Bonds Tested

No Rest For The Wicked -- The Deadline

~*****~

You could feel the tension. It was awful. The deadline for Dean's year had finally come upon us. And he was getting plagued constantly with horrible nightmares. I rubbed at my tired eyes as I pulled them away from the research I'd been trying to do about Hell hounds. "Dig up anything?" Sam asks as Dean jerks up from his slumber.

"No," I sigh tiredly. "Nothing good."

Sam just smiles. "Well, Bobby has, finally." Sam retorts.

"Yeah?" Dean hums.

"Yeah. A way to find Lilith." Sam nods.

"Wow. With just, uh, thirty hours to go." Dean recites. "Hey, why don't we just make a T.J. run, you know? Some senoritas, cervezas? We could-- what's Spanish for Donkey Show?"

I give a snort. "So, if we do save you... Let's never do that." I mention.

"Yeah, I'm with her." Sam agrees. "Hey, hey, Dean... Look, we're cutting it close, I know." Sam says softly as he joins us at the table. "But we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes, Dean. You're not gonna go to Hell. I'm not gonna let you. I swear. Everything's gonna be okay."

Dean just stares at Sam in silence, and it's hard to tell what he's thinking nowadays. "Yeah... Okay." Dean nods.

~*****~

I gazed at the strange contraption Bobby had brought out. "So, you got a name? That's the whole kit and caboodle." Bobby explains as we set it up over a map. "With the right name, the right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out."

"Like the town Lilith's in?" Sam asks.

"Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street." Bobby retorts. He begins speaking in Latin after rotating the pendulum on the top. The tip at the bottom stopped on a small town.

"New Harmony, Indiana." I hum softly.

"We have a winner." Bobby nods.

"All right, let's go." Sam says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on." Dean stops him. "Just holster up there, Tex."

"What's the problem?" I ask.

"What's the problem?" Dean echoes as if it were obvious. "Come on, where do I begin? I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith actually holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? Now, when that bitch breathes, the air comes out crooked, okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants our giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

"Ain't you just bringing down the room?" Bobby snorts.

Dean chuckles. "Well, it's a gift."

"I'm sorry," Sam snaps. "So, then, what are we supposed to do, Dean?"

"Well, just 'cause I got to die doesn't mean you have to, okay? Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Okay, fine." I hum. "If that's the case, I got a solution."

"You do?" Dean raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, a surefire way to confirm its Lilith and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing ginsu." I recite.

"Dammit, Lottie, no!" Dean barked.

"We are so past arguing, and trust me, I wouldn't be suggesting it if I wasn't certain." I snap at him. "Dean, Sam and I are summoning that black eyed bitch."