Hopelessly Human

45. Eyes in the Sky

"I'm not gonna miss." Sam opened his jacket to show Ruby's knife. "I'll bring him back." He walked back to Ajay. "I'm in. Just me."

"Follow me," Ajay instructed.

Dean and Natalia walked up and Dean said, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. How does this... Work?"

Ajay turned to him. "Not to fret. He'll be back in exactly 24 hours time. Return for him then." Ajay led Sam away. Dean and Natalia looked at their watches. Neither hunter noticed the guy standing to the side, watching and listening.

Ajay led Sam to a graffiti-covered alley. There was a door painted on one of the walls, and he stopped. "Take my hand."

"And it gets creepier." Sam took Ajay's hand. He stared straight ahead and the walls seemed to shake. The paint liquefied and streamed towards the painted door. The door was encased in a bright white light that spread out and encompassed Ajay and Sam, and they were sucked through. The light disappeared and when Sam and Ajay landed, Sam looked around to see a forest.

"So, this is Hell?" Sam asked.

Ajay shook his head. "Not at all. This is Purgatory."

"What do you mean this is Purgatory? This isn't what I paid for. I booked the Hell tour."

"Whoa, whoa, Winchester, detach. This is Hell-adjacent. Been down this highway many times before. Follow the stream to where three trees meet as one. Where they meet, there are rocks. Between the rocks is the portal."

"A portal?"

"A back door to Hell. Trust me -- it'll work."

"Wait. So you're not coming with me?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Smuggling a mortal across the border is risky enough. But gate-crashing a Winchester into Hell seriously blows. No. I'll be back in 24 hours, precisely." Sam raised the demon-killing knife and he started turning away. "It's a good thing you brought that. It is not an easy place." There was a flash of light and Ajay disappeared.

Dean, Natalia and Dylan made their way to Garth's boat.

"Yo, Kev, it's us!" Dean called, entering first with a tray of take-out food. "Kevin."

"I believe the closet would be safest," Kevin said, opening the closet door and speaking from the doorway.

"Safe from what?" Dean and Natalia asked.

"Crowley. He's in my head, Dean, Natalia. And if he's in my head, he knows where I am! You know, we -- we should move out. We'll find another place."

"Geez, Kev, would you chill out, huh? Have a burger," Dean suggested. "Come on. Don't lose it on me now, dude." Kevin exited the closet. "There you go. That's it."

"Just tell me when this all ends, 'cause that's the only thing I want to hear."

"No, like we told you before, this isn't going to end," Dylan told him. "Look, countless other guys, they got it easy. For them, it's backyard barbecues and bowling teams, but the four of us? We got a little extra weight to carry."

"I can't take it."

Natalia met Kevin's eyes. "Yes, you can. Look at me. This whole thing sucks. I know. But you got to suck it up and push through because that's what we do. And as soon as you get on board with that, the ride will be a lot smoother." She nibbled a fry before offering one. "Fry?"

"I'm gonna -- I'm gonna be in my room. Let me know when there's a good day." Kevin took the tray of takeout, went back into the closet, and shut the door.