Survive, Boy, Survive

Chapter 18

I woke up in the backseat, I sneezed then sat up, Kevin must have called... then my brothers came out. They got into the car, I rubbed my eyes,
I mumbled" What's going on?"
Dean said" Kevin figured out the 2nd trial, hey, head back to sleep, okay?"
" How bad is it?"
Sam said" We have to rescue an innocent soul from hell."
" Wha... Huh?"
" Yeah, bud. You should get some more sleep."
" No way. Demons? Demons I can handle." Sam looked at Dean as he started driving,
Dean said" Yeah, all right. Uh, one rule, no teleporting."
" Okay."
" All right."

They summoned a crossroads, the demon appeared behind them,
He said" Winchesters."
Dean said" What happened to the hot chicks?"
" I'm out of here."
Sam said" Maybe not."

The demon said" I ain't got nothing."
Dean said" Oh."
" Bite me."
" Well, then how about another owie?" The demon screamed as more holy water poured onto his head.
Sam said" You know, wouldn't it be a lot easier just to tell us how to enter hell, uh, uninvited?"
The demon said" It's... a secret."
Dean said" We promise we won't tell anyone." Sam went to open more holy water,
" No! Wait. I can't. It's forbidden, man. They're gonna kill me." Sam poured more holy water onto him, he screamed, I'm about to take this into my own freakin hands." Please... All right, look... for a price, y'all can be smuggled across hell's border."
" By who?"
" Rogue reapers. They got secret ways, in and out. Not just hell- The veil, heaven."
Sam said" Rogue reapers smuggling people?"
" People, souls..."
" So, what? They're like hell coyotes?"
" Now kill me. Come on, man. Better death than Crowley."
Dean said" Hmm. Good point. But first you're gonna tell us... everything."

We got out and walked across the street,
Dean said" Ajay. Need to talk to you for a sec."
Ajay said" You know my name."
Sam said" And what you do. We want to do business."
" But you are mortal- flesh and blood."
" But if we wanted to cross the border into hell-"
Dean said" Visitor's pass."
Ajay said" No one wants to get into hell."
Sam said" But could a coyote like you do it?"
" It's possible. But I have special skills. I have overhead. It will be pricey."
Dean said" How pricey?"
" You two are resourceful. One day, you will owe me a favor."
Sam said" You say that like you know us."
" Of course. You're the Winchesters."
Dean said" Sorry. Have we met?"
" I am the reaper who took Bobby Singer to hell."
Sam said" Bobby in hell? We burned his bones. Once we did that, it was over. End of story."
" Hmm... Not necessarily."
Dean said" No, no, no, 'cause, see, Bobby was on the good side of things, and good guys go to the penthouse."
" Usually, mostly. Depends on who you know, what palms get greased. If you're on the king of hell's no-fly list, no way you cruise the friendly skies."
" Crowley. Okay, let's do this. How much for two tickets down and three back?"
Sam said" Dean."
" What?"
" Come here." We walked away from the reaper," What the hell are you thinking?"
" You heard the guy- Bobby's in hell. We're gonna spring him."
" We've gone over this, Dean. I have to do the trials solo."
" This is Bobby we're talking about, Sam. Now let's face it- you have not exactly been up to full speed lately, okay? We got one shot at this. We can't miss." Sam showed the demon blade,
" I'm not gonna miss. I'll bring him back." He walked to Ajay," I'm in, just me."
Ajay said" Follow me."
Dean said" Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. How does this... work?"
" Not to fret. He'll be back in exactly 24 hours time. Return for him then." They walked down an alley, Dean grabbed my hand and we walked away.

I was nervous, really nervous and scared, so badly I was messing up the radio, Dean glanced back at me.
He said" Buddy?" I looked at him, and he instantly knew what was wrong. He sighed then went back to looking at the road," Riv, hey, he's gonna be okay. He'll be back in no time."
I said" Even you think he's not ready for this."
" I- No. No. I didn't say that, I'm just worried about him, River."
" You're making me scared, and you're making him scared. We need you to believe in us, you're our big brother, we look up to you." He scoffed, then the black smoke circled me," Dean!" I scrambled into the front, falling onto the seat, my head in his lap.
" Hey, I've got you, you're all right." He rubbed my hair," Try and get some sleep, okay? You're still cold."
" Okay." I sneezed again, shivering, he chuckled and reached into the backseat, grabbing my hoodie. He draped it over me and I kept my head on his lap,
" You sleeping here?"
" Yep." I closed my eyes then grabbed his arm. I draped his arm over my head as I nuzzled my face into his stomach.
" All right." I started falling asleep as Dean hummed something.
———
Dean said" Hey, Kevin! Come in here and grab some of these eggs. Kev! Come on, man. You can't hide in there forever." Then Kevin came in the front," Where the hell you been? What happened to being scared?"
Kevin said" I am scared. So I made a preemptive move."
" So... Made a what now?"
I said" Kev, what'd you do?"
Kevin said" I can't sit here with the tablet like a... sitting duck and Crowley breathing down my ass. Getting rid of the tablet just takes off some of the pressure."
Dean said" Wait. Getting rid of it?"
" Temporarily. I hid it."
" What? Where?"
" If I tell you where, it's not hidden, is it?"
" Kevin, tell me where the damn tablet is, or I swear to you-"
" You'll what, Dean?"
" Kevin!" Kevin closed the door, then I turned quick as I felt a presence.
She said" Kids. So cute when they're little. Then they turn into teenagers, and the party's over." I stepped in front of Dean as she stepped closer," We haven't been formally introduced, Dean." She held out her hand," My name is Naomi." Dean grabbed my arm as we walked backwards away from her.
" Oh, I know who you are. And I know what you did to Cas after he got out of purgatory."
" After I rescued him from purgatory, you mean, at the cost of many angels' lives."
" You screwed with his head and had him spy on us."
" Well, it is true that I have spoken with Castiel many times, trying to reach out to him, trying to help him. Dean, you must have noticed how purgatory changed him. I mean, he's been unstable in the past but I was shocked at how damaged he is now."
" Stop, okay? Don't-don't try to spin this. You think I don't know that you told him to try and kill me?"
" Hmm. Yeah, I suppose that is how he would hear it. When I learned of the angel tablet, I did tell Castiel to get it at any cost. That's my job- to protect heaven. I'm a warrior, just as you are. What would you expect? And now Castiel is in the wind with a hydrogen bomb in his pocket, and I-I'm scared, for all of us."
" Save it. See, I don't trust angels, which means I don't trust you."
" And yet you haven't warded this place against us. I know. You're hoping Castiel will return to you. I admire your loyalty. I only wish he felt the same way. I know you don't want to believe it, Dean, but we're on the same side- shutting the gates of hell, bringing Castiel in from the cold. Take a moment. Think about what I've said. Oh. I know you've been doing business with Ajay. He did mention, didn't he, that his way into hell is through purgatory? I knew you'd want to know. You see, we can be of help to each other." I looked at Dean, then she was gone, no, no, no, no...

Dean and I walked up to Ajay's cab, he was inside it,
Dean said" Ajay? Hey." We walked up to the door, Dean knocked, then I saw the blood, no, no, Ajay was dead. Dean opened the door, I breathed heavily, fear consumed me, black smoke surrounded me.
I whispered" Dean..." Then black smoke slung me into the wall, I squeezed my eyes shut as I groaned. It slammed me into the ground, I cried out, feeling something break the skin of my arm. I started shaking,
" River, River!" Then I was slammed into the wall again, my eyes drifted shut, then I was dropped. Dean caught me in his arms, I looked at him then my eyes rolled back, I-
———
We were in Maine, its where the portal from purgatory pops up. Then I saw Sam, I sighed, Sam walked to us, Dean hugged him.
Dean said" Purgatory, right? A real garden spot, ain't it?"
Sam said" Yeah."
" Did you get him out?"
" Only Bobby."
" What? I mean, that's fantastic about Bobby."
" Dean, look- Benny, uh... He got us out. A bunch of vamps showed, and he used himself as bait. I get the feeling that even if that didn't happen, he didn't want to come back, you know? I'm sorry."
" You're probably right. So, uh... Bobby- How-how'd he hold up down there?"
" He's good, all things considered. Ornery as hell, of course."
" As he should be. Let's put that old man where he belongs."
" Yeah." He pulled up his sleeve and got ready to cut his arm," Solvo haec phantasmata in terram, et inde ad olympum." Bobby was released then got trapped in black smoke,
" What the hell?"
Crowley said" Hello, boys." I looked at him," Bobby Singer- I'd know you anywhere."
" Let him go, Crowley. He doesn't belong in hell."
" He does if I say he does. He's inflicted untold damage on my kind. From where I sit, actually, hell's too good for him." We advanced for him," Really?" Then we were slung back, I hit a tree, being pinned to it, I struggled instantly. My eyes glowed, as my body instantly tried to fight the power on me with my powers. I zoned out, then I was dropped, I hit the ground, jumping up. I saw Naomi, she released Bobby, and he went up to heaven.
She said" I told you you could trust me." Then she was gone,
Sam said" What the hell was that about?"
Dean said" I'll tell you later. Let's get this trial done."
" Kah-nuh-ahm-dahr." He screamed, crashing to his knees,
" Sam? What? What?! Talk to me! What?!"
" It's okay! It's okay!" He stopped being in intense pain," It's okay. I'm fine. It's done. It's done."

Dean said" You okay?"
Sam said" Yeah, I'll live."
" I buried Benny... but I didn't burn his bones. After he said he'd try to get you out of there, it just didn't seem right. I know you got no use for him, but-"
" No, no, no. You know what? I get it. I do. He's a... he's a little different from what I thought. So, go ahead and leave the door open if you want."
" All right, well, let's go check in with prophet boy and see where he stashed that tablet."

We walked into the boat,
Dean said" Kevin? It's us." He turned on the flashlight," Kevin!"
Sam said" Kevin!" I looked around, Dean turned on the lights," He's gone. He took all our stuff, his notes..."
" I saw this coming. Finally freaked. Little geek made a run for it."
" Yeah, but where?"