Chapter Ten

Sam answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Sam?" said an unfamiliar female voice.

Already knowing who was there, Sam played along. "Who is this?"

"Think real hard, it'll come to you," she said. "I know I sound a little different. Last time you saw me, I was wearing a pretty little blonde thing."

"Meg," said Sam. "Last time I saw you, you were headed back to hell."

"Guess I'm making a comeback," said Meg. "Let me speak to your father."

"My Dad…I don't know where my Dad is."

"It's time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam. Let me speak to him now."

Thinking that was enough of an act, Sam handed the phone to his father.

"This is John."

"Howdy, John, I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who's gonna watch you them choke in their own blood." John clenched his jaw in anger. "Still there, John boy?"

"I'm here."

"Well, that'll be one day soon. Today I'm in Lincoln…visiting an old friend of yours. He wants to say hi."

"John, whatever they do, don't give—" said a voice that John recognized.

"Caleb?" said John. Dean and Sam looked at each other, knowing what was happening but not being able to stop it. "Caleb? You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go."

"We know you have the Colt, John," said Meg.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said John.

"Oh, okay. So, listen to this."

John suddenly heard the sound of someone gurgling on something. "Caleb? Caleb!"

Dean and Sam looked at each other, knowing Caleb had just died.

"Can you hear that?" said Meg. "That's the sound of your friend dying. Now let's try this again. We know you have the gun, John. Word travels fast. So, as far as we're concerned, you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It had casualties."

"I'm gonna kill you, you know that?"

Meg laughed. "Oh, John, please. Mind your blood pressure. So this is the thing—we're going to keep doing what we're doing. And your friends, anyone who's ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved; they'll all die, unless you give us that gun." John sighed. "I'm waiting, Johnny. Better answer before the buzzer."

"Okay."

"Sorry? I didn't quite get that."

"I said okay. I'll bring you the Colt."

"There's a warehouse in Lincoln on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You're gonna meet me there."

"It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there."

"Meet me there at midnight tonight."

"That's impossible. I can't get there in time, and I can't just carry a gun on a plane."

"Oh, then I guess your friends die, don't they? If you do decide to make it, come alone." She hung up.

John handed Sam his phone back. "Alright, let's go."

John and Sam stood at the trunk of John's truck, putting weapons back in the compartment. Dean drove up in the Impala as John closed the locker and closed the tailgate.

"Did you get it?" asked John as Dean climbed out of the Impala.

Dean took a brown paper bag out of his jacket as he came over to them and handed it to John. John took the fake Colt out of the bag.

"You know this is a trap, don't you?" said Dean. "That's why Meg wants you to come alone. Not to mention, we know that the demons are gonna take you hostage."

"I can handle her," said John. "I got a whole arsenal loaded—holy water, Mandaic amulets…" Dean began to protest that they knew he would get captured anyway. "What's important is killing the demon. Anything else, we can deal with later."

"Dad…" said Dean.

"What?" asked John.

"Promise me something?" said Dean.

"What's that?" asked John.

"This thing goes south, just get the hell out," said Dean. "Don't get yourself killed, alright? You're no good to us dead."

"Same goes for you," said John. "Alright, listen to me." He took the real Colt out of his jacket pocket. "They made the bullets special for this Colt. There's only four of them left. Without them, this gun is useless. You make every shot count."

"Oh, we only need one shot," said Dean.

"I've been waiting a long time for this fight," said John. "Now it's here, and I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you boys now. It's your fight, you finish this. You finish what I started. You understand?"

Dean looked at him as Sam nodded. John handed the Colt to Dean, who put it in his jacket pocket.

"We'll see you soon, Dad," said Sam.

John smiled and nodded, looking at Dean. He put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "I'll see you later." John got into the trunk, and they watched him drive away.

"Later," said Dean.

"You know he won't listen to the whole 'get the hell out' thing, right?" said Sam. "He's still gonna get taken by those demons."

"I know," said Dean. "But I also know that he's gonna be okay. And that we know where they're taking him: Jefferson City. What matters right now is that yellow-eyed son of a bitch."

Sam and Dean parked the Impala in front of the house and headed to the front door. Dean rang the doorbell.

A man opened the door. "Can I help you?"

"Actually, we're here to help you," said Dean as they pulled out their badges. "FBI."

"What's the problem?" asked the man.

"We've received a tip that someone will be stopping by your house to hurt your family sometime tonight," said Sam.

"What?" said the man, frantic. "Why?"

"We're not sure, but we're here to stop him," said Dean. "May we come in?"

The man nodded, letting them in. "What do you need?"

"We need to set up shop in the nursery," said Dean.

"He's after Rosie?" said the man, starting to rush up the stairs.

Sam stopped him. "If you run, he's just going to chase you. We can put an end to this. Please, trust us."

The man looked up at the stairs. "You can really stop him?"

"Yes, we can," said Dean.

The man nodded and let them up the stairs. They entered the nursery, looking down at the crib.

"What's going on?"

They turned to see Monica in the doorway with her husband.

"They're here to help us," said the husband.

"If it makes you feel better, we could set up a camera so you can watch," said Dean.

The husband looked at his daughter. "Yes."

Dean went out to get a camera.

"Don't worry," said Sam. "We won't let anything happen to your daughter. He's never gonna hurt anyone ever again."

Dean returned with the camera, setting it up in the corner of the room, pointed at the crib.

"And now we wait," said Dean.

The two of them sat in the darkest corner of the room, waiting, for about two hours. All of a sudden, the clock stopped. Dean raised the Colt, silently cocking the safety off. A figure appeared next to the door and walked over to the crib, his back facing the Winchesters. Dean silently stood, aiming the Colt at the demon's head. Just as the demon raised his arm over the crib, Dean pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the demon in the head, spraying blood onto the wall behind the crib. The demon spun around, yellow eyes locking onto Dean in shock as blood ran down his neck.

Dean lowered the Colt, sneering at Yellow-Eyes. "That was for our Mom…you son of a bitch."

Yellow-Eyes convulsed as light pulsed in his head around the bullet. As he sparked and convulsed, the light grew dimmer. He collapsed to the floor, eyes losing their yellow. Monica and her husband rushed inside.

"What the—" began the husband. "He just appeared out of thin air! You shot him…in the head…and he didn't…"

"Calm down," said Sam, trying to console them.

"His eyes…" said Monica. "They were…"

Sam nodded. "He was a demon. I know it sounds crazy, but you saw it. This demon came for me and killed my Mom when I was a baby, just as it was coming for Rosie tonight. I'm sorry we lied to you, but you wouldn't have believed us."

Monica came forward and hugged Sam. "Thank you." She then hugged Dean. "Thank you so much."

"No problem," said Dean as Monica picked her daughter up out of the crib. He turned to Sam. "Let's go save Dad."

Sam and Dean snuck up the stairs of Sunrise Apartments in Jefferson City, Missouri. They made their way to the room, breaking down the door. The two demons tried to attack, but Dean shot both in the leg with the Colt, immobilizing them. They walked into the bedroom, finding their father tied to the bed. Dean began to untie him.

"Wait, Dean," said Sam.

"Sam, we don't have to worry about him being possessed," said Dean. "Yellow-Eyes is dead, remember?"

"It could be another demon," said Sam, pulling out a flask.

"That didn't work in the book," said Dean.

"Because it was Yellow-Eyes."

Sam opened the flask and splashed holy water on their father's chest…nothing. John came to and looked down at his chest in confusion. He looked up at the flask in Sam's hand, realizing.

"Good job, Sam," said John. Dean and Sam untied him, and John sat up. "How'd you boys do?"

Dean smiled. "Demon's a doornail."

John looked up at him. "It's over?"

"Shot him myself," said Dean. "He's dead."

"Alright, what now?" asked John.

"Next stop, killer clown," said Dean. Sam groaned.

"Well done."

The three of them turned to see a man in a trench coat and suit standing in the doorway.

"Who are you?" asked Dean.

"Castiel."

Dean nodded. "The angel, right?"

Castiel nodded. "Excellent work."

"Did it work?" asked Sam.

"Yes," said Castiel. "Lucifer is bound in hell. Your plan worked. Good luck."

"With what?" asked Dean.

"Your lives," said Castiel. "Enjoy it."

With that, he was gone.

They spent the next three years cleaning up hunts a week before they started. Now, it was late 2009, and Lucifer was still roasting in the pit. They had finished all the hunts their future selves had been on—minus the seals and horsemen—and were at a turning point. The three Winchesters sat in a bar, sharing a beer and deep in discussion.

"What do you think?" asked Sam.

"I think I'm tired," said Dean. "I want to quit." Sam laughed. "What?"

"I never thought I'd ever hear you say that," said Sam.

"Well, it's true," said Dean. "I think I want to settle down. I mean, if Bobby, or someone, calls for help, hell, count me in. But…I think I'm gonna quit looking for trouble. What about you, Dad?"

"I think I'm retiring," said John. "I'm tired of this life. I only got into it to get the thing that killed Mary, and we did. There's nothing in it for me anymore."

"What are your plans?" asked Sam.

"Well…" began John, "I never told you boys this, but there's this woman named Kate Milligan—"

"Oh, yeah, we know," said Dean.

"You know?" asked John.

"About our brother," said Sam. "Adam."

"Now when did you…" began john, but realized when they would have learned that. "Oh."

"In fact, we stopped by Windom couple months back to stop the ghouls from eating them," said Dean. "Didn't really introduce ourselves, though."

"You want to meet them?" asked John. "Officially?"

"Sure," said Dean. "Then I'm headed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to hook up with Cassie. What about you, Sammy? Back to Stanford?"

"No," said Sam. Dean and John stared at him. "I mean, I got to experience a normal life for two years. I lived the normal college life every kid gets to live after high school. I just…I'm not that person anymore."

"So, what are your plans?" asked John.

"I think I'm gonna look up Sarah," said Sam. Dean frowned in confusion. "From New York…"

"Oh, that girl with the art…sale…thing," said Dean, trying to think of the right words.

Sam laughed. "Exactly, Dean. The girl with the art sale thing."

"Good idea," said Dean. "You two seemed to get along pretty good."

"We've never met Dean," said Sam.

"Well, not here, but in the books…" said Dean. "You could bump into her at a poetry reading, or whatever geeks do, and invite her to dinner."

"I think I got it handled, Dean," said Sam.

"Well…looks like we're all settling down," said Dean. "Well, most of us."

"I don't think so," said both Sam and John. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm not settling down, not completely," said Sam. "Like you, I'm not searching for hunts, but if someone calls, I'm not gonna say no."

"Same here," said John.

"Well, we'll give each other a call and make it a family outing," said Dean.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, sounds good."

"So…to Windom?" said John.

Dean raised his beer. "To Windom." He took a swig.

Together, the three Winchesters left the bar and got into the Impala, heading towards their other family member and the rest of their lives.

The End