Livelyhood / Book Four / The Life Series / Supernatural

The Devil You Know

The Trickster, who was really the archangel Gabriel, had told Sam and Dean how to take care of the Devil.

By getting the Four Horsemen's rings and doing the spell to open up a doorway into Hell that would send Lucifer back to his cage, leaving him trapped all over again.

We already had War and Famine's rings.

All we needed was Pestilence and Death's.

Sam and Dean were on a job involving everybody getting sick, most likely Pestilence.

I was at TJz, talking to Sam and Dean on the phone from the wall. "Let me guess. Another steaming hot pile of Swine Flu."

"Yep," Dean answered.

"Doesn't make any sense, Ness," Sam told me. "Pestilence touched down here. I'm sure of it."

"But why is he dealing them soft serve like Swine Flu when he's got the Croatoan virus up his sleeve?" Dean asked. "I--I--I don't get it." 

"Doesn't matter what the sick son of a bitch is doing. What matters is this is the fourth town he's hit--that we know of--and we're still eating his dust. Did you get anything? We got even a snowball at probable next target?"

"Uh, no pattern we can see," Sam told me.

I sighed. "Okay. Hold on. Well, far as I can tell, he's still heading East. So... Head East, I guess."

Sam and Dean spoke together. "East?"

"Ness, we're in west Nevada," Dean told me. "East is practically all there is." 

"Yeah, well, you better get to driving."

I hung up, turning back to the bar.

~~~~

I was closing up TJz, getting ready to leave, with no one else at the bar, speaking on my cell.

Sam called later to tell me that they were working with the demon Crowley. And that Dean had left Sam at the house. "Right out the door with Crowley." 

"Well, look, Sam. I got no love for demons, and, yeah, this whole thing is crazy, but... I don't know. After a year of chasing up zilch, maybe it's time to go crazy."

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, maybe." He sighed. "Hey, Ness?" 

"Yeah?"

"Uh, Bobby told me that he made you promise to try to get out of the life once all of this is over." 

"Yeah. That's if I live long enough to get out of this life."

"Well, I hope that you do." 

"Why?

"Because... I have a plan to stop all of this, and I don't want what happens to every other hunter out there to happen to you, or to Dean. I want..." 

"What? What do you want, Sam?"

"I'm going to ask Dean to promise he will get out of this life, and if he's alone, then he'll just slip right back into his old ways, and I don't want him to, Ness. I just..." 

"Are you saying that you want me to live a normal life with Dean?"

Sam hesitated. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am." 

"What about you, Sam?"

"Well, you only promised your dad that you'd try to get out because of what happened with the demon that ruined your lives, and what happened with your mom." 

"And?"

"And, I thought I could do what your dad did with the demon." 

"What are you talking about?"

"When Meg told the demon inside of your dad to kill you, he didn't. Bobby took his body back." 

"Just long enough to shank himself and get him paralyzed because he was saving me, yeah."

"Yeah, but he took back the wheel. Say we can open the cage. Great. But then what? W--we just lead the Devil to the edge and get him to jump in?" 

"You got me."

"What if you guys lead the Devil to the edge, and I jump in?" 

"Sam..."

"It'd be just like when Bobby turned the knife around on himself. One action. Just one leap." 

"Are you two trying to kill me?"

"Ness--" 

"We just got done talking your brother off the ledge, and now you're lining up to say 'yes'?"

"It's not like that. I'm not gonna do it. Not unless we all agree. But I think we got to look at our options." 

"This isn't an option, Sam."

"Why not?" 

"You can't do it. What Dad did was a million to one, and that was some pissant demon he was brain-wrestling. You're talking about taking back control from Satan himself."

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." 

"Sam... it's called 'possession' for a reason. You, of all people, ought to know."

"I'm strong enough." 

"You ain't. He's gonna find every chink in your armor, and use it against you. Your fear, your grief, your anger. And let's face it. You're not exactly Mr. Anger Management. How are you gonna control the Devil when you can't control yourself?"

Sam didn't have an answer.

But I could swear to God that he and Dean were trying to kill me with all their suicidal plans.