

“Look, boy,” Bobby gruffed though without a bite to it, “I don't think you can do anything about Cas. Nor do I think you're going to get him to help you find out. If he's as low as we think, he's useless for that. Nor, really, do I think you want to deal with whomever he's answering to. That's just going to lead to complications. I'm sure they are a nasty lot to deal with. Uriel proves that just because they are an angel doesn't mean they are nice. If Uriel is that obnoxious I don't want to guess how bad some of the higher ups are. Or the tactics they might take to get you to do what they want if you balk or start questioning them about these kinds of things.”

 

Thinking that over, Dean could see the wisdom in it then sighed yet again, “Yeah, Bobby, I think you're right. Maybe I should just pretend like I'm on board with this and see how it plays out while trying to get information. I mean, shit, they are bound to give something away like why the hell they want Sam back! If they don't want this shit going south they should be happy he's not around.”

 

“Again, that's something Sam and I both thought as well! It makes no sense that they want him back when they knew he wanted to off Lilith. It might not mean anything but...” Bobby trailed off.

 

“Oh, I think it means something, something big!” Dean told him, a bitter bite to his tone. “Sammy needs to stay wherever it is he's at right now and out of these dicks hands! I don't know what they're playing at but it can't be anything good! I don't want him involved if they are trying to pull something.”

 

“I agree,” Bobby told him, trying to keep the relieved tone out of his voice. “Until we get this figured out, Sam needs to stay gone.” Closing the page on the angels, he pulled up the one on the demons then scrolled to where he needed to be, dealing with Azazel and Asmodeus. “Alright, onto the demons...” he told Dean, trying to direct the conversation where he wanted it to go.

 

Playing around with the open documents, Dean pulled the one up to the front about the demons, Lilith, Azazel and Asmodeus. After another quick read through of it, though he was sure he remembered what it said, he grunted out, “I don't like this, Bobby, not at all.”

 

“Look, before you get too bent out of shape, remember that these are just guesses on Sam’s and my end of things. We have documentation to back up most of it but some of it is just following a trail of bread crumbs and thinking we know where it leads. It may well double back and take us elsewhere.”



“Yeah, I get that,” Dean nodded. “But, it makes sense, ya' know? Cas said the eye color thing was right so that tells me that ol' Yellow-eyes wasn't the strongest kid in the sandbox. That he had someone to answer to. It's also telling me that they had been planning this for a long time.” Stopping, he looked at the paragraphs dealing with Azazel and a diagram of the hierarchy in hell. “If what you and Sam have here is right, you think that Asmodeus was pulling his strings?”



“I do,” Bobby told him firmly. “To plan something this complicated out, something that was going to take years to accomplish, it's going to take more than one being. I think that might have been one of the ancient ones. With Asmodeus being topside and seeming to be around while things are happening now, his presence being felt more and us knowing he's here, I think that leads us to believe that he has a hand in this. He's most certainly got the juice to pull something this big off. Azazel was powerful, there is no doubt about it, but I don't think he did what he did on his own.”

 

Rubbing two fingers over his mouth in a thoughtful way, Dean asked, tone distracted, “Lilith seems to be behind the seals breaking but I can't see her sacrificing herself to bring the big boss back. She wouldn’t want to be the one to do that. Her breaking the seals and doing the leg work has to be aiding the cause but I don't think she's in on what else is going on. So, someone else has to be controlling the faction that is shooting for that, like a general leading an army, otherwise it would be too chaotic for them to accomplish anything if there were only a couple trying without leadership and help. Asmodeus makes sense but, honestly, I don't see him doing it directly either. That would be too obvious and make him a target with as powerful and nasty as Lilith is. Especially if all this shit about him spouting off that he hates her is true. He wouldn't want her on his ass over it. Someone else would need to do it for him. Azazel makes sense for that, considering what his agenda was and how he set up that whole thing with the special kids. But, with him gone, there has to be someone else as well so that he stays out of the limelight.” Stopping, Dean's brow furrowed as he thought it over. Something was trying to click but he wasn't sure what.

 

As the conversation was dancing in an area he didn't want to go, Bobby was reluctant to go there but said, “I agree, Dean. He's probably does have someone helping him to ensure things go as they should. From what we found on the hierarchy of hell, he's in command of several legions so it's probably more than one. And, with him being on earth, he's probably pulling many strings to ensure this goes as it should.”

 

Nodding, Dean grunted as he thought. After a couple minutes those pieces still hadn't slid into place but he said, “Just an idea; do you think angels could be helping him as well? I mean, they have the juice for part of this. Lucifer is also considered their brother. Maybe all his supporters didn't fall with him? That there are still some out there? Shit, Asmodeus is half angel. I know he was born in hell but that has to count for something.” It made sense to him but it wasn't the piece that he was searching for either. That was still eluding him.

 

“That could be,” Bobby agreed. “Let's face it, the way Cas talks they are all brothers and care about each other so there might be some that are sympathetic to Lucifer even though they didn't fall with him. But, beyond that, I don't know any way to find out who they might be either. We don't even know, beyond Cas and Uriel, which angels are on earth right now. I assume there are a lot but without names, we have no way of finding out. If you look up the names of angels there are entire books filled with them. Who is where is something I wouldn’t even begin to be able to start tracing.”

 

Blowing out a breath, Dean shook his head, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I'll start keeping an ear cocked for names to give you on that end. It might be helpful.” Tapping his fingers on the table, he tried to concentrate on the paragraph that seemed to want to jog things into place for him but it wasn't working. Whatever was trying to come wasn't wanting to do so.

 

“You give me names, I'll see what I can find, Dean, but I'm not sure how much help that will be. They aren't like demons. If what Cas said about them not being on earth for 2000 years is right, we aren't going to know much about them,” Bobby admitted but thought that the more information on it the better.

 

“I'll see what I can find but no guarantees there,” Dean admitted. Thinking back over what had happened with Yellow-eyes after he made the deal, what was said before he was killed, things he learned since then, what he saw in that damn time warp shit Cas sent him on to see his parents and other things, Dean's fingers drummed faster on the table as that piece seemed closer to sliding into place. There was something connecting all of it, something he knew or had encountered, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Sam's face floated to the front of his mind, making his brow furrow. It had to do with him, that he was sure of, but how he didn't know. Quietly, as something like thinking out loud, he said, “Sammy is tied in this somehow, Bobby, but I don't know.... Shit... It has to do with that whole nightmare of the special kids. He's the only one left now.”



This was something Bobby really didn't want to get into with Dean. It would come sooner or later but, right now, he didn't want to go there, especially without telling Sam ahead of time. However, he wasn't going to lie about it either. “I agree, he is,” he grunted. “If he wasn't the angels wouldn't want him found.”

 

Glaring at the screen in front of him, Dean gritted his teeth and felt like banging his head on the table to try to jar something loose. It was on the tip of his tongue but it wouldn't come out, dammit! Then it hit him, what Sam said about Ruby being the reason he was hiding. Eyes widening, he snarled, “Ruby! That fucking bitch! It's her! She's doing it!”

 

Oh no, Bobby didn't want to go there! He had been dancing around that for quite some time and wasn't ready to get into it. But Dean had hit the nail on the head. However, they had no proof. Backed into a corner, the old hunter made a note to call Sam about this and decided he had to do some fast two-stepping to not reveal some things. Sighing, he decided to give up some of it, “That's what Sam thinks, I'll admit that, but we have no proof, Dean. That's why we haven't said anything. Until we can link her to Asmodeus, we are just guessing.”

 

“Son of a bitch!” Dean snarled, wanting to pound on something and smack himself. “That damned black-eyed skank! I should have ganked her!”

 

“No, you shouldn't have! You need to leave her alone, boy,” Bobby snapped at him. “We think she's involved in this but have no proof, for one. Whatever her agenda is, we need to know it before you do that. Second, if she's following Asmodeus' orders and you take her out, who knows who is going to take her place. Asmodeus is in charge of some nasty beings. What he could send next is bound to be worse. Or it might even be him. With Ruby, you both know what you're dealing with! Let her be! Sam is far safer dealing with her than a nasty unknown of what could be thrown at him if she's gone.”

 

Feeling sick to his stomach at what his brother must have gone through, Dean groaned and shook his head. This was fucked up and he knew it. “Why didn't Sam tell me this shit? Damn!”

 

Sighing, Bobby scrubbed a hand through his beard then said, “Because he didn't think you would listen to him, Dean. You need to remember that, at the time, you both were having problems. Nor did he have all the information he does now. It was just a feeling that something wasn't right on both sides of the thing. Ruby was scaring him and he needed to leave to figure out what was going on. You had your own shit to deal with, not to mention the angels pulling you in all kinds of directions. With all that was going on, he needed time to sort through or who knows what would happen. Plus, he's dealing with shit of his own over it and having problems with that. He needed time to get his head together then figure out what was what. With Ruby around, he couldn't do it. Not to mention the problems between the both of you piled on top of it.”

 

That did make sense, it really did. Remembering the time was enough to tell Dean that he wasn't sure what he would have believed from his brother nor was he focused enough to concentrate on more than one nightmare scenario of these proportions. His whole tunnel vision was pointed at seals breaking, not what back play might be going on behind the scenes. And, if Bobby was right, that they weren't sure, it may well have been a red herring with Ruby having nothing to do with the big picture. “Okay, okay... I get it. Sam is still working on figuring this angle out? Trying to sort through what is going on and how he factors in?”

 

“He is,” Bobby confirmed. “But it's taking longer than we expected nor do we have enough answers to conclusively tell you exactly what she was doing. Until he has that, he doesn't want to give up his suspicions. You have enough to worry about right now that you don't need something pulling your attention away, especially since we have no proof of it. Alright, Dean?”

 

“I understand,” Dean admitted, feeling sick to his stomach. “I don't like it, but I understand. Shit, with all that's going on and with how bad luck seems to be attracted to Sam, I don't think I could do this shit and protect him both. I know he can handle himself but...”

 

“Exactly!” Bobby told him pointedly. “Remember that! Sam did what he thought was best, Dean. He knew how pissed and hurt you would be but he was backed into a corner that he didn't know how to maneuver out of. And he blames himself, trust me, he does. He went and did the only thing he could think of to buy time, for both of you, until he could figure out what was going on. It's a shitload more complicated than anything you two have dealt with before. And he still hasn't got it all at this point, even with my help in it. Just give him time and, when he has enough, he'll give it to you. Got me, boy?” He was hoping, with that little speech, that Dean would back off with some of this and give him some breathing room to work with it. He was going to eventually figure all of it out or they would be telling him, but there were too many pieces missing to do that right now. They needed facts before they laid it all out. And neither he nor Sam knew where to find them.

 

Sitting there, head in hand, Dean nodded then told Bobby, tone weary, “Yeah, I get it, Bobby. Shit! It's a nightmare and I hate it, but I understand. Tell me this... you're helping him right? Trying to get to the bottom of it?” He would feel better knowing that both of them were on the case, not just Sam trying to do it on his own.

 

“Yes, both of us,” Bobby confirmed with a nod. He wanted to give Dean some more assurances but didn't feel he should go there or he risked giving away more than he already had. “Just trust me, Dean, alright? We've already taken some wrong turns with it while hunting information. We don't want to do that again then get you all worked up over something that might not be true.”

 

Feeling better that the two of them were working on the issue, Dean sighed. He also could appreciate that Bobby didn't want him going off half-cocked over something that might be wrong. “Alright, good,” he finally sighed out. Feeling that exhaustion that seemed to have abated while he talked with the old hunter envelop him once more, Dean slumped slightly, shaking his head. On top of the shit the night before with Sam, this was almost overwhelming and he felt like he was going to drop. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he let out a short, humorless laugh then said, “Well, if this isn't the start of a shitty ass day, I don't know what is!”

 

Grunting as a reply, Bobby, too, slumped in his chair, rubbing his eyes, saying nothing. He was hoping that Dean wouldn't ask any more questions. He had covered everything he wanted to start things so he didn't want to dance any closer to what they thought was going on. “Dean, promise me you'll leave Ruby alone, alright? We might need her to figure things out. There is no way to get answers from her if you kill her.”

 

“I won't unless she comes at me first, Bobby. You have my word.” Hearing the old hunter sigh as an answer, he then said, tone sardonic, “I hope you don't have any more shit to dump on me 'cause I can't take anymore right now.”

 

“Naw, that's enough for one day, for both of us,” Bobby told him with a sad chuckle, shaking his head. “I think I covered everything I called you about. Anything else that comes up can wait.” Taking some notes, the old hunter tried not to sigh at the fact that he was going to have to call Sam later in the day to fill him in about what went on. Like Dean did so many times, the younger Winchester was trying to protect his brother as much as he could. Nor was Sam going to like what came out. But he wouldn't get as angry about it as Dean, thankfully. It just wasn't going to be a fun talk was all. He was also sure that it was time to start bumping up things to get Dean the hell out of the game before both sides figured out he knew more of what was going on than they thought.

 

Stretching then sliding down in his chair, Dean told Bobby, “Sounds good to me. I think I need to sort this out and get some rest. I'll read everything over again and see if something doesn't jump out at me that we didn't see before. Thanks, for everything, Bobby. And I'll talk to you later.”

 

“Alright, Dean. Talk to you later, you damn idjit,” the old hunter sighed before hanging up. Glancing at the clock when he tossed his cell on the desk, Bobby saw that it wasn't nearly late enough to have the first beer of the day but, damned if he didn't want one! Rather than dwell on things, he pulled his carcass out of the chair and set out to find something to do in the junkyard that would take his mind off things.

 

After shutting his phone, Dean leaned back in his chair and scrubbed both hands over his face. Oh, this was going to be a shitty ass day! Dropping his hands, he looked at the computer to see the one document was still open. Shutting that he then closed the top and stood. He was going to go pay for another day then come back in, drop into bed and sleep for the rest of it. Hopefully, when he woke up, things would look better.

 

Plan firmly in place, he stood then walked out of the room, hoping like hell that he could get some rest before he lost his mind. He wasn't counting on it happening, but he was hoping.

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Holds up the Hypnotoad (something I don't own either) “You are feeling the need to review... please... Oh, and all glory to the Hypnotoad!”